Jurgen Klopp backs Liverpool duo Virgil van Dijk and Alisson despite their calamitous error in defeat at Arsenal as he admits hosts deserved all three points and says his side ‘did not play enough football’
- Virgil van Dijk and Alisson were guilty of a costly mix-up in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat
- Roy Keane questioned Van Dijk’s contribution to all three of the Gunners’ goals
- Who is the biggest winner of the January transfer window? It all starts Transferweek podcast
Jurgen Klopp has backed captain Virgil van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson after the pair’s disastrous mistake handed Arsenal victory in the Emirates.
In his role as Sky Sports pundit, Roy Keane compared Liverpool’s defense to that of a pub team and questioned Van Dijk’s contribution to all three Gunners goals.
But Klopp said: ‘Our two main boys had a misunderstanding (before the second goal). They are human beings. That makes what they usually do even more special.
‘We could have defended the first goal better, yes 100 percent. But that’s how it is.
‘For today we are not happy, they are not happy. But that’s it now, we don’t need to make more of the game.
Jurgen Klopp backed Virgil van Dijk and Alisson despite making a mistake in Liverpool’s loss at Arsenal
Van Dijk’s involvement in all three of Arsenal’s goals was questioned by pundit Roy Keane
‘We played against Arsenal, you can play great here and still lose. We take it, deal with it and go from there.
‘But we didn’t play enough football. We weren’t involved enough in the game. Overall we can agree that Arsenal deserve the three points.”
On Ibrahima Konate’s red card for two bookings, Klopp added: ‘A lot of things were against us today. This referee (Anthiny Taylor) gave me a red card against Man City because of a wrestling situation between Bernardo Silva and Mo Salah.
‘Same situation today with Jota, but didn’t get a red card. It’s unbelievable that (Kai) Havertz held Konate for the first yellow card. Then Havertz goes down and the referee gives Konate a yellow card.
‘Gabriel (Magalhaes) does the same with (Darwin) Nunez and no yellow card.’
Ibrahima Konate was dismissed for two costly yellow cards, a decision questioned by Klopp
Van Dijk himself held his hands up for Gabriel Martinelli’s goal after the Arsenal striker fired into an empty net to put his team back ahead after a mix-up between the Liverpool centre-back and Alisson.
‘That’s a big moment in the match. I should have made a better decision, it hurts me,” said the Dutch international.
“Like I said, that was a big turning point in the game. After the break we were so good and had chances and were dominant, the atmosphere started to get nervous.
“The turning point is my responsibility, I must try to clarify it.
“These kinds of things obviously don’t happen that often in my career, but I will recover from this.
The result means Arsenal are now just two points behind Liverpool at the top of the table
‘It’s a physical game and I don’t make excuses. At the highest level it is a split decision.
“Alisson touched me a little bit and he couldn’t help it, but I take full responsibility for this and I will try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“Obviously you play here because it’s a tough place for any team in the league to go.
‘It hurts to lose. The way we did it today and in so many ways was unnecessary.
“It hurts for me and when I see the fans and the whole club coming, it’s not nice to be involved in mistakes, but I will work hard and come back.”
