Cody Gakpo has issued a caution to his teammates in front of Liverpool’s matchup with Crystal Palace.
On Sunday afternoon, Jurgen Klopp will greet the Eagles to Anfield in an attempt to move both teams up the Premier League standings. Liverpool’s home loss to Atalanta in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal will not stop them from trying to turn things around this coming weekend.
Gianluca Scamacca scored twice for the Italian team as they easily defeated the Reds on Thursday night. Mario Pasalic then added the last nail in the coffin.
After his team’s first loss at Anfield in more than a year, Klopp told reporters that his team deserved to lose the match. “Oh my God, that was a really bad game,” the German exclaimed. They scored, they broke, and we kind of lost the story.
“We were here and there in midfield, I didn’t recognise it. It was really strange but in football terms it was tactical discipline. They scored and we kept playing into their hands.”
“We played a bad game and we deserved to lose. We must feel that now but we have exactly this night to feel bad about it and then we have to build up for [Crystal] Palace.”
In the post-match press conference, Klopp was able to control his temper, but in the locker room, things were different. That’s what Gakpo claimed, telling the Dutch newspaper Voetbal International that the Liverpool manager wasn’t at all content.
The Reds forward was quoted by MSN as saying, “It’s difficult to explain, but we just weren’t good enough today.” No, the trainer was not content. They capitalized on the opportunities they had, and as a result, you lost 3-0.
“I don’t think we were all sharp enough in the matches, with the second balls, with taking advantage of the chances we had, all in all I think. That’s football. Every match you have to try to show yourself.
“We have a lot of competition, a lot of players who are doing well and then you have to fight for your place. I still believe in it [turning it around the in the second leg]. Ultimately, we are in this competition to win it.”