Klopp: Napoli thrashing ‘tough cookie to take’

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has warned that opposition will be “laughing” at his side after they suffered a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Napoli in their Champions League Group A opener on Wednesday.

Liverpool were outplayed in the first half and went into half time 3-0 down following goals from Piotr Zielinski, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone.

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Klopp’s side were fortunate not to concede more goals before the break after Alisson saved Victor Osimhen‘s penalty. Napoli grabbed a fourth goal two minutes into the second half before Luis Diaz grabbed a consolation strike.

Liverpool face Wolves on Saturday in the Premier League and Klopp said Bruno Lage’s team would have enjoyed their humiliation in Europe.

“It looks a little bit like we have to reinvent ourselves,” Klopp told BT Sport in his postmatch interview. “There’s a lot of things lacking, and the fun part is that we have to do that in the middle of a Premier League and Champions League campaign.

“In three days we play against Wolves, and if they saw the game tonight they probably cannot stop laughing. They will say it’s a perfect moment [to play Liverpool]. I would say it’s a perfect moment. But we have to try to find a set-up to be much better in pretty much everything.”

Asked what was wrong with his team, Klopp said: “Everything [wrong] is obvious, but why it happened, I cannot answer now, let me think about it. It is a really tough cookie to take, but I have to take it.”

“A little bit, it looks like, we have to reinvent ourselves, so it’s really a lot of things lacking, not in all games but now. The fun part is we have to do that in the middle of a Premier League season and a Champions League campaign.

“We have to find a set-up to be much better in pretty much everything.”

This season Liverpool have also lost to Manchester United in the Premier League and drawn with Fulham, Crystal Palace and Everton.

In the heat of southern Italy, though, Liverpool produced their worst performance of the campaign, with even basic defending and midfield pressing lacking.

“It is really tough to take, it’s not that difficult to explain when you watched the game,” Klopp, said. “OK, first of all, Napoli played a really good game, we didn’t, that is the first explanation for the defeat.

“They scored one penalty and missed another, but the next two goals we served on a plate and we should defend better. We were not compact defensively or offensively. Until Thiago [Alcantara] entered the pitch I cannot remember one counter-pressing situation, we were too wide.”

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was also criticial of Liverpool’s approach during the game and told CBS: “It’s embarrassing. It really is.

“I said before it’s kid stuff and this is the big problem with Liverpool right now.”