Liverpool's 68-game unbeaten league run at Anfield brought to an end; Champions sit six points behind leaders Man Utd after failing to score in four Premier League games in a row for the first time in 21 years; Ashley Barnes' 100th league goal ends 46-year wait for Burnley win at Anfield
Friday 22 January 2021 11:44, UK
Jurgen Klopp tried to deflect scrutiny away from his misfiring Liverpool attack by insisting he was to blame for the champions' shock defeat to Burnley.
The Clarets were the only visiting side to take points off Liverpool during last season's title-winning campaign and went one better on Thursday as Ashley Barnes' penalty ended the Reds' 68-game unbeaten league run at Anfield.
Liverpool's first home league defeat since April 2017 was made all the more alarming by their failure to score in four consecutive Premier League games for the first time in 21 years, with seven hours and 18 minutes passing since they last found the net.
Klopp took full responsibility for the defeat, which extended Liverpool's winless run to five games, highlighting his failure to give his players the tools they needed to overcome a stubborn Burnley outfit.
"The game was impossible to lose, but we did," Klopp told Sky Sports. "That's my fault because it's my job to make sure the boys have the right feelings, the right amount of confidence and make the right decisions.
"That obviously didn't work out because we had the ball a lot, created some situations that were OK, but in the final moment or decision-making is not right at the moment, and that's the problem.
"You have the ball in the right place but then you don't shoot, you pass. I'm pretty sure I said the same thing last week.
"When you have the problem of something not working you have to try harder, longer and more often and make better decisions. It's obviously didn't work out tonight and we have to admit that, there's nothing else to say about it."
Klopp added: "It's always my fault, the things that don't work are my fault, the things that do work are down to the players. Credit to the players because it's what they make of it.
"We have worked so long together now that if I make clear which movements make sense and will hurt the opponent and we don't do them, then I have to make it clearer. That's how it is."
Liverpool have taken just three points from a possible 15 and sit fourth in the table, six points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Old Trafford.
Finding solutions to Liverpool's attacking problems, though, is now top of the agenda for Klopp.
"I never thought about us a free-scoring side or unit, I always knew we had to work really hard and do a lot of things right to get into those positions," Klopp said.
"You have moments where a player takes one touch and the next one is in the top corner, but that isn't happening at the moment. It's not the first time it has happened in football, it won't be the last time.
"The good thing is we can change it; we just have to work on it. We cannot work on it tonight; we just can use it for the next one.
"We're not feeling confident in these moments, that's something we have to work on. It's not that we are not creating chances because the players don't have the ability to do so, it's because our decision-making is the problem.
"The difference between a good football player and a very good footballer is decision-making, the right choice in the right moment. It's not rocket science.
"We had a lot of good moments with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] in the second half where he was in the right place and tried to pass the ball inside, but then we were not in the right moment. That's a feeling for the boys they haven't got at the moment."
Clarets boss Sean Dyche thought Burnley's first Anfield victory since the heroics of Ian Brennan in 1974 was just reward for a team performance of the highest order.
"I think we did the basics very well," he told Sky Sports after Burnley moved seven points clear of the relegation zone.
"Structure of the side, shape of the side, individual diligence. Players doing their jobs when they had to. We still needed a bit of luck; Nick Pope has made a good save to his left in the second half.
"You are never comfortable, but I have been in the game a long time and you can see the patterns of a game sometimes. The only worry was if a block landed to one of their players or something goes against you. It didn't feel like that type of a game against a top side.
"It was the will and desire from the defenders and the goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet and the work rate of the two forwards as well. You cannot just defend from the back four, you have to defend from the whole side, and I think everyone did that well."
Dyche was involved in an altercation with Klopp as the teams headed down the tunnel at half-time, but both managers were keen to draw a line under the spat.
"You know when we come to these places, we are allowed to actually fight, we are allowed to try to win," Dyche added. "That is all it was.
"A couple of things got said but nothing out of the normal. It is just two managers fighting for their teams, wanting to win a game. There is nothing wrong with that."
Klopp said: "If he's not talking about it, I won't talk about it. I didn't start it but it's nothing, all good."
