Jurgen Klopp has apologised after Daniel Sturridge refused to acknowledge Liverpool fans following Sunday’s defeat against Swansea.
A much-changed Reds side slumped to a calamitous 3-1 defeat at the Liberty Stadium and supporters who made the long trip to South Wales were left angered by the post-match snub from the England international.
But Klopp insists that he shoulders the responsibility for both himself and Sturridge failing to acknowledge the visiting fans.
He said: “Sorry if you think we ignored the fans, that is not what we wanted, but I went in too immediately.
“Hopefully our fans know how close we are to them and after a game like this, you want to leave, you want to rest, you want to recover, and if someone forgot to say thank you to the fans then it is my fault – nobody else’s.”
Attention now turns to Thursday night’s all-important Europa League semi-final against Villarreal, with Klopp arguing that the team must put their recent slump behind them if they are to retrieve the 1-0 deficit from El Madrigal.
“The players have to improve, we knew this before, but even in this moment we could have played better,” he added.
“It’s not about the squad, it’s about the performance. Now, in this moment, from now on, it is the Europa League.
“Then next Sunday, it will be the Premier League. What can I say? Do you really think we will say ok, let’s put everything in this game, and ignore the rest of the games?
“Life is like it is, we played really well in the last three games with different line ups, we didn’t, that’s less surprising than the good games we play with 10 changes or things like this. I’m used to accepting performances under 100%. and that’s what it was.
“I’m disappointed, yes, because I think we could have won this game with a normal performance but we were not able to, so that’s what we have to think about.”