Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was at a loss to explain his sides performance in the shock 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Wolves at Anfield.
With a must-win match against Chelsea coming up on Tuesday, Klopp made nine changes to the side that got knocked out of the League Cup in midweek. But his new look side could not recover from a poor first half that saw the Sky Bet Championship side go 2-0 up thanks to goals from Richard Stearman and Andreas Weimann.
Divock Origi goal five minutes from time should have set up a nervy final minutes for Wolves, but the Reds never seriously threatened the Wolves goal and as a result suffered their third home defeat in a week for the first time since 1998 to leave their season in tatters.
“A very bad performance,” Klopp told BT Sport.
“It started bad and didn’t get really better. There is not a lot of good things to say about this game. It is difficult, difficult to explain.
“The start gave them immediate confidence. We were not ready. We had the ball, gave it away and made a foul.
“We tried but it was not good enough in the first half. Second half was better, it should be better, but not a lot more to say.
“I’m responsible for it. You learn a lot about players in situations like this. I am responsible for this performance, 100 per cent.”
Stearman headed Wolves ahead inside the first minute and Weimann, on loan from Derby, knocked the wind out of Liverpool’s sails four minutes before half-time.
Although they were forced to hang on at the end as Liverpool pushed for an equaliser, Klopp applauded Paul Lambert’s side for their performance.
“We should not forget Wolverhampton did really well,” the German added.
“They scored the first goal and then defended well, had their counter-attacks and a good plan. We should have played better, so that is a fair result.”
