LONDON (UK) – Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp said the 7-2 trouncing of his team by Aston Villa in the Premier League this month was like a punch to the face.
He said the squad lost the plot in their rout at Villa Park before the international break. But he supported his players to respond in the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday.
“Maybe after all the positive things that happened to us, it needed a proper knock in the middle of our face to shake us through,” Klopp said.
“That’s the way I take it,” he said. “There’s no other reason why 7-2 should be good. If it was for that, it could have been the most important game of the season, so that’s why we try to use it and we’ll see.
“The challenge in this situation is that you don’t want the players to be affected or influenced in the next game. You want a confident team. You don’t want a team that looks like it’s got heads down, but you don’t want to forget the game as well.”