29 January 2023 , 22:43
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Jurgen Klopp suggested Andy Robertson's claim about Liverpool getting worse was neither true nor false after the FA Cup holders were eliminated from the competition.
Liverpool faced Brighton at the Amex Stadium, aiming to beat the Seagulls for the first time in three attempts this season. Harvey Elliott put the away side in front, but goals from Lewis Dunk and Kaoru Mitoma sent the Seagulls through to the fifth round.
After the game, left-back Robertson was open about the team's recent decline. Klopp had the opportunity to rubbish the Scottish international's suggestion, and some may feel his choice of words was very telling.
"It’s not 100 per cent true but it’s not 100 per cent wrong," Klopp said. Liverpool's defeat was their fourth since the World Cup, with Manchester City eliminating them from the EFL Cup and Brentford and Brighton beating them in the Premier League.
"Of course, we wanted a new start, that was clear after the World Cup. So far it hasn’t happened properly, that’s true.
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"That means we have to keep working, there’s nothing else you can do. There were good performances today as well, good moments which we need to build on."
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Kaoru Mitoma scored Brighton's late winner against Liverpool (AFP via Getty Images)Robertson played the full 90 minutes in both of Liverpool's defeats to Brighton. This time, the Merseyside club were moments away from securing a draw and a replay, only for Mitoma to expertly take down a Pervis Estupinan cross and volley beyond Alisson.
“We need to start winning games,” the left-back told ITV Sport. “It’s easy to say, but harder to fix and it’s proven that way. This season has been nowhere near good enough, at the turn of the year we wanted a new start. But it’s not got off to that…it’s probably been worse.
“In the league, we’ve not been good enough, we lost in the League Cup to Man City by one goal and now we’re out of both cups. It’s really disappointing. You can’t put your finger on one thing because it’s more than that and it’s about putting a performance together where all these things click.
"You can tell we aren’t as confident in front of goal and you can tell that defensively we are too open. We need to get the confidence back, but it’s easier said than done. The only way we pick up results is you have to score goals and you have to be able to keep clean sheets and we’re not managing that.
“We’re not managing to do that and we need to do it quickly. But we keep saying that and that doesn’t help the fans. I feel sorry for them, we aren’t putting a show on them at the moment.”