Jurgen Klopp Discusses Liverpool Frustration After EFL Cup Defeat to Southampton

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said his side were denied a penalty for an "obvious" handball and that "the wind was really strange" following the Reds' 1-0 EFL Cup semi-final second-leg defeat to Southampton at Anfield on Wednesday, per Chris Davie for Metro.

An injury-time strike from Shane Long ensured Southampton will travel to Wembley Stadium on February 26 after a 2-0 aggregate win, and the German was left frustrated by the performance of his players, the officials and the weather.

"First half, difficult," he said, per Davie. "I'm not sure if you felt it, but the wind was really strange."

Klopp went on to lament referee Martin Atkinson's failure to award a penalty for a challenge by Jack Stephens on Divock Origi.

"I thought in the game it was a penalty, but then I saw later he touched the ball before he touched Divock," Klopp said, per Davie. "Didn't he? No? So that makes it even worse!" 

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

And the Liverpool boss did not stop there. As reported by Metro, he believes a blatant handball was also overlooked: "The handball was clear. Long, a clear handball. Look, maybe it's not interesting, and I don't look for excuses or anything, but it's really hard to accept it week by week by week by week. It's really hard."

Liverpool struggled to convert their dominance of the ball (they had 72 per cent possession, per WhoScored.com) into chances throughout much of Wednesday's match, leading to Klopp taking the unusual decision of blaming the weather conditions.

"It was difficult to handle," he said of the wind, per Davie. "You saw one or two balls when Milly [Milner] couldn't… the ball stopped in a moment no-one could know about it."

Dave Thompson/Associated Press

His further suggestion that "it was difficult for the football-playing side, obviously," could be seen as a veiled criticism of Southampton's willingness to sit back. The visitors only had two shots on target, scoring the winning goal on the counter after Liverpool poured bodies forward in a desperate search for an equaliser in the tie.

It is rare to hear Klopp blame anyone other than himself or his players when defeated, but his post-match comments were spikier than usual.

This is perhaps unsurprising given that Southampton's victory compounds a difficult week for Liverpool after their humbling 3-2 home defeat to Swansea City in the Premier League. The Reds have now won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions, as highlighted by Coral on Twitter:

"In one of the biggest games that everybody told me against Manchester United, he was two or three yards offside [Antonio Valencia] but nobody really speaks about it," he said, per Davie. 

"You just have to say after the game, I think OK 'do I have to speak about, it, is it my job to get to a fine afterwards [by talking about it]?'"

His reference to United could be seen as an example of Jose Mourinho's mind games getting the better of the German. Mourinho was fined for making comments about referee Anthony Taylor before United's match at Liverpool on Oct. 17.

Dave Thompson/Associated Press

Liverpool's next match is against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup fourth round at Anfield on Saturday, a game Klopp's team need to win to restore confidence after a damaging few days.

Chelsea then visit Merseyside on Tuesday, and with the home side already 10 points behind the league leaders, anything but victory will end Liverpool's hopes of winning the title. 

Klopp knows that he cannot afford to dwell on defeat during such a crucial run of fixtures.

"The show must go on, and now it's the next game again," he said, per Davie. "But there's been a lot of offside goals against us which shouldn't have been allowed, and it's really rare. That's how it is. It doesn't feel good."

Liverpool and Klopp mustn't pay too much attention to the weather or refereeing decisions when they reflect on this result over the coming days. With big games on the horizon, the Reds boss must focus on improving his team's performance and not on hoping for a change of fortune.