Jurgen Klopp has defended Liverpool's under-fire centre-backs, and revealed the club had "no solution" after missing out on signing Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk in the summer transfer window.

Liverpool's defence was criticised for its performance in the Reds' embarrassing 5-0 loss to Manchester City last weekend, and subsequent 2-2 Champions League draw with Sevilla midweek.

The Anfield club failed in their bid to sign Saints stalwart Van Dijk due to a tapping-up incident that ended with the club issuing a public apology for their transgression.

But Klopp on Friday told multiple outlets the club, despite not bringing in a new centre-back in his place, did not err in sticking with the players they already had at the position.

"With all the history before I came in and since I've been here with how people talk about these players, you really should try one time to go out there and ask other clubs what they think about these defenders and whether they would like to pick them. You would be really surprised," Klopp said.

Asked why the club didn't pursue a Plan B, Klopp added: "I said if there would have been a solution out there we would have done it. There was no solution.

"I cannot speak in this country about any players I tried to get. Give me other centre-halves?"

Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly and Colombia international Davinson Sanchez, who eventually moved to Tottenham this summer, were, among others, considered options to bolster Liverpool's back line during the window.

Klopp said: "No. We watched all of them 500 million times.

"Just to cool the people down, what if the new player doesn't hit the first ball [like Dejan Lovren against Sevilla] and he makes exactly the same mistake? A mistake they all made in their life -- but it is like 'He is a £65 million signing, he will improve.'

"Why do you think the other one cannot improve? I don't understand that. We want to make the right decisions. A big part of football and life is really putting faith in the people you work with -- trust them -- because they all can improve.

"They all can. They are all good out there but they are not that good that you say 'yes they could help immediately.' I had to make a decision and the decision was our boys are not worse than them.

"What I see from all the questions, you start too early coming back to these things. For me it's really difficult always to come completely on your planet, visit you and say 'Yeah you're right, there were five good options out there and we missed them because, I don't know, we wanted to spend the money anywhere else.'"

When quizzed if he was too trusting of his players, Klopp said: "People say that? That's the risk when you get a manager, so we are like we are.

"I believe in trust. I trust people until they give me an opportunity or a possibility not to trust them anymore. That's how I understand life.

"My job is really to get the best out of these boys, not to sign them and tell them 'Deliver, come on.' That's a clear deal. You perform really well boys, credit. We perform bad, my credit. It's my job to make sure we can perform as good as possible."

Lovren came in for heavy criticism after the match against Sevilla on Wednesday, when his error opened the door for Wissam Ben Yedder's fifth-minute opener.

Klopp said the Croatia international is being unfairly singled out.

"At the time I thought it had gone through his legs but then I watched it back. Things like this happen and it's all about reacting to it," he said.

"I'd give them all the advice: don't read anything. But with the world of social media that's quite difficult for the boys. They all know what people think and say in this moment.

"Two people say you're good and you think 'okay,' five people say you are bad and it feels like a stitch or whatever. Dejan is not 18 any more. He's a man, he's a father of two kids. He can deal with it. I've seen much bigger mistakes in my life."

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by ESPN Staff

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