Jurgen Klopp warns Liverpool players not to repeat West Ham display in Capital One Cup

JURGEN KLOPP has warned Liverpool's players not to keep testing his patience having rounded on his squad in a terse dressing room rebuke.

 

Jurgen Klopp has sent out a warning to his Liverpool players following their defeat to West Ham

 

The Liverpool manager said the club's hopes of reaching the Capital One Cup Final would be jeopardised if there was any repeat of the "passive" performance delivered in the wretched 2-0 defeat to West Ham.

Liverpool tonight travel to Stoke, whose transformation under Mark Hughes was described by Klopp as "maybe the biggest change in football," for the first leg of their semi-final requiring a positive reaction to a worryingly weak display on Saturday.

It was a message Klopp spelt out in blunter vernacular at Upton Park when his players felt the full force of his displeasure for the first time since his arrival at Anfield.

Klopp has backed his squad since taking charge, but indicated his faith is not blind as he stressed the need for a collective raising of standards.

 

Asked if his patience had a limit, he said: "Yes, of course, always. But I build it up again after this so it's not that I lose it forever because that's not allowed.

"I always say the truth to the players.

"After West Ham I really was not satisfied because it was not enough so we had a talk about this.

"Sometimes you need to give the players time straight after a game and other times you need to give them information. That's what I did and there was not too much back.

 

"If we play like this then it is possible for everybody to win against us and that is not allowed. That was it. The next day we spoke again about the game and now we take information about Stoke."

Injuries to the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Divock Origi and Danny Ings have hampered Liverpool's ability to rotate, although James Milner could return to the squad for the trip to the Britannia. Yet Klopp once again shared the blame for a below par performance which followed hard on the heels of recent defeats to Newcastle and Watford.

"I felt responsible at West Ham," said Klopp, who would not be drawn on whether Adam Bogdan will start in goal as in previous rounds or Simon Mignolet would be recalled. "That's how I am.

"I always feel much more responsible for defeats than for victories because I think about what I should have done differently before a game to avoid situations like that around the West Ham goals.