Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says it was 'not possible' for players to do better against Chelsea

The Liverpool manager believes concerns about his side's game management are overblown

Jurgen Klopp did not fault his players for conceding late against Chelsea (Getty)

Jürgen Klopp denied that Liverpool have a problem with game management on Tuesday, claiming he cannot fault his players despite conceding a late goal to draw 1-1 with Chelsea last weekend.

Klopp’s side were pegged back by Willian at Anfield on Saturday after the Brazilian’s 85th-minute cross-cum-shot deceived goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and drifted in at the far post.

The draw with Chelsea came in the same week as the surrender of a three-goal advantage in a Champions League clash with Sevilla, leaving Klopp to ponder how his players dropped four points in the space of four days.

It is not a new problem, either. Liverpool saw 18 points go to waste from winning positions in the Premier League last season, more than any other member of English football’s so-called ‘top six’.

Klopp, however, believes that a combination of Chelsea’s quality and his own side’s poor fortune led to the points being shared and questioned what more Liverpool could have done to keep Antonio Conte’s visitors out.

“You can always say game management is an issue but if you think about the opponent, you have to say it's not that easy,” the Liverpool manager said ahead of Wednesday’s trip to face Stoke City.

“Chelsea brought on [Cesc] Fabregas, who is a completely different player to all the other players [on the pitch for Chelsea]. In one moment, he plays a pass - I think nobody saw the space apart from Fabregas. That's the situation, it's really difficult. You need moments to adapt to it, to react on it, and in these moments the other side can score a goal.

“I completely get it and understand that you always have to write something and find something. We lost the lead in two games but then making that big story of it, I don't get it. It isn't that, it's just the quality of the other team.

“You have to defend sometimes with luck but if you all want us to defend deeper, as many teams are doing in situations like this, you need luck. You need a crossbar, you need a post. We didn't have it.

“They [Chelsea] didn't create many or plenty of chances. The goal was not even a chance, it was a cross, and usually Simon gets it. It was not like this,” Klopp added. “We can always do better but in this specific game I don't think it was possible to do it better.”

“It is up and down in games, you always have to react. The performance was absolutely OK. If somebody wants to make a game management thing of it then that doesn't help because you cannot ignore the quality of the other side.”

The draw with Chelsea ended a promising run of three consecutive league victories and Klopp will hope to return to winning ways at Stoke.

Mark Hughes’ side have one of the top-flight’s worst defensive records, with 26 goals conceded in their 13 games so far, and Liverpool are likely to recall Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané to their starting line-up.

The pair were left among the substitutes’ for the visit of Chelsea with a testing winter schedule in mind and Mané, who was only introduced as a 89th-minute substitute, appeared to remonstrate with his manager after the final whistle on Saturday.

Even so, Klopp said on Tuesday that he is yet to have one of his players knock on his office door and request more time out on the pitch.

“So far, nobody did that. Maybe somebody will knock but that would not change the decision to be honest,” the Liverpool manager said.

“It's not about leaving players out. We do it because we want to use all of them as much as we can because we 100 per cent believe in the quality of these players.

“They only can keep the quality and show the quality if we use them. That's what I said and that's what we will do.”