Jurgen Klopp dismissed the idea that Liverpool are struggling for goals because their forwards are “selfish”.
Liverpool are struggling to secure a fourth consecutive season of Champions League football, with the Reds currently sixth in the Premier League table with five games remaining.
They are a point above Tottenham in seventh, two points clear of eighth-placed Everton, a point behind West Ham in fifth and seven points behind Chelsea, who are fourth.
Owen claims ‘selfish’ Liverpool duo are sabotaging each other
One of their recent issues has been scoring. Liverpool have dropped points late on against Leeds and Newcastle despite having 39 shots across the two games.
Klopp is at pains to find an explanation for the struggles experienced by Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota, but has ruled out one possibility that the likes of Michael Owen and Graeme Souness have put forward.
“We did have a look to see if we are too selfish,” he told Sky Sports. “We are not. They are not more selfish now or less selfish. That is not the case.
“It is always like this when you miss chances. You look whether he could have passed. There are one or two situations where that could have happened but it is not as easy as telling the boys not to be selfish.
“One thing is clear, the selfish thing we can put off the table.”
Klopp offered “a good example” for why Liverpool are not at their explosive best in attack.
“We can see the boys are not confident enough in the moment,” he said. “They don’t use their first touch. They want to make sure the ball is in the right position and then it is too late, the defender jumps in.
“There are a lot of things. After not scoring for a while, you do not use some situations for finishing. That is normal because we are not flying.
“A good example was Mo Salah two years ago against Chelsea. Long ball, right side. Mo dribbles inside and fires the ball from round about 25 yards into the far corner. It was a great goal. It was not even a chance because there were seven or eight players in between.
“When you are full of confidence you just want to come inside and give it a try. We do not do this often enough and when we do shoot from distance, we don’t hit the target.”
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