Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool ‘gave the game away’ at the end of the first half

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Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool beat Wolves at Molineux on Friday night.

Jurgen Klopp believes his players ‘stopped playing football’ in the last 15 minutes of the first half during Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Wolves on Friday night.

The Reds manager was particularly critical of defender Virgil van Dijk and defensive-midfield duo Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in what was a crucial period of the match.

At the time, Liverpool were leading 1-0 win when Wolves arguably produced their best passage of attacking play, which included a penalty shout from defender Matt Doherty following a challenge from James Milner.

Despite Wolves’ best efforts, the away side were able to nullify the threat of the home team in the second half as Liverpool secured their 11th clean sheet of the season.

After the match, Klopp was critical of his players, especially Van Dijk, Henderson and Fabinho as he explained what they were doing wrong.

“The last 15 minutes we gave the game away,” Klopp told Sky Sports’ Premier League football channel on 21/12/2018 at 10:15 pm.

“You could see the body language. Virgil a little bit didn’t show up, the two 6’s (Henderson and Fabinho) wanted the ball but were standing in the situation ‘give me the ball, ahh, you’re not free’ then you don’t want it. We stopped playing football. You control a game like this in possession, that’s what you do and we did that very long, but the last 15 minutes [of the first half] not.”

As a result of that win at Molineux, Liverpool will now head into Christmas top of the Premier League table but it remains to be seen how big the gap will be between them and second-placed Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s side, who host Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon, are four points behind their title rivals ahead of their crucial weekend encounter.

On Boxing Day, Klopp’s side will host Newcastle United then Champions League-chasing Arsenal before starting the new year with an away clash at Manchester City.