Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool “lost faith” as they slumped to a 3-1 Europa League final defeat to Sevilla in Basle.
Daniel Sturridge’s wondrous curled effort had put the Reds into a 1-0 lead at half-time, but Kevin Gameiro cancelled it out with 17 seconds on the clock in the second half.
Sevilla captain Coke then struck twice to leave Klopp nursing the wounds of a fifth-straight final defeat as manager.
“Even the start I was unhappy with,” Klopp told BT Sport. “It was like it was, we scored a lovely goal had other chances, the disallowed goal, so 1-0 at half-time.
“They had all the ball second half. They score, it’s a knock, it’s not about football. It’s a second when you do not concentrate enough, the first goal is not a problem.
“What happened then was probably we lost faith in our style of play, we were not compact for a second, didn’t defend well, we were nervous.
“That shows that we are not well enough.
“This information from tonight we have to carry. We have to use this experience to be stronger, I’m sure we will be stronger if we use it well.
“I think in this moment, I am responsible for this performance so there’s no criticism from my side.
“I spoke to my players already and tomorrow they go all over the world so that’s how it is.
“Nobody in the stadium believed. I had a few moments when I thought we could change but it’s not enough.”
Defeat means Liverpool will not compete in Europe next season, but Klopp says the extra time he will have on the training pitch will be a benefit in the long-run.
“To be honest, I think about it, it is ok,” he added. “We are responsible for not being in national [European] competition next year, we have to use the time. It’s not about the size of squad, the players we have, it’s about using the time for training, to get better.
“I promise everyone we’re going to use it and come back strong 100 per cent.
“Tonight it could have been enough but not with 50, 60 per cent of our usual quality and the guys tried everything and we didn’t get it tonight. But we will come back.”
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