Klopp: I would be a real idiot to question players' character

Jurgen Klopp says he didn’t get angry with his Liverpool players after their shock defeat to Watford – and that he would have to be “a real idiot” to question their character.

Liverpool’s sensational 18-game winning run in the Premier League came to an end in spectacular fashion at Vicarage Road, but wrapping up the title remains little more than a formality.

With a 22-point lead over Manchester City still intact, Klopp doesn’t believe it would make sense to blow up at his players after their first league defeat in well over a year.

“It can happen that I get angry with the players, but I didn’t get angry with the players in this meeting,” Klopp told reporters.

“From a common-sense point of view, if I go in that meeting and shout at them like they have lost the last 10 games in a row because of a bad attitude, that would be really strange.

“I am not interested in myself feeling better after the meeting. I am interested in the boys getting the right information and it can be more emotional – I wouldn’t say angry – or less emotional.

“If you need to analyse, you analyse and analysis is not really emotional. It is looking at the facts.”

He added: “I am not a little bit in doubt about the character of the boys and I would be a real idiot if I was, to be honest, because they deserve my trust, my faith and they don’t lose it after a bad game.”