Jurgen Klopp defends team selection after FA Cup defeat

Jurgen Klopp brushed off suggestions that he disrespected the FA Cup last night through his team selection against Wolves, with the manager pointing out that his changes were enforced rather than chosen.

Goals from Raul Jimenez and Ruben Neves either side of a Divock Origi effort were enough to send Wolves through to the next round and dump Liverpool out of the competition.

Klopp was forced to bring on 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever after Dejan Lovren suffered a very early hamstring injury, and gave starting opportunities to Curtis Jones and Rafael Camacho.

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WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 07: Raul Jimenez of Wolves scores during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool at Molineux on January 7, 2019 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Getty Images)

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However, a lackluster and disjointed performance saw the visitors defeated, and the Reds manager found himself having to defend his team selection after the final whistle.

“I’m not sure what you all would have said if our centre-half situation (from the start) was Fabinho and Ki-Jana, probably a few smart people would have told me I don’t respect the competition,” Klopp said, as quoted by Teamtalk.

“It doesn’t make sense to bring a 16-year-old boy from the start but he came on and did well.

“I changed a lot because we have to, not because I wanted to.

“After the City game we had immediately a few players who were ill with a sore throat. Pretty much all the players who weren’t here today had little problems.

“Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson were in our plans. Dejan was not in our plans, he was only supposed to be on the bench.

“The intensity of the last few games gave me information it is not possible to start with the three up front.

“We have been playing with a similar line-up in some really tough games.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com