Jurgen Klopp admitted nobody was to blame but his Liverpool team after they “lost the plot” during their 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.
The reigning champions suffered the shock hammering as Villa striker Ollie Watkins helped fire the hosts into a 4-1 lead at the break.
Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian made a glaring error for the first goal, while defender Joe Gomez was hauled off after a poor display at the back.
Three of Villa’s goals came from big deflections too, but Klopp was adamant the result was down to his players doing “all the things you should not do”.
Asked why Liverpool were beaten so convincingly, Klopp told Sky Sports: “I can’t explain, I’m not sure, but I can tell you what I saw.
“For different reasons Aston Villa forced all the mistakes we made, we played in their cards.
“Obviously with the first goal, with the second as well, the third massively, the free-kick and all these kind of things, then the game has a specific direction.
“The first goal obviously had an impact but not more than it should, Adrian made a mistake, easy goal for them but we conceded goals like this in the past. We lost obviously the plot.
“Creating in the last third was really good. As Villa won the ball each one was a counter attack so our protection was under average.
“You could see already first half, body language dropped and all these kinds of things. You’re 4-1 down, but how the game was we didn’t think we should stop playing.”
