He should check his glasses - Klopp finds his deplorable team play as 'brilliant'?!

We checked once, twice... No, there's no mistake in Liverpool - Manchester City (1-4) post-match reports. Jurgen Klopp really did say that his team played brilliantly during a vast part of the yesterday's game. And he said it with no deliberate irony whatsoever.

So, what would have the Germain tactician think if they were tied with the opponents, or won the game, or trashed them as Pep Guardiola's side did? Only he knows the answer, but those awkward compliments are coming after the third home defeat in a row (the worse stats for the Reds since 1963!) seem like a sheer pep talk.

"Big part of the game was a brilliant game from my side. I really liked it.

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"We played really good football in the first half. The second half, City changed the system slightly. A little adaptation and we would be in the game again, but at the start of the second half we did not give enough options to play and gave the first goal away.

"We gave them too much opportunity. They scored that goal, and we scored the equaliser. We were good again but then made two massive mistakes that are clear. At 3-1 down, it is tough to take and then Foden with a genius situation for the fourth goal.

"If we play football as we did for a long time tonight then we will win football games, 100%."

Ok, against Big Sam and his WBA there's a huge chance they would actually win with this kind of display. But you can't expect a victory when you have super determined City on the other side of the ground. And when your custodian passes the ball straight into opponents' striker foot like poor Alisson did yesterday. Twice!

"It is true as well we did not give him a lot of options, especially the first one. Second yeah, he just mishit the ball, maybe he had cold feet, it sounds funny but doesn't know the situation. He has saved our lives many times, no doubt about that, tonight he made mistakes."

No one can neglect Klopp's knowledge, let alone results with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. But this time it seems that he's just trying to keep his guys in high spirits despite that dreadful trashing. Why? Many things are on a stake at the moment - even the Champions League spot is in danger for the Scousers, so there's no time for mourning.

But plenty of work to do on a training ground. Especially in midfield and with injuries-affected defence. Not only they are missing Virgil van Duyk and Joel Matip, but those circumstances urge skipper Jordan Henderson to withdraw from the midfield and play in his unnatural position in the defence. Both lines are suffering because of that manoeuvre.

"I am very disappointed with the result of course," stated Henderson for Sky Sports after the City tie.

"I don't think the result reflected the performance, to be honest, but we made mistakes and got punished.

"It is hard to take now, but in football, you have to move on quickly. We need to use this week to prepare the best we can for a challenging game with Leicester, " concluded Henderson.