Jurgen Klopp looking for Liverpool reaction against Ajax after 'worst game' of his reign

Jurgen Klopp has described his team's 4-1 Champions League defeat against Napoli in their Group A opener as “the worst game” of his Liverpool reign.

The German is looking for a reaction from his players when they take on Dutch side Ajax at Anfield on Tuesday as they look to get their European campaign up and running.

Last season's beaten finalists could not have started their new campaign in worse fashion as they found themselves 3-0 down at half-time in an opening 45 minutes that also saw goalkeeper Alisson Becker save a penalty.

“I watched the game back plenty of times and it was a real horror show to be honest. It was the worst game we played since I was here,” Klopp said of the heavy defeat in Italy.

“Eight out of 11 were below their level and the three others were not on a top level, just a normal game.

“I have to do something, I can’t sit there and wait for how we react. Is this the situation I wanted? No. But now you are in it you find it interesting and challenging.

“[We had a] general meeting, showing these situations and they are too obvious. It was not needed to say a lot about it but I did anyway.

“Did I question the players? Generally, no. In this situation, yes. ‘Why would you do that? Why would we do that?’

“When James Milner arrives too late in a challenge and we lose challenges where we would usually win them, you know something is wrong.

“There are four or five days now of absolute truth. We didn’t hide anything, we didn’t hold back anything, there was no need for that.

“We just said it how it is, but not to knock the players down or whatever, just to make sure where we are now is the starting point for us and we make sure we sort the problems together on the pitch.

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