FA Cup: When Jurgen Klopp blamed the ball for Adrian's howler vs Chelsea

GiveMeSport

15 April 2022

The one trophy Jurgen Klopp is yet to lift at Liverpool is the FA Cup.

He’s won the Champions League, Premier League, Carabao Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup, but the FA Cup has eluded him thus far.

This season is the first time Klopp has even reached the semi-finals of the competition.

In his first three attempts, the former Borussia Dortmund manager was eliminated in the fourth-round.

The 2018/19 campaign was even worse, as Liverpool exited the FA Cup in the third-round after a 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Klopp managed to finally reach the fifth-round of the competition in 2019/20, but that was as far as the Reds went as they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea.

Despite fielding a very strong XI, Liverpool failed to deliver the goods at Stamford Bridge and their performance on the day was hugely disappointing.

The Merseyside outfit were second-best all over the field and Adrian didn’t exactly help matters by dropping an absolute clanger in just the 13th-minute of play.

Alisson Becker’s replacement fumbled a fairly tame shot by Willian from the edge of the box into his own net.

Video: Adrian’s howler vs Chelsea in 2019/20 FA Cup

That lapse in concentration set the tone for Liverpool and Adrian could make no excuses whatsoever.

But Klopp refused to blame the Spanish ‘keeper and instead defended him by blaming the FA Cup ball itself for the blunder.

“The first goal, we lose a ball, what was it 18, 19 yards in front of the goal?,” Klopp said, per the Daily Mail.

“The specific characteristic of the ball and Willian’s shooting technique made life really difficult.

“Before that Adrian saved a sensational ball. He caught the ball and quick restart, which was a good idea, but not everybody was ready.

“Fabinho was surprised by the pass. We wanted to play like this but we lose that ball and they finish it off.”

Rio Ferdinand Speaking Facts on Ten Hag (Football Terrace)

As excuses for an error in a football match go, that’s right up there with the worst. Adrian didn’t have trouble with the ball, he simply took his eye off it and allowed Willian’s shot to ricochet off of him into the net, case closed.

Liverpool fans will be hoping their manager is not forced into a position where he has to make excuses on Saturday evening.

The Reds take on Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in their FA Cup semi as they bid to keep their quadruple dream alive.