While the scoreboard at Fulham reflected a draw, the feeling around the result was one akin to a defeat and Jordan Henderson knows there are “no excuses” from Liverpool.
To say it was not Liverpool’s day on Saturday would be an understatement, the Reds just never clicked into gear and seized control away from Fulham.
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah kept the hosts honest and helped take a point back to Merseyside, but it was a tale of the two points that got away.
Klopp assessed the match as fans would, that “the result is not a defeat but the performance was,” and for the captain the Reds were duly “punished.”
“We knew it would be tough before the game, [against] a newly promoted side. We knew it would be a tough game, so there’s no excuses from us,” Henderson told LFCTV.
“I felt as though we looked a little bit lethargic at times, we didn’t play the way we normally do, and you get punished in the Premier League.
“The only positive is we reacted in the right way, especially second half, [we] created a few more chances and possibly could have nicked it. But I think a fair result was a draw.”
Lethargic was not a word you would have associated with the Reds just a week prior to their trip to Fulham, with Man City shown the intensity that Klopp’s side can cross the white line with.
But Fulham did not get to receive the same treatment and a draw may have been flattering for Liverpool, who have plenty of room to improve in the weeks and months ahead.
“Disappointing, but probably the best thing is we didn’t lose the game,” Henderson added on the result.
“We had a couple of chances at the end to win, but overall I think we can play a lot better than we were today. So yeah, overall, disappointed with the result and the performance.”
With a nine-day break between the matches against Fulham and Crystal Palace, “lethargic” is not a word that we should hear any time soon.
