Jurgen Klopp: Bournemouth equaliser made me nearly vomit

Jurgen Klopp was close to vomiting after Bournemouth’s late leveller as Liverpool missed out on the chance to open up an eight-point gap between themselves and fifth place.

The Reds fought back from conceding early at Anfield when Georginio Wijnaldum’s back-pass presented Benik Afobe with a gift, as goals from Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi put the hosts on course to go well clear of Arsenal and Manchester United in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

However, with Coutinho having come off after being sick at half-time, a Liverpool team that then reverted to a back three allowed Joshua King space to rifle in an 87th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw, with the home side’s defence having failed to clear following a long throw and a Harry Arter shot.

“Usually you close the game in one moment, we didn’t, we left it open,” Klopp explained.

“Then it’s a second ball after a set piece and that made me nearly vomit. That’s of course not nice. We have to take it. It’s my responsibility, all of this, and I have to be clear in this situations. I will find a solution for this.”

The burden of blame could easily have been laid at Ragnar Klavan’s door after the Estonian allowed King to turn into a shooting position, though Klopp refrained from blaming him or any other Liverpool player.

“When my son does something that is not right, probably I have a big part of the responsibility,” he said.

“I should have explained better. It’s a situation that’s not too different.

“I will tell them that they had a part but there’s nothing else to say. I said it earlier in the season: the bad things are my responsibility, the good things are the responsibility of the players. I think that is a fair deal because I have the age to get it.

“With three points we would feel completely different but it would have been pretty much the same game. That’s how we have to see it.

“It feels already different, it should be disappointing but tomorrow we have to take it like it is. It’s one point more than before. Not what you wanted, but it could have been worse.

“We lost already games like this this season and we didn’t so maybe that is a positive.”

The point may prove crucial for Bournemouth given the form of the sides beneath them in the table and they are now seven clear of the relegation zone with just seven fixtures remaining.

In their second top-flight season Eddie Howe’s side have taken a share of the spoils at Anfield and Old Trafford, as well as beating Liverpool at home and drawing with Tottenham and Arsenal.

“There’s really good signs for us,” Howe said.

“It took the win at Chelsea last year to really get the players to believe we could win anywhere in the division but I think this season the big results against those teams have reinforced that belief.

“That showed here, when you are 2-1 down, you have to keep believing, keep the focus that you can score. We did that and that will further enhance us in further games.”