Jurgen Klopp made 9 changes to the Liverpool starting eleven including introducing Ki-Jana Hoever, the club's third youngest player to make his debut in the FA Cup. However, the team did not seem effective as Wolves eventually won the tie to advance into the fourth round of the competition. Klopp took a gamble by naming so many changes to his line-up and perhaps, he wanted to give his first-team players a rest. Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane all started on the bench and they can be considered the superheroes of the fantastic season that the Reds have enjoyed thus far in the Premier League. The match saw Dejan Lovren go off injured and this leaves the manager in a defensive crisis because Virgil van Dijk is now the only fit centre-back in the squad. While the Dutch centre-back has impressed many in the Premier League and is being recognized as one of the best players in his position, Liverpool have now lost two consecutive games in all competitions. Klopp would certainly be hoping that they can bounce back when his team travels to face Brighton or else the gap between them and Manchester City would be reduced further. Paul Merson had called the result "the best thing that could happen''. If Liverpool's aim for this season is to win the Premier League, then bowing out of the FA Cup would be a wise decision for they can now focus all their efforts and energy in the league. However, if Klopp wanted to win as many trophies as possible, then being knocked out at such an early stage is indeed a real pity. Klopp has never done particularly well in the FA Cup and here was how fans reacted to their loss. 🔴 @LFC in @EmiratesFACup under Jurgen Klopp: 📅 2015/16 ❌ Knocked out in 4th Round 📅 2016/17 ❌ Knocked out in 4th Round 📅 2017/18 ❌ Knocked out in 4th Round 📅 2018/19 ❌ Knocked out in 3rd Round 😳 Wow. pic.twitter.com/olj10W0mOk — SPORF (@Sporf) January 7, 2019 Small club mentalilty. Embarrasing — Joleon LesGutt (@TG36662777) January 7, 2019 🗣 “The wind didn’t help.” Jurgen Klopp says his Liverpool side struggled with the wind vs Wolves. pic.twitter.com/Fy9NQfMwUL — talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) January 7, 2019 Jürgen Klopp is a Fraud. . Joined Liverpool 2015 . Won no trophies . Gave out 10 million hugs. . 3 out of his last 10 Fa cup games has been wins. When are Liverpool fans going to question him. ! Debate. — Clarke🆅 (@clarkeyyyyyy1) January 7, 2019 Liverpool have lost every game this year😳 — Brim🤙 (@elliotbrimagei1) January 7, 2019 Wolves have drawn with: - Arsenal - Man City - Man Utd Wolves have beaten: - Chelsea - Tottenham - Liverpool What a season Wolves are having. 🧡#WWFC pic.twitter.com/YbdGwrk4bR — bet365 (@bet365) January 7, 2019 Jürgen Klopp's FA Cup record: Exeter City 2–2 Liverpool Liverpool 3–0 Exeter City Liverpool 0-0 West Ham West Ham 2–1 Liverpool Liverpool 0-0 Plymouth Plymouth 0-1 Liverpool Liverpool 1-2 Wolves Liverpool 2-1 Everton Liverpool 2-3 West Brom Wolves 2-1 Liverpool 3 wins in 10. pic.twitter.com/PGYWx8qIsa — bet365 (@bet365) January 7, 2019 Liverpool B ? Have a day off, it was a strong team and Wolves won - end of. — Jordan Burrows (@JordanB13505888) January 7, 2019 No one will care if Liverpool win the league, but odd a manager without a trophy since 2012 and a club with one League Cup in 12 years repeatedly toss it off in the FA Cup. Klopp’s LFC drew with Exeter, went out to relegation fodder Wolves in 2017 & relegated West Brom last year. — Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) January 7, 2019 Why are all the pundits going in 😂 Wolves are full strength against a midfielder and a 16 year old CB and second string players ffs — Joe Ferman (@JoeFerman) January 7, 2019 Klopp: “Lallana in best shape in his life” Lallana: “will I finally get a start vs Wolves then?” Klopp: pic.twitter.com/V6tXaxrdYU — AK (@PrometheusX1Z) January 7, 2019 Pundits: top 6 managers don’t give the youth a chance! Klopp: has Jones, Camacho, Kelleher, Hoever, Christie-davies and Alexander-Arnold in his FA cup squad to face Wolves. Pundits: Managers like Klopp are ruining the magic of the fa cup! They don’t take it seriously! — ♥️ (@bubbIxs) January 7, 2019<doc-sep>Jurgen Klopp denies Liverpool's FA Cup exit has given them any advantage over Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Tottenham. Defeat to Wolves on Monday left the league leaders with a run of five matches - against Brighton, Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham and Bournemouth - before the Champions League last-16 encounter with Bayern Munich in February. By comparison, City and Spurs are both still in four competitions and have Carabao Cup semi-final second legs and FA Cup fourth-round ties to play within that time. But Klopp said: "There's no advantage, we will see it. When does the Champions League start? In February? It's not even a month and then we talk again completely differently. It's just the situation. "Other teams played more games, they are still in competitions, but they can deal with it, you can see it. Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Show all 22 1 /22 Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Ederson - 7 REUTERS Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Danilo - 6 AP Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Vincent Kompany - 7 REUTERS Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool John Stones - 7 REUTERS Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Aymeric Laporte - 6 Action Images via Reuters Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Fernandinho - 8 AP Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Bernardo Silva - 7 Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool David Silva - 7 AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Leroy Sane - 8 Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Raheem Sterling - 8 AP Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Sergio Aguero - 8 Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Alisson - 6 Action Images via Reuters Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Andrew Robertson - 7 AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Virgil van Dijk - 7 REUTERS Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Dejan Lovren - 6 PA Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Trent Alexander-Arnold - 7 AFP/Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Georgino Wijnaldum - 6 Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Jordan Henderson - 6 Action Images via Reuters Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool James Milner - 6 Action Images via Reuters Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Sadio Mane - 6 Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Mohamed Salah - 6 AP Player ratings: Manchester City vs Liverpool Roberto Firmino - 7 PA "We could deal with it as well with the right number of players, that's how it is, but that's all. There's no advantage, we have to use the time. "I would love to still be in these competitions but we are not in. I know Pep (Guardiola) said already that he prefers to be in four competitions. "Yeah, I would prefer the same. But we are not in, so we have to make the best of the time we have now and get as many points as possible. "You have to use the time and really be week in, week out the best shape we can be, understand the job right, understand the challenge right, and go for it. That's our job, nothing else." Klopp made nine changes at Molineux, giving debuts to youth-team players Curtis Jones and Rafael Camacho, while 16-year-old substitute Ki-Jana Hoever was pressed into action after Dejan Lovren sustained an early hamstring problem. That leaves Virgil Van Dijk as the only fit centre-back, although Joel Matip has returned to training this week and could be in contention to play at Brighton. "Joel trained yesterday, first time with the team, but we have to decide day-by-day how he is doing," said Klopp. Lovren limped out of the game with Wolves (AP) "Hendo (Jordan Henderson) will train today, first time, and we will see what that means exactly. Adam (Lallana) out. Dejan out - it's not that serious and I would expect him back maybe after Crystal Palace. Joe (Gomez) of course out. "It's quite special. I think if you want to put a bet on having three centre-halves injured in the same moment, you could win a lot of money. "It usually doesn't happen but here it happened and was a bit of bad luck. That makes it quite a bit tricky." Defeat to City in their last Premier League outing has cut Liverpool's lead to four points, but in any other year their tally of 54 points from 21 matches would have given them a significantly better advantage over the chasing pack. It is not something which concerns Klopp, who ruled out a January loan move for youngster Camacho after his debut at Wolves. Liverpool travel to Brighton on Saturday (Liverpool FC via Getty Images) "Statistics from the past have no relevance in the present because it is always different. We don't think about the season before or 20 years ago," said the Reds boss. "Our season so far is really good and now we have to carry on. It is not important what happened so far. "Two weeks ago I think everyone was so excited about the distance between (the teams at the top) and all of us who are in the job (think) that is just one information in 2,000. "We have now two games which we lost, which is not nice, but it is not a real problem because these games have gone as well. "We only talk here (in the press conference) about the points and the distance, we never do that during the week because it is just not relevant."<doc-sep>Last updated on .From the section Liverpool Jurgen Klopp's squad rotation for Liverpool's 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Wolves was let down by players who "failed miserably", according to former England captain Alan Shearer. Klopp made nine changes to his starting XI, which included two teenage debutants - and brought on a third after an early injury to Dejan Lovren. "When you rotate as he did you're gambling," Shearer told BBC Sport. "He's looking to these guys to give him a performance - they failed miserably." Shearer later tweeted: external-link "I was brought up watching Liverpool trying to win every trophy. Why should that change?" 'It's all my responsibility' - Klopp Klopp's potent attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane began on the bench as the manager picked Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi in attack. However, there was only one pass made between the pair and only one touch in the opposition's penalty area during the first half. Origi did produce a better display after the break, scoring Liverpool's equaliser, but Sturridge, out of contract in the summer, failed to make an impact and was replaced in the 70th minute. At the other end, left-back Alberto Moreno was the only recognised defensive player in a backline which contained midfielder Fabinho at centre-back, alongside 16-year-old Dutch defender Ki-Jana Hoever, who replaced Lovren. Portuguese Rafael Camacho, 18, started at right-back. "It's all my responsibility - they had no rhythm," Klopp told BBC Sport. "There were not a lot of good decisions from me - that's how the days are sometimes." Monday's loss at Molineux was the first time Liverpool have suffered back-to back defeats this season. Wolves took the lead before the break when Raul Jimenez fired in low following a mistake by James Milner. Portuguese attacking midfielder Ruben Neves scored the winner in the second half, with a brilliant strike from more than 30 yards. Despite Monday's defeat, Klopp said: "It's all good. Of course, we don't want to lose football games but it's nothing else. "For us it was an unbelievably intense period, having played Arsenal and Manchester City. "We saw after the City game four or five players got ill immediately. We tried everything and we wanted to give the boys confidence, but that didn't really work out today. We've played worse, we've played better."<doc-sep>
Liverpool were handed an unexpected gift when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek. The loss provided the Reds with an 11-day break after next Saturday's Premier League clash with Crystal Palace. Jurgen Klopp plans to use it to his full advantage as he prepares to take his players abroad to complete some warm weather training before they return to face Leicester City, West Ham and then Bournemouth before the first leg of their Champions League last 16 knockout match at home to Bayern Munich. The Reds manager detailed his thoughts on the break and revealed that he has mixed emotions about what it means. (Image: Getty Images) "The break that we are getting at the end of January is going to be 100% helpful for the boys with injuries," the German manager said. "I hope that Dejan (Lovren) and Joe (Gomez) make big steps to come forward. "For Adam (Lallana) it might be a bit early but we have a few players out and they need the time. "We have Joel (Matip) now back as he was on the bench against Brighton but he as well will use the time for bone healing and it all helps so it's good for us in that way." Also, Liverpool play five times before European football returns but their nearest title challengers Manchester City have eight guaranteed and potentially nine matches prior to their first leg against Schalke on February 20. That is a clear positive but the Liverpool boss was asked whether he thought the break in play would disrupt the rhythm of the team. Klopp was conflicted as he stated "we would like to be playing in the games but unfortunately are not". The manager has however has frequently bemoaned the lack of time his side are able to spend on the grass at Melwood. “We don't train, we just recover and play,” is a familiar phrase from the Reds boss during a Merseyside winter. But Klopp will get what he craves following Liverpool's early exit from the FA Cup. Suddenly, the schedule looks a lot more inviting for the Premier League title contenders and while the German boss still wants to be competing in all competitions the long-term advantage that could be gained from the break may turn that negative into a much greater positive.