Jürgen Klopp declared himself frustrated after Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at home to Manchester United on Sunday, insisting that his side played well enough to deserve more from the game.
Off the back of a 3-3 thriller in midweek against Arsenal, the Reds were equally as enthusiastic and energetic at Anfield against their fierce rivals - but they were unable to take advantage of their dominance.
Having wasted their opportunities, Klopp's side fell behind in the 78th minute as Wayne Rooney pounced onto the rebound of Marouane Fellaini's header which smacked off the crossbar to fire past Simon Mignolet and hand United maximum points.
Downbeat Klopp disappointed to lose despite encouraging performance
Speaking in his post-match press conference, a dejected Klopp insisted that the "only possibility to be satisfied" after a derby like is it "to win it" which he said is the "one job to do" in games likes these.
He explained that if United "were to talk about their performance" then they might admit "it was not that good" but added "they won, so they are really happy."
The German said that he felt his side "played better" but come away "really frustrated because of the result." He hailed his side's performance "and a lot of things" they did as "really good" and said that their chance creation "was good" but the finishing "was not good."
He told reporters that his side were "unlucky" at the set-play, saying they "changed two positions for defending set-plays a few moments before" but acknowledged that they "didn't avoid the cross" and they lost both Fellaini and Rooney inside the box.
He bemoaned those three mistakes around the goal as "obviously too much" against a team "with the quality of Manchester United" and said there "was not enough time to come back in the game" after that.
Klopp reflected that it is "frustrating" in "this moment" which he said is "how it should be" but added that they "have to carry on" and declared: "That's what we'll do."
Klopp frustrated by some of his team's decision-making in attacking positions
Liverpool edged much of the game as Louis van Gaal's men posed little threat, but Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson were guilty of wasting good opportunities whilst Emre Can's well-hit drive was excellently saved by David de Gea.
And though the Spaniard was in good form to keep a clean sheet on L4, Klopp insisted that his team should have been better in the final third.
He admitted that he didn't have "the best place in the stadium" to be able to "talk too much about finishing" but acknowledged that De Gea was awarded as Man of the Match and so said "he had a few good moments and that's how it is."
But he added that he doesn't care "too much about that the situations" where De Gea could make saves, instead choosing to focus on "the situation where we could have had chances and we didn't because this move, this pass [was the wrong one]."
Klopp said that Liverpool "had a lot of these situations" in both halves and insisted that they had ample enough chances to win the game, saying they "could have had more" if they "would have done this better."
He concluded that, "altogether", De Gea "had a few good saves"a nd his side had some "not-that-good finishes" whilst United had "one good finish" and won the game.
Roberto Firmino was the "smallest" problem on the day, insists Klopp
Klopp's tactical decision to once again start Roberto Firmino as a false No.9 and start Christian Benteke from the bench was questioned by reporters aftwards, but the German was pleased with what he saw from the Brazilian.
He called the centre-forward the "smallest" of all of Liverpool's problems on the afternoon, saying Firmino has a "good game" and "can play this position" and is "a real centre-forward when he plays there."
The Reds boss again insisted that they had "no problem in this position" and said that it's "too easy to say" that they would have scored had they had "a different player in this position."
Klopp said they have "some problems" but insisted that they "should not think about this" for as long as they "have enough players to play."
He said his team played "not bad" after having played "a good game against Arsenal" where he admitted they conceded "too many goals" - but said they are "on a good way" as they showed against United.
But he also willingly accepted that everyone would be "more satisfied" with the win, which he said they "don't have often enough" - calling it "the truth" that they are not getting enough results.
On what he can do to help the players, Klopp added that he "cannot make the last push of the ball over the line" but said it's his job "to help them create chances" which he admitted seems to be "not too easy" for his players currently.
He said that he didn't want to talk about "common problems in football because all teams have problems" and "some problems are different" but said that it's his job to "help them to more often come into clear situation where it's easier for them to score goals."
