Former Liverpool defender Phil Babb has conceded that he was not pleased with Jurgen Klopp’s substitutions during the Reds’ 3-2 loss to Southampton on Sunday.

The Reds, who headed into the game at St Mary’s on the back of three successive Premier League wins, found themselves 2-0 up by the 22nd minute, courtesy of strikes from Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge.




However, Klopp replaced Dejan Lovren with Martin Skrtel at the break, with the Slovakian being at fault for two of Southampton’s three goals; Skrtel was also guilty of giving away a penalty, which the home team failed to capitalise on.

With several Liverpool midfielders tiring in the second half and Southampton substitute Sadio Mane wreaking havoc, Klopp decided against introducing Jordan Henderson despite telling the England international to gear up.
 


And Babb felt not brining on Henderson contributed to Liverpool’s loss as Southampton took complete control of the midfield battle in the second half.

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“I'm trying to calm down”, he told LFC TV after the game.

“I've not felt this way for a Liverpool performance in an awful long time. Listen, Southampton did come out fast, but they started fast in the first half and we dealt with the pressure.

“But what was quite glaring for me was that there were players that were tiring very very quickly on that pitch and I think the manager has to see that and make changes quicker.

“And we could then have kept or maintained that midfield. Ultimately we lost it when there was no pressure on the shots, there is no pressure on [Graziano] Pelle, we didn't make any tackles – and Southampton just gained in momentum.

“They overran us. At one time, he was going to bring Jordan Henderson on, then he told him to sit down and he really needed him on the pitch.

“So I'm a little bit frustrated about the manager's choice of substitution and when he made them.”

Liverpool are currently ninth in the Premier League with 44 points from 29 games, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, who have played a game more.