Jurgen Klopp insists Rhian Brewster’s Community Shield penalty miss will be a learning curve for the young striker at Liverpool.
And the Reds boss says he should take the blame for the decision to bring Brewster on solely for the shootout against Arsenal at Wembley.
Takumi Minamino’s first Liverpool goal cancelled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s classy opener before the Reds were beaten 5-4 on spot-kicks in London.
Brewster was substituted on in the closing stages of the game with the intention of taking one of the five penalties but struck his effort against the top of the crossbar.
Klopp played down the miss from the in-demand youngster and said the incident will be a good one to learn from for a player who only turned 20 in April.
Why should I sign up?
Premier League champions Liverpool are looking to dominate again next season and we’ll have all the latest news on any moves they make in the transfer market this summer.
You’ll get breaking transfer news, analysis, rumours, live coverage and much more.
Liverpool correspondent Paul Gorst will also be sending an extra weekly newsletter with all the latest from behind-the-scenes at Melwood.
How do I sign up?
It’s free, easy and takes no time at all.
- First just click on this link to our newsletter sign-up centre.
- Once you’re there, put your email address where it says at the top, then click on the Liverpool FC newsletter. There are other ones too if you want them as well.
- When you’ve made your choice, press the Update Preference button at the bottom.
That’s it! Your emails will come through to your inbox from that moment on. It’s that simple.
“We constantly have to learn and prove that we can deal with defeats,” Klopp said. “We lost today in the competition and Rhian was a part of that.
“So if he would have scored and someone else missed, it is the same. I get it, it is different when you are the one [who missed] and I have been in the same situation as a player and it is not nice. It is just part of the deal.
“With his shooting technique, I don’t think ever in his life a goalkeeper will be in touch with the ball around penalties, but missing like this is possible because he takes full risk.
“I don’t ever remember him missing a penalty since we have been together but today it happened. It can happen but dealing with defeats in football is a very, very important lesson always and we are all not perfect in it.”
Klopp said the miss won’t have a detrimental impact on Brewster, long term, as Liverpool weigh up their next move for a player who has been the subject of half-a-dozen loan proposals from Premier League clubs.
Klopp added: “This will not harm Rhian. If there is someone to blame for that then it is me, because I made that decision.
“I brought Gini Wijnaldum off and put him on for the penalty shootout and we wanted him in the position because I know he is a naturally confident boy and he is a real finisher.
“His penalties are usually really good but today, not. That happens in football and in life. No problem.
“I rarely share my football experiences with the boys because it was too long ago but I am not the only one who missed a penalty in my life in the team.
“So the boys pick him up. It is not about me or making it bigger than it is. He missed a penalty but it is all fine. Nothing to apologise for. That is football, no problem.
“We wanted to win the game but we should have scored during the 92 minutes. We didn’t and that is why it came to a penalty shootout.
“We scored four times really well and the one we missed was not the worst one I’ve seen, it is just a bit too high.”
