Monday 7 December 2015 13:18, UK
Jurgen Klopp says no one at Liverpool was talking about winning the Premier League even before Sundays's defeat at Newcastle.
A Martin Skrtel own goal and Georginio Wijnaldum's late second gave the home side a 2-0 win and ended Liverpool's run of seven wins in eight games under Klopp.
Former Reds midfielder Didi Hamann, a guest on Sky Sports' Super Sunday coverage, afterwards said the performance would put the brakes on people who "got carried away" by his compatriot's encouraging start at Anfield.
But that description does not apply to Klopp himself, who said at his post-match press conference: "I didn't say before that we are title contenders, why should I explain now why we are not? It's really not my thing to talk about.
"For us on this side of the table it's really important always to try to be in the middle - not going nuts when you win and getting crazy when you lose. It's not a reality check, it's only a bad game.
"We played this game and at this moment I'm trying to understand why. We've got to try and understand why. If in professional football you don't feel defeats, you don't feel a loss, then something is really wrong.
"We feel this defeat. We know for today it's deserved, but it hurts, like it should do."
Alberto Moreno had a volley ruled out for offside when Newcastle were leading 1-0, and Klopp joked that the decision was punishment for Liverpool's performance.
He said:"We made our goal but because we weren't good enough today the linesman thought 'well, you don't make world-class goals if you play this ****!"
The Tyneside defeat was just Liverpool's second since Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers in October, and the German does not foresee major upheaval in the January transfer window.
"It's not the market for late decisions," Klopp said. "I would like to work with this team."
