Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has shouldered responsibility for his side's current form and their lack of transfer activity during the January window.
The Reds ended 2016 with a four-match winning streak to establish themselves as Chelsea's closest rivals for the Premier League title, but since the turn of the year they have won just one of 10 games across all competitions - with that solitary victory coming against League Two side Plymouth Argyle.
A 2-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Hull City on Saturday made it four defeats and a draw from their last five matches, leading to suggestions that they should have strengthened during the January transfer window, but Klopp insists that the right targets were not available.
"What's very important, never blame anybody else for your own mistakes. That's not the case. I cannot change my answer only because we played bad football [against Hull]. I cannot say 'yes it would be fantastic if the club gave me the opportunity', we had from the club side the opportunity to do something but we didn't find the right players. That's because the players were not available," he told reporters.
"We tried different things, it's not a money issue or whatever different reason. I take everything. If you say now 'not enough players, not good enough players' I have to take it. We have to show the reaction but it will not change my answers because of things like this after a game which I'm not happy about. You can't believe how many questions I ask myself, even when you win 5-0, 6-0. That's not important.
"I don't think I'm perfect, that doesn't change things like this. I've said it a few times before but I feel 100% responsible for defeats, much more than I feel for wins, and my whole life has been like this. It doesn't mean for me I'm not suffering, I don't do self-pity, I'm not like this. I know when I get up tomorrow I am solution-orientated, there are solutions 100% but I cannot do it here.
"I respect all your questions, you have been really polite and nice and you could have been more aggressive but even that I would have accepted, but now we have to change it. That's a football thing. Even when it feels in this moment really bad, it's not the biggest problem in the world. Many teams already made mistakes and changed it but for this, you have to do the right things, and I'm quite confident we can do the right things."
Liverpool's form has seen them slip out of the top four and 13 points behind league leaders Chelsea.
Barney Corkhill
