With Liverpool unable to find any kind of consistency so far this season, Jurgen Klopp claims his side must “defend the sh*t out of everybody” in order to find their top form.
The Reds’ disjointed performances led to Klopp making the decision to change the formation of his team against Rangers on Tuesday.
It was a move that paid off, with Liverpool keeping a clean sheet and easing to a 2-0 victory.
All eyes now, are on whether Klopp’s side can build on the performance, with the Liverpool boss suggesting his change of system, which saw the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kostas Tsimikas take up more reserved positions, was made to make his side more defensively solid.
That, he says, is the key to consistency, with the German cautious to suggest he has definitely found a way to solve Liverpool’s problems.
“You can not now say ‘now we are back’, we need consistency, and for consistency we need to defend the… rubbish out of everybody,” Klopp told reporters in his pre-Arsenal press conference on Friday.
“That’s what we have to do, and I’m not interested in this short term diagnosis: ‘oh that was good, that was bad’. No, we have to be good until we are outstanding. That’s what we have to be.
Asked to clarify his comment about “defending the rubbish,” Klopp went on to say what he really wanted to!
“What I wanted to say was that we have to defend the sh*t out of everybody we face, and that’s why I used the word rubbish! That’s what we have to do, and that’s what we try.”
The Liverpool boss was also quizzed on his side’s lack of intensity this season.
There have been suggestions that Liverpool have struggled as a result of their gruelling 2021/22 campaign, which saw them play every possible game.
But Klopp insists his team’s early season struggles were down to some of his players not committing to a “common plan” on the pitch.
“In football, in our case, we don’t talk about ‘we wanted it last year 100% and this year was only 80%’, he continued.
“The boys wanted it 100% but maybe only put in 97%, but not consciously, just in these decisive moments.
“Because things didn’t work out right. Some players had to play too early, some players were new, some players were young and all these kinds of things.
“All of a sudden a well drilled team didn’t work together anymore, but not willingly, just because one was like ‘can I really push up?’ and the other one was already there.
“Pressing doesn’t work like this. You commit to pressing and you do it. You don’t press or you only defensive press around your own box, fine, but you have to commit to a common plan. And it only works if everyone feels the same.
“And that might have been the problem, that we were not all in the same place in that moment, that we all had the same confidence level for doing these things. Because we all had different solutions for the same problem.”
Fan Comments