'We have to improve' - Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool must do 'everything better' ahead of Rangers clash
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Published 03/10/2022 at 14:55 GMT
Liverpool have looked below their best so far this season, winning just twice in the Premier League and only keeping two clean sheets in all competitions. Manager Jurgen Klopp says they need to "play better, consistently better; defend better, attack better" ahead of their Champions League clash against Rangers. Klopp also says they are conceding "similar goals" in games.
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Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool need to “do everything better” as they look to improve after a rocky start to the season.
Liverpool have only won twice in the Premier League and are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal following their 3-3 home draw with Brighton at the weekend.
They were also thrashed 4-1 by Napoli in the Champions League before edging past Ajax in their second group game.
They now face back-to-back European clashes against Rangers, starting with a meeting at Anfield on Tuesday.
“We have to improve,” said Liverpool manager Klopp.
“We have to play better, consistently better; defend better, attack better, pretty much everything. It’s like it is. I don’t want to talk too much about it but it’s really like this – it’s only two years ago we had a very similar situation for different reasons where we lost our full defence, our centre-halves, all of them pretty much, and had to find solutions.
“We lost our game completely, nobody could recognise [us] anymore, we just wore the same shirts. But couldn’t react as quick as people could wish. But we found a way out because we worked on it and that’s what we will do this time."
Liverpool were on track for a historic quadruple deep into last season, only to lose in the Champions League final to Real Madrid and come up just short in the league against Manchester City.
Their defence has been a particular area of concern this season with just two clean sheets in all competitions so far.
Klopp said: “We have conceded similar goals with teams going through the same gaps.
"The problem we have is that we have a really brave way of defending usually and when the timing in our defending is not perfect then we leave a gap open.
“We have to be more compact, we have that in our mind, we know that. But in the moment when it’s going well you do it and then you do it again but the timing is still not right.
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Liverpool drew 3-3 at home with Brighton in their last game
Image credit: Getty Images
“Defending is kind of an art and it worked for us really long, really well, but when it’s not working out anymore you realise step by step how much you have to go back to the basics that you defend solid again.”
Asked whether there is a quick fix to the defensive issues, Klopp added: “Yes, we can improve, we can play exactly the same and do better – that’s already a fix.
“So that’s how it is, timing gets better. But how I said, if we can do something, we will do that as well to make it easier for the boys. That’s it. That’s actually always the job.
“It’s the same job I have in the time when you win 10, 12 times in a row – it doesn’t happen very often but you have to stay on top of it, work on details, all these kinds of things. That’s what we do now, just with a different confidence level, so that’s how it is.”
Rangers went all the way to the Europa League final last season but are yet to pick up a point in Group A.
"Rangers are a good football team and well coached," said Klopp.
"They had an exceptional season in Europe last season. That's what we have to prepare for. We expect a proper fight, a real fight."
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