Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp urged his side to go back to basics as they prepare to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday in an FA Cup third-round replay in the aftermath of a humiliating 3-0 Premier League loss at Brighton & Hove Albion. Cup holders Liverpool were held to a 2-2 home draw by Wolves earlier this month after Hwang Hee-chan scored a 66th-minute equalizer and were fortunate not to lose after a late Wolves goal was disallowed for a controversial offside.
If Liverpool beat Wolves they will again face Brighton, who put three goals past the Merseyside club in both league meetings this season and dominated from the start in Saturday’s win. “These are football problems, you solve them with football. To play better than at Brighton should not be that difficult…,” Klopp told reporters on Monday.
“We have to be compact, we have to defend. In too many moments, the pitch looks too big. It is the way we defend. You have to go back to basics, that is what we have to do.” Klopp said that Liverpool would put out the strongest possible lineup against Wolves, but added that they could be forced to make changes to the side that faced Brighton.
“(Wolves) are in a good moment; they played well here, won the game at the weekend (1-0 at home to West Ham United). It will be tough,” Klopp said. “Not all players who played the last game are available now for different reasons, and we will make changes. We want to win the game.
“I could say to the players who lost at Brighton, ‘You got us in this situation, let’s see how you get us out’. But that wouldn’t be taking responsibility, I can’t do that. I will take decisions, we will make changes. That makes sense.” The German manager, who has previously said that Liverpool are unlikely to sign more players in the January window, said his squad was not too thin.
“We look outside (to transfers) as well. It’s not that we’re stubborn and think we will keep these boys until 2060,” Klopp said. “If the solutions are out there, doable and available, of course we would buy players. But we have an existing squad and it is underperforming but I cannot blame everyone else. I have to take responsibility. That is my first concern.
“We have players, they are just not available… Our squad is not too small. Yes, we have to strengthen, oh yes, but is the right time to do it? I can’t see it because of the situation we are in.”
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