Klopp urges Liverpool to go back to basics

Liverpool’s German manager Jurgen Klopp looks on during the English Premier League football match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England on January 14, 2023. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)

Jurgen Klopp has told Liverpool to go back to basics as his troubled side try to stop their season spiralling out of control in Tuesday’s FA Cup clash at Wolves.

Liverpool crashed to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday to leave them languishing in ninth place in the Premier League.

The Reds have lost six times in the league this season and the Brighton debacle, coming hot on the heels of a woeful defeat at Brentford, has increased the sense of crisis enveloping Anfield.

Bedevilled by injuries to several key stars including Virgil van Dijk and Luis Diaz, Liverpool are a shadow of the team that nearly won the quadruple last season.

Klopp believes the first step on the road to recovery is making sure Liverpool have a more solid defensive base, starting in the FA Cup third round replay at Molineux.

“The issues we had were obvious. In the end, these are football problems. To play better football than we did at Brighton should not be too difficult,” Klopp told reporters on Monday.

“We have to be more compact. The pitch looks too big when we are defending. You have to go back to basics and from there you can make steps.

“We have to do some things slightly different and some things the same. All the success in football starts with solid defending and that’s what we have to do again.”

Klopp will make changes against Wolves as he seeks to freshen up a group that have looked increasingly lethargic in recent weeks.

“We need fresh legs. The easy thing for me is to sit