Liverpool need to be 'more aggressive' at Stoke, says Jurgen Klopp
Tuesday 5 January 2016 19:02, UK
Jurgen Klopp is demanding more aggression from his Liverpool side in their Capital One Cup semi-final first leg at Stoke on Tuesday night.
Liverpool were well beaten at West Ham on Saturday and Klopp is desperate to redress the balance at the Britannia Stadium as the Reds strive to win a trophy he rates as important.
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"We were passive," he said. "That's not good in life or in football. We have to be more aggressive.
"You have to react to defeats in the right way. This cup is important. We have to go for it.
"Our target is to win it. It will be tough because Mark Hughes has done a brilliant job. Good scouting in the summer, maybe the biggest change in football is how Stoke played a few months or years ago and how they are playing now. That is really good.
"It will be a different game against Stoke. We know about the qualities of Stoke. It's a team I know most about because I know most of their players.
"Marko Arnautovic was a young player in Germany who had some problems, but he has a big talent. He's scoring goals, making runs behind lines, playing as more of a false-nine."
West Ham scored with two headers at the weekend and Klopp admits cutting out the supply is a major concern.
"We have issues with crosses," he added. "We have an issue with crosses, before we had an issue with set-plays. It is always a ball in the air.
"As long as the ball is on the ground most of the time, we handle it. When the ball is in the air we have some problems with the goals we conceded. We know this, we have not solved this.
"We were really serious in analysing. Clear in our words. No excuses. We have to change for sure."
We were passive. That's not good in life or in football. We have to be more aggressive.
But Klopp is adamant the problem does not lie with goalkeeper Simon Mignolet insisting: "Our goalkeeper situation is absolutely okay. Simon Mignolet is a really good goalkeeper."
