'In most situations we are really good at defending'

But the boss says he will work with his players to iron out the problems that have cost them goals in recent games.

The Reds have conceded five times in their last two outings - a defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium and an Anfield draw with West Ham United.

And, while Klopp admitted he is hardly thrilled by the recent concession of goals, he is not overly concerned about his players' ability to defend.

The German also felt there was a degree of misfortune in Liverpool's failure to claim three points against the Hammers last time out.

"As a manager, if you concede goals, how can you be happy about this? But they are all different, thankfully," he told reporters. 

"We have to work on all the different things, but it's quite difficult to work a lot on free-kicks or on deflected passes in defence. 

"I think for us, and especially for me, the most important thing is that in absolutely most of the situations, we are really good in defending. 

"Yesterday [against West Ham] we had a little bit of a problem but it's a clear rule that the boys are responsible for the good things and I am responsible for the bad things in the game.

"I remember my [pre-match] meeting and it was a little bit about striking back and showing a reaction and we scored a wonderful [goal for] 1-0 but we were really too offensive. 

"We had nearly no protection, it didn't produce a lot for the other team but it let them come back a little bit in the game. 

"The goals were different but it looked like we feel we are only good when we can make high pressure but that's not the truth, we did it differently already."

LFCTV GO: Klopp's pre-Middlesbrough press conference in full

While Klopp was keen to make a case for his defence, he did admit there is one area where his team have struggled in recent weeks.

The absence of injured attacker Philippe Coutinho has left the Reds struggling for numbers in midfield during defensive moments, he feels.

The boss said: "It's a little bit about formation, at this moment we played with three real strikers. I know everybody misses Phil, of course, but the role he played was very often like a central midfielder or a No.8 when he came in the middle. 

"That means when you misplace a pass from there or lose the ball then we already have a formation for counter-press and things like this. Now we have too many players in the first line. 

"We still create chances with this but it's, of course, a little bit too risky. That's what we have to adapt now, we know already what we have to work on but that doesn't mean it works immediately in the first second. And then you concede these kind of goals."

The German also felt his players could have made better decisions in the opposition box as they were held to a frustrating draw on Sunday.

And he is targeting improvement by the time the Reds head to Middlesbrough on Wednesday for another challenging Premier League encounter. 

"The free-kick is not to defend, things happen, and the second goal is unlucky," he continued.

"But you are still in the game, you are the clear better team and you create a lot of chances; we had four or five situations where you could have had a penalty, that's another part of the truth. But you cannot think too much about this. 

"It's a draw with a big part of the game a good performance, in a very difficult game from the first second on because it was a highly motivated West Ham with a lot of players back [from injury]. 

"From the beginning they thought more about defending than attacking, so it makes the job not easy when you are behind. 

"That's the story of the game, you have to strike back, and when I heard afterwards that we had a new record for shooting in the box, that's an interesting thing. 

"That was my feeling after the game, that we were always in their box. We could have done better there but how can you get used to being in the box of the other team against West Ham with that many legs defending?

"You do the right thing, you force these situations, but in the end you have not enough for it, and in other situations you could have done better. 

"In the crossing position inside the box we never forced an own goal with a hard pass between goalkeeper and their last line, we were always trying to find our free player. 

"[There are] a lot of things to analyse, but it's only two days until the next game, so we cannot make the biggest analysis.

"We have to adjust, do a few things, and make little changes and then we are in the next game, that's how it is. 

"It's kind of similar, kind of different - we already made our analysis of the Middlesbrough team and their style of play. 

"So, a lot of work to do but not a lot to say because we are still on a good way. We had two games which we should have won but we didn't, that cost us five points. 

"But it's our mistake, let's carry on, take the good things and sort the not-so-good things."