Press conferenceJürgen Klopp on reacting to Real defeat, Palace analysis and more

The Reds boss reflected further on the Champions League defeat by Real Madrid in midweek and how his side must now go about producing an immediate response at Selhurst Park on Saturday night and beyond.

Read a summary of Klopp’s media briefing, which also included the latest team news and an update on Ibrahima Konate, below…

On how Liverpool react to Tuesday’s defeat by Real and whether they watched the game back immediately…

Yes, of course we watch it back; not the whole game together with the players, [there’s] no time for that really. Same with training, so it is not that you can work now on a lot of stuff in between a [Tuesday] and Saturday game, that’s not possible. But anyhow we are obviously using the information from the game, that’s clear. I understand 100 per cent and I’ve said it now plenty of times, I don’t read a lot anyway, but when you lose a game like this it makes absolutely no sense to read or listen to people who are talking about us. I know 100 per cent how the reflex is.

Conceding five in a home game in the Champions League is absolutely not acceptable, I know that, but it happened anyway so we cannot change that anymore. The way we conceded the goals, we can change. Not for that game but in general – and we have to. But the start in the game was a good one anyway, it was good. It was not only 20 minutes; I know after then we conceded but the first half was a really good half, could have scored another goal, maybe should have scored in that situation. And then the second half had the worst start for us.

What I saw in this game is that yes, a lot of things are back, but not stable yet. That’s pretty much what you can make of it. That’s why we then conceded the goals, you are 3-2 down and it is clear, you want a result for the next game and when you lose 3-2 it is not a perfect result but it is much better than 5-2. So yeah, it was a night which was not really helpful but still we have to work with it, that’s what we did and now we are here and prepared two days already and today again the game against Crystal Palace and hopefully we can learn the right things, use the right things and get some points.

On the importance of winning the next two league games…

These are facts now on the table, but we should not involve the Wolves game already and we should not consider the three points already in our pocket or whatever. It’s not like this, it’s a really tough game. Crystal Palace had result-wise not the perfect spell as well since the World Cup but performance-wise it looks much better. We had a really deep look into what they did. It’s a really talented team, a really well set-up team, probably in a 4-2-3-1, a lot of technique and speed on the pitch mixed with experience. I really respect a lot what Palace are doing, for years, and how they bring all these offensive players especially together and can keep them in the club for as long. It is really good. So, yes, it will be a tough one but yes, of course, for us all the games now are Champions League qualifiers, that’s how it is. Nobody knows if we can do it because it is not only in our hands, but getting three points would bring us in the right direction and that’s obviously something we want to do, but we know it’s difficult.

On the team’s recent good record at Selhurst Park and whether he enjoys the trip…

I can’t say I enjoy it, I like [it]. I heard now we have a good record there but if you would have asked me I would have said, ‘Wow, incredibly difficult games, always really tough.’ Yes, great atmosphere. I actually hope because it is Saturday night in London people go out and don’t go in the stadium, to be honest! But maybe they will first go in the stadium. It is a great place to play football. I really respect a lot what they are doing because I think it’s really tough in London between all these massive clubs and then finding a way. Over the years I learned that their youth department, at least 100 per cent used to be outstanding, I don’t know exactly how it is now but some really interesting young players. We had some here who came through the academy. Yes, really cool club in a really cool stadium. I only remember super-difficult games.

On how the forward combination of Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah is developing, and whether that makes it hard for Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota to get into the team…

It’s not hard, we have too many games to make it hard to come in. We cannot play all the time with exactly the same. There were times obviously when Sadio [Mane] and Mo were very young and Bobby, maybe they played a lot of games but even then we needed [to make changes]. It’s good. The goals against Newcastle especially were real team goals, were real playing together, that was helpful. But we have to make changes, we cannot change that. But each minute they can play together, all the boys, is obviously very helpful because that improves the understanding and you could see that with the goals.

On how to build confidence back up after a defeat such as Tuesday’s…

Everything that happens in life has influence on confidence. Recently I scratched my car, since then I drive around corners [slowly]. [For] 37 years I have the licence and never had a real accident, but it’s like everything has influence on confidence. A few miles you realise, ‘Oh, it was just unlucky.’ So, I can just drive normal again. Nobody gives you confidence, you have to let it happen. If I can tell you whatever I want, but if you think ‘Yeah, but I’m rubbish anyway...’ I cannot change that now in five minutes. There are a lot of reasons, a lot of reasons, why the boys should be confident. I saw a lot of these reasons in the last game. If you can cut out the disappointment for the whole world, especially the Liverpool world, and the five goals, and that people say we aren’t good enough anymore and stuff like this. We can cut that out [and] then you have the right to focus on the good things as well. Then let’s go from there. There’s a chance but in the end it’s always a challenge. It will never be easy, it’s not now, we are not stable yet. And we have to work on that stability because the good things are really good and will be good forever but then we have to make sure that we don’t suffer from the few things that don’t work out.

On the feeling of the team after the game and how to deal with the emotions…

I see the players and I tell them how I feel, but I don’t ask them individually, ‘And you and you and you...’ so, that’s how it is, that’s why I say when things go well it’s really about the players, I mean that, and if [it’s] not going well it’s about me. So, in my job it’s to make sure they listen to me when I tell them this was good and that was good. That was always the case so far. I try to help the players with all I can, but I cannot hide social media for them. I cannot switch off, in general, the media... ‘Don’t have a look at it’ and stuff like this. And if you look, ‘Don’t believe what they say, believe what I say,’ these kind of things. They are not, at least not all of them, they are not kids anymore. They know how to deal with it. It’s not the first setback we got in the whole time. Yes, this year it feels like there are too many, absolutely; we will go to Madrid and we will try to win the game, there’s no doubt about that, then we will see what that will lead to.

But that’s only in a few weeks, now we have to make sure in a tricky Premier League season that we get this turnaround in general. That we get really around the corner and then can go from there. We have to chase everyone, we have to chase the whole league. That’s how it is. Everybody needs to feel and smell our breath because it’s really important that we get that edge back. We had that in the two [league] games, obviously, but now a different competition when you win you want to build on the result. And [when] you lose you have to get rid of it, that’s how it is. Imagine that, ‘Oh my God but the Champions League was not...’, yeah, because the opponent was really good. I don’t know a lot of teams who would have used our mistakes, the few mistakes we made, in the manner Real Madrid did, or Vinicius Jr did, or Karim Benzema did. That’s why we don’t play them every time. We play now against Crystal Palace and we respect them a lot, but we have to cause them problems – at least as many as they can cause us.

On what he believes needs to happen in the summer and whether this season has changed any future planning…

Not so much. We are all influenced by things recently, but we are not that dumb, it’s not like today was not that good and now we have to change. So this is clear, it was always clear. This team has a wonderful history... The way this club is led by not ‘splashing the money’, or whatever, just have a look if it works out or not, our transfers always have to be on point. That makes it really tricky. We cannot make four transfers before we know who will leave the club and stuff like this. Last year, I said it a couple of times, I can't remember how often I can say it, I knew it would be tricky and that was one of the main reasons why I signed a new contract, to make sure, ‘OK, come on,’ people not on top of all that have to discuss then, ‘Yeah, and then he leaves next year.’ And not because I am that great, just because imagine that same situation with another coach. Everybody would have said, ‘Bring Klopp back.’ It’s good we don’t have that. Some of them want me out, it’s fine, I can understand that as well, but it’s not about that. It’s just about the club and the stability and what we can get in.

Last year now, it was not a season for a big change. We played until the last moment and if you want to change, again, this club, we cannot just bring in new players and realise then later [that] nobody wants to leave. It doesn’t work, it doesn’t work like that. So, that’s why it’s not possible to start it early because we had final after final after final [and] played the season until the last game [and] played the Champions League final. Then we have a short break and then we have a lot of injuries and then the World Cup. All the problems we knew we would have, this came on top. And now we are in it. I know it’s too long, and for me it’s too long, because I have to face always you in this press conference. Believe me, I don’t like to talk about it all the time, but I have to think it all the time. That’s not as bad as to talk about it, to be honest, because I don’t have to read it the next day what I think. That’s the situation. I cannot change it, that the people are not happy.

We try to fight through and make the best out of this season, that’s the idea and staying in all that period as good as a person as you can. How I said, the better you behave in a moment like this, the better the times will be after it. And the more useful the bad times are, because they have to be useful, otherwise they are completely useless. Imagine that. In all our lives that we wouldn’t have learned from our failures, or we wouldn’t have learned from the moments when things didn’t go well. We would not be the same people, so we have to learn from this as well, and we will. But now we are in this heated atmosphere where we lose a game; everybody out. We win a game; give him a new contract. All these kind of things, be quick, I am too old for that. We have to make our own plans and that’s what we do. But based on the way this club is led. It’s obviously different to other clubs, that’s how it is, but it worked out so far and we have to see if it will work still or if we have to adapt, let me say it like that, but that’s something for us in the offices when we are not on the training pitch. And for us, my conversations with the owners, and all these kind of things. That’s it. Nothing else. Just work.