Jürgen Klopp: We'll keep working and fighting to find our form

Press conferenceJürgen Klopp: We'll keep working and fighting to find our form

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By James Carroll and Sam Williams at Anfield

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Jürgen Klopp pledged Liverpool will continue working and fighting to rediscover their best form following Saturday's 3-3 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Reds recovered from two down to lead 3-2 shortly after the hour mark at Anfield thanks to Roberto Firmino's brace and an own goal by Adam Webster.

But Leandro Trossard, who had scored twice inside the first 18 minutes, completed his hat-trick late on to ensure the visitors claimed a point.

Read on for a transcript of Klopp's post-match press conference…

Liverpool 3-3 Brighton: Match highlights

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On the result and Liverpool's performance...

To be 100 per cent honest, it is not the first time that we saw a similar situation. Maybe the amount of situations we saw was a bit different, where the ball was kicked high and different situations, but that's a sign for something - and the sign is that the confidence level is now not extraordinarily high. In our situation, the things you want to have, getting the confidence back, you want to keep it and increase it. You want to build on that. It was obvious the first goal especially and then the second goal didn't help in that. The set-up of Brighton surprised us because we had no idea what they would do [because] it was clear we could not use situations of Brighton's from the last weeks. They had a good set-up before, obviously, with Graham Potter and now with Roberto. He obviously did exactly the right things with them and so it is not new, that happens quite frequently, to be 100 per cent honest.

Usually you adapt quicker, but before we adapted we were 2-0 down and then we understood better what they did and reacted better on it, kept them on the outside where the gaps were not that open anymore and they could not play each ball through the half-spaces anymore. We fought ourselves back into the game. Then, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2 and then you see again - if you have watched football games for long enough here, we had these kind of situations years ago when we were only one goal up and then it happened quite frequently that everybody got nearly a heart attack because we were just not convincing in these moments where we get a counter-attack and be compact and these kind of things. That's what reminded me of that a little bit today. So, I cannot say I was 100 per cent convinced we would not concede a goal when we were 3-2 up.

They scored a goal - we should have defended all three goals better, there is no doubt about that, but in different areas; not in the last moment, already earlier we should have defended better. They scored, 3-3, and that feels again like a defeat even when it is not a defeat. We have to fight through this. The boys can play much better, my job is to create a situation where they deliver. For that you need stability and consistency and you get that with top defending and obviously we didn't defend top in the beginning and then not even during the game [because] there were other situations and they were really dangerous.

We had much better moments and I think it was absolutely fine we went 3-2 up, but then we were not sitting deep, we were not attacking high, we were somewhere in between and that's how they got their moments. I don't know how many situations I saw today where the offensive players could just turn between the lines - [it was] horrendous, really horrible to watch. Again, that's the same job that you have when you are winning all the time, [it's] just more difficult because you have to create a situation where the boys react and make it easier for the boys to do that.

On a feeling Brighton would equalise at 3-2...

It's not the first time. It just didn't happen too often because we were just more convincing. It's normal and I don't blame anyone for that in the stands, not at all - this feeling was obvious, it was not done. So, the good part of the story is obviously 2-0 down and then 3-2 up but that costs energy. The boys came back from everywhere in the world and you could see that; Kostas played two games and stuff like this and the other boys didn't play for a while, like Hendo and these kind of things. That makes it more difficult. In these moments, you have to control the game much better. I think we talked about controlling the game for two or three years, that we have to control it better. This was definitely a moment where we should have controlled it better in possession but we didn't. Then, it looks a bit like it looked today - yes, it was not the part of the game I liked the most, that's clear.

On how much of a concern the current level of confidence in his squad is…

'Concerning', I am not sure if it is the right word but we can't ignore the fact. But then for sure, the Ajax game didn't give us any kind of rhythm because then we left, so that's clear. That is something you usually get from these kind of situations, and momentum with the late goal, with the late winner. We could have taken a lot of things into the next game – unfortunately we didn't play. Since then that feeling has pretty much gone, the boys played completely different systems, different opponents in different areas on the planet so that's nothing to do with that anymore.

How it always is, I know 100 per cent everybody expects for me now, two or three things that I say, everybody feels: 'OK, if we do that then it is done.' But how it always is in difficult moments in life and in football, you have to fight through. You have to fight through, you have to be ready to work so hard that you step by step get the confidence back, get the momentum back. We had confident moments today obviously, at least Bobby when he scored the second goal you could see a lot of that and we had other moments, good moments. But the passing game was not good today, we passed balls all over the place, which I think that is now only to explain with not being confident in that moment. Not the general situation, just how the game started.

We are under pressure, we don't ignore that. It's not now that we increase it every day but it's there. We want to do better, we want to have more points, we want to be in a different area in the table - that's all clear and then you are 2-0 down against a really good opponent. That's now as well the truth, that they always cause us problems here. We had here games where we were running in between them and they were just playing in between the lines and stuff like this. They do really well and yeah, we have to keep working.

On whether his side's slow starts in games this season is a worry…

I have to look back [to see if] it's now a 'slow start'. How I said… it's normal you adapt. [For example], when we play Brentford: you watch them and they play football against everybody, not against us, just long balls. You can expect that but then they might all of a sudden start playing football because now it makes sense against Liverpool. It happens quite frequently that teams do differently against us than what we can prepare for if we don't play them like the fifth, sixth or seventh time. Today, was it a slow start? I'm not even 100 per cent sure, it's just at the start our gaps in the areas where they wanted to play were too big obviously.

They build up with the three in the back so Bobby had to do differently, midfield had to do differently, we needed to lead the passes to the outside. There we can go but we were fixed with the full-backs deep because of their wing-backs and all these kind of things. It is not rocket science but it happens, you realise it, you sort it because we have a lot of solutions meanwhile, but before we were in the solution mood we were already 2-0 down. Then you saw the difference in the game, it was not then that they had one chance after another. They had still their moments, no doubt about that, but then we started controlling the game better, scored the goal and in half-time showed the boys two or three situations, came out, did much better, even without being now flying.

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But it's normal, how I said, 2-1 down against an opponent who can counter-attack as well pretty well. [We] score the 2-2, score the 3-2 and again I am guilty as well. It is not that I thought now, halfway through, 'Phew'. No, I knew we have to work through it and we had these situations before [with] late equalisers and all these kind of things, and the teams who equalised in the past against us deserved it less than Brighton today but it happened anyway.

So, it is a moment and we have to really keep going through together. That's all what I can say. We have to improve, that only happens if we perform, we have to perform more consistently. I cannot say what everybody wants to hear now, it's just the reality and how I said, that process started already, interrupted by press conferences and interviews, but from tonight on we will prepare for Rangers and we will try to do better. I know then Arsenal is coming and we saw glimpses of their game against Tottenham, they are outstanding in the moment so that is obviously not an easy game. But we will give it a proper try.

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This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.