Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp: 'I could write a book on how to defend'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 25 September 2017

Jurgen Klopp jokes that he could write a book on how to defend as he responds to his critics, having seen Liverpool concede 11 league goals already this season.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confessed that he has found his side's defensive struggles since taking charge "really hard" to deal with.

The Reds have already slipped up in games against Watford, Burnley and Sevilla so far this season, while also shipping five away to Manchester City earlier this month.

Liverpool came close to throwing away victory in Saturday's league encounter with Leicester City, a match in which they conceded from yet another set piece, but Simon Mignolet's penalty save ensured that they came away from the King Power Stadium with a 3-2 win.

Klopp admits that an improvement is required at the back, however, after his side shipped 11 goals in their first six top-flight outings.

"It's obvious we concede too much – there's no doubt," he told reporters. "That's really hard for me. Usually, I'm a really good defensive coach but obviously that works not too good so far, but we will be fine. The main thing for defending is tactical discipline.

"I don't know everything about football but I could write a book in the next two hours about which space we have to defend, why, when and where you have to be. When you have to step up, push up... all that stuff. I can't take a car and drive them out of the box. That's how it is.

"As long as not every player is doing it we'll work on it. When everyone is doing it, I will make sure we're doing it for the rest of our lives. I have faith, not only [in our] offensive [players] but in our squad. I know we need results. I like this team. Maybe nobody else likes it, I really like it and I want to improve it together."

Only Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Leicester have conceded more Premier League goals than Liverpool so far this season.