Jürgen Klopp says his Liverpool side are working on not only taking their chances in front of goal, but creating better goalscoring opportunities, ahead of their FA Cup third-round replay against Exeter City.
The Reds welcome their fourth-tier opponents to Anfield having drawn 2-2 with them earlier in the month, but enter the fixture in desperate need of a pick-me-up after a harsh 1-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at home to Manchester United on Sunday.
A failure to take advantage of their dominance of the ball, or their greater number of chances in on goal, saw them fall six points behind their bitter rivals and as many as eight adrift off the top-four as they lost precious ground nearing the business end of the campaign.
Klopp is expected to field a completely changed team in the cup fixture against Exeter, which he called a "big opportunity" for the Reds' young prospects, but he's still keen to see them work on creating clearer opportunities in the final third.
Liverpool must make better decisions in the final third, says Klopp
Klopp accepted that it always seen as all "about the right players in the right position" but said that on the training field they must work on ensuring team can "create chances" - which he said is what they are currently doing.
He said it is then "the next step" to ensure players are making "the right decision in the right moment" and said that's what they "did not do often enough" in the loss to United.
He revealed that after full-time he told his players that he and his staff "don't care too much about the chances we had" but more about the ones they "didn't have because with one different pass, one open view, one small movement" they could have "had a lot more chances" - which is what they will "work on" according to the manager.
The Reds boss refused to blame his side for the opportunities which they wasted against United, despite the fact they could had changed the game, telling reporters that teams, even when they "score three or four goals," will "have a lot of chances in these games" that they "didn't use."
He pinpointed that as the "situation" that his Liverpool squad are in and said they will work on taking "the right decision in the right moment more often" because the players do what he asks of them, in that they "take the ways we show them to get in the last third" and are "very often in a good position", but they fail to score from them.
Klopp: "Goalscoring problems won't be fixed by just changing personnel"
Klopp feels that their inconsistency in front of goal cannot simply be changed by bringing in different players, saying that whilst Roberto Firmino "maybe was not planned as a striker" when first signed, "his skills" in Liverpool's situation and their "really good formation for creating chances" has made him a crucial component, with just two strikers from their five fit and available.
He believes that scoring is "more than only one player" because against United they "didn't score enough from different positions" and "don't have enough goals from the offensive midfield" which he said the players are well aware of.
The German argued that it can be as simple as sometimes being "a little more greedy in the right situations" and said that his team "shoot in situations we don't have to shoot", highlighting that they are "greedy on goals but not cool enough to [find] the better player in the better position."
He felt that they had "these situations" in the defeat to United, saying that even with the "big chances" they might have had - an "easy pass" would have made it "a nearly 100 per cent goal" but brushed it off by saying "that's football" and they must "work on this" and "change in how we [manager and staff] can help [the players]."
Reds' kids have a "big chance" to prove their worth, insists the boss
When Liverpool go up against the Grecians on Wednesday evening, Klopp is expected to field a largely second-string side - as he did in the first meeting, where Jerome Sinclair and Brad Smith both scored their first ever senior goals in a red shirt.
With the game representing the first, or second, games the youngsters will have played in front of the home fans at Anfield - Klopp is keen to ensure too much isn't expected of them.
He insisted that they "don't want to put too much pressure on their shoulders because they are too young" but insisted they may benefit from better conditions, talking about a "really difficult" pitch to play on at St James' Park.
He said Exeter "did better" on their own pitch but explained that was probably because they "are more used to it" and said that they "don't have to think too much about the first game" but acknowledged for analysis they need to revisit the game in order to evaluate their opponent's strengths and weaknesses.
Klopp called the replay a "big, big chance" for the club's younger players to prove their worth, whilst the game also shows the manager and the staff "trust them" - saying that's "very important" because it's "a real competition against a good team."
Despite acknowledging that League Two players "know how to play football" he said that the FA Cup is "a real man's competition" because of the intensity and physicality, as well as the unpredictability that a lower-league opponent can knock out a top-flight team.
He said that they have trained with the squad who will feature against Exeter and will do so again in "a little session" on Wednesday but stated that it's already clear that it's "the experience" they need and said the players are "very excited" because "for some of them, it's the first time in the starting line-up at Anfield" - which he called "a special place for footballers all over the world."
But the manager denied that playing a younger side is because of anything rather than the situation he finds his first-team in, with injuries piling up and them having to regularly play two fixtures a week.
He said it would be "the biggest misunderstanding in the world" for people to think they disregard the competition as unimportant, insisting that he "can't change the whole situation."
Klopp added that he was "not surprised" by Exeter's performance the last time around because they "have a lot of talented players" and are "a really skilled team" capable of playing good football.
On what he called "a bad pitch", Klopp said that his team "had a lot of opportunities" and "chances with a completely new team who had only trained 40 minutes together" so called this a chance for them to go "a step further."
He called upon his team to be "really focused" and declared that they will be due to the nature of the game, with either team capable of victory, and said it's "a big opportunity" for them to stake a claim to be in the first-team which he is "really looking forward to watching" to see how they cope.
