‘Proper mess’ - what Jurgen Klopp said about Liverpool vs Forest immediately after win

Jurgen Klopp admitted that Nottingham Forest’s throw-ins caused a ‘proper mess’ as Liverpool hung on for a crucial victory.

The Reds earned a 3-2 win at Anfield to keep their hopes of European qualification for next season alive. The second half proved a thrilling affair with all five goals scored.

Diogo Jota fired a double for Liverpool but Forest hit back on each occasion through Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White. However, Mo Salah’s 70th-minute strike ensured the Reds delivered successive wins and moved up to sixth in the table - as well as six points outside of the Champions League places.

Speaking at his post-match press conference when asked how Liverpool were made to work hard for all three points, manager Klopp responded: “Especially when the ball was out then the game really started. Throw-ins created a proper mess for us. You can prepare for a lot in football and his game was preparation for us for the future but for this kind of thing, we were obviously not prepared well enough. We knew about the threat, the dead ball, throws into the box.

“First goal, we could have defended better - Ibou [Konate] was a bit too much in a fight but how we deal with the second, third and fourth balls was not even good enough because we were not even close. The second goal, we should have - as a player directly not involved, you need to read the situation to pick up where the next potential threat is. That was not good enough.

“We scored our goals from set-pieces anyway. Strange game. A lot of possession for us in the first half, I think it was like 86% and that makes life difficult. You have to be patient and I know for the people they think: ‘Oh my God, football is a fantastic game’. Football is hard work, we did what we had to do. Scoring the first one was very helpful then we got a lesson in throw-ins then. Reacting then on that is good and the second time - all those were super smart, good finishers, all good.

“We should have controlled it a bit better. In most moments we did but in little moments, they just needed a throw-in and that’s what made life difficult. We came through it, I’m really happy and showed a lot of things I wanted to see. It was a different game to the Leeds game as we needed to score to change their way and keep the lead.”

Liverpool are back in action when they make the trip to West Ham United on Wednesday evening.