LONDON
\nLiverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says even Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not immune from confidence issues as he seeks to find a solution to his side\u2019s frustrating inconsistency.
\nSaturday\u2019s 3-3 draw at home to Brighton, after recovering from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, was an example of the wider malaise affecting the team.
\nLiverpool are ninth in the Premier League after just two wins from seven matches and are already 11 points behind leaders Arsenal.
\nKlopp is staying patient but knows Tuesday\u2019s Champions League tie at home to Rangers has become a key game, with Liverpool having already lost once in Group A.
\n\u201cPeople can ask how could it happen that these players are not full of confidence,\u201d said the German. \u201cDo you think Cristiano Ronaldo (reduced to a substitute role at Manchester United) at this moment is top of his confidence levels?
\n\u201cHe was for ages the best player in the world and now it is not going his way and it is not exactly the same. That happens to all of us.
\n\u201cLionel Messi played last season (his first at Paris Saint-Germain) where it was not exactly the same because these kind of things are really important to all of us and you have to work for it.
\n\u201cYou have to take the little things to take a step in the right direction and be really ready for the moment when it is back and that is what we are doing.\u201d
\nKlopp has pointed out that it has been difficult to establish momentum due to interruptions in Liverpool\u2019s schedule \u2013 two of the club\u2019s matches were postponed after Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s death last month.
\nThe team bounced back from a humiliating 4-1 defeat in Napoli in their Champions League opener to beat Ajax with a last-gasp winner but then went nearly three weeks without a game.
\nThe compact schedule this season, made tighter by the looming World Cup in Qatar, adds an extra headache.
\n\u201cPatience is not 100 percent the right word but we have to be patient to do the right thing again, and again and again until it works out again and then we will be fine,\u201d said Klopp.
\n\u201cWe cannot always start something completely new but if we can help the boys with a way to defend differently we will do that.
\n\u201cIt is the same job I had in the time when you win 10 or 12 games in a row \u2013 you have to stay on top of it and work on the details. That is what we do now, just with a different confidence level.\u201d
\nStill searching for their first Champions League point in 12 years after losing their first two group games, Rangers could be the ideal opponents for Liverpool to get back on track.
\nRangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst acknowledges the trip to Anfield is the toughest test of his reign.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s going to be very difficult. They have been in three finals in the last five years and are still one of the best teams in Europe,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cOf all our opponents we faced last season and this season probably this is the best side.
\n\u201cForm means nothing, they have a good team and a fantastic coach.\u201d
\nWhile Van Bronckhorst is realistic about the threat Liverpool pose, he hopes his team can exploit some of the flaws that Brighton exposed.
\n\u201cOf course there are always things to exploit, any team has those areas you can exploit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says even Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not immune from confidence issues as he seeks to find a solution to his side\u2019s frustrating inconsistency. Saturday\u2019s 3-3 draw at home to Brighton, after recovering from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, was an example of the wider malaise affecting the team. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-287510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n