If his side are to win anything this season the German will have to tackle his players’ tendency to go for glory rather than tee up a team-mate.
Klopp was furious when, with his men 2-0 up thanks to goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino, superstar striker Mo Salah opted to shoot rather than pick out the better-placed Sadio Mane. Klopp leapt around on the touchline, miming a sidefooted pass.
To be fair to Salah, Mane also did the same to him as the game ran down. But against mighty Paris St-Germain on Tuesday in the Champions League such a blinkered approach could prove costly for last season’s runners-up.
It might have done at Wembley, with one Spurs substitute, Erik Lamela, smashing an added-time goal and another, Son Heung-Min, being denied what looked a clear penalty when he was caught by Mane in the box.
I want them to score and encourage them to do so, but there are moments when they have to pass
Of his striker’s failure to press home their superiority, Klopp admitted he expected to be quizzed about his Basil Fawlty-style reaction on the touchline.
“I thought I’d be asked about that,” he said. “I want them to score and encourage them to do so, but there are moments when they have to pass.”
Klopp admitted the Euro opener was a daunting one with the Paris giants able to leave out Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on Friday and still beat St Etienne 3-0 at home.
“We will try to be ready for PSG, but they are really good, a very interesting football project, and they rested two key players on Friday night,” he said.
Jurgen Klopp wants Liverpool to learn how to kill sides off properly (Image: GETTY)
“People say, ‘You should win it this year because you reached the final last year’. But come on. We play in the two toughest competitions in the world, the Premier League and Champions League.
“That is what has brought us all together – but there is not one second that is easy.”
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson was showing even more positivity after his side made it five wins out of five to sit second to Chelsea on goal difference.
“Without being ahead of ourselves, we do believe going into every game that we can win,” he said. “Of course – because we’re Liverpool, we’re a big club, and we do believe that. That’s a big club’s mentality.”
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino knew just how close his team came to snatching a point, despite being dominated throughout most of the match.
Insisting his squad, with nine players who played to the final weekend of the World Cup, were not exhausted, he said: “If the referee had given the penalty, we would all be talking about character, about how the team worked until the end and everything.
Jurgen Klopp was furious with Mo Salah who opted to shoot rather than pick out a team-mate (Image: GETTY)
Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were rested by PSG and they still beat St Etienne 3-0 (Image: GETTY)
“One result doesn’t change this. Of course, the result can change the perception of people and it can change people’s opinions.
“But we are professional football people and we need to assess the performance and not just the result.
“Of course there is a challenge but I’m not going to complain. Nine players involved to the end of the World Cup. We provided them with a good rest, 21 days, and they started a few days before the competition started at Newcastle.
“It was a massive challenge for us. When you win, you win. When you lose, yes of course you need to talk about different things, but I’m not worried. We are going to win a lot of games.”
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson says the team believes they can win every game (Image: GETTY)
TOTTENHAM (4-3-1-2): Vorm 5; Trippier 4, Alderweireld 5, Vertonghen 6, Rose 5; Dembele 5 (Lamela 60, 7); Dier 4 (Wanyama 83), Winks 5 (Son 73, 6); Eriksen 5; Moura 6, Kane 5.
Goal: Lamela 90.
NEXT UP: Inter Milan (a) CL, on Tuesday.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 7; Alexander-Arnold 7 (Matip 90) , GOMEZ 8, Van Dijk 8, Robertson 8; Milner 8, Wijnaldum 8, Keita 7 (Sturridge 83); Salah 7, Firmino 7 (Henderson 74, 6), Mane 7.
Goals: Wijnaldum 39, Firmino 54.
NEXT UP: Paris St-Germain (h) CL, on Tuesday.
REFEREE: Michael Oliver.