Jürgen Klopp's analysis of Liverpool 3-2 Nottingham Forest

Mohamed Salah's 70th-minute finish saw off Steve Cooper’s side at Anfield after an action-packed, five-goal second half in the Premier League. 

Diogo Jota opened the scoring two minutes following the restart, with that header then cancelled out by Neco Williams' deflected strike.

Jota grabbed his second of the afternoon with a well-taken volley from an Andy Robertson free-kick, though Morgan Gibbs-White replied 12 minutes later to make it 2-2.

Read on for a summary of Klopp's post-match press conference...

On Forest making Liverpool work hard for the victory...

Yes, especially when the ball was out, then the game really started – the throw-ins created a proper mess for us. You can prepare a lot in football – and this game was now the preparation for us for the future – but for this kind of thing, obviously we were not prepared well enough. We knew about the threat: when Niakhate has the ball and throws it into the box. The first ball we could have defended better, I think Ibou was a bit too much in a fight with whoever was around him, but how we deal with the second, third and fourth ball was not even close to being good enough because they won all of them and put it always back into the area and that, in the end, caused massive problems. I think especially the second goal they scored... as a player who is not directly involved, you need to read the situation better because everybody is there, there is one who fights for the ball and all the rest has to pick up where is the next potential threat. There, that was not good enough. We scored our goals as well from set-pieces, different set-pieces, so [it was a] strange game. 

A lot of possession for us. I still don't have the stats from the second half, but first half I think it was 86 per cent or something, which is a really strange number. That makes life difficult, you have to be patient and I know for the people the first half is not a half where you think football is a fantastic game, but it is hard work and that is what we had to do – and the boys did that. Then scoring the first one is obviously very helpful, then we got the lesson in throw-ins starting then. They scored their first, reacting then on that was good – it was good again what we did. Then reacting in the second time again – all goals were super-smart, good crosses, good finishes, so that was all good. Then we should have controlled it a bit better. 

In most moments we controlled it but in these little moments they just needed a throw-in and everything ended in chaos again and that made life really difficult. We came through it and I am happy, really happy, because we showed a lot of things I wanted to see. It was obviously a different game to the Leeds game because you need to score to change their way and you need to keep the lead. If we are 1-0 up and can score a second one, that's the moment the game changes – apart from that there is no chance the game changes at all. They sit deep, they wait for their chance and they know if the ball passes the sideline then they will be dangerous. That's it.

On whether 'some things have changed' with his team...

No, some things changed. It's now strange to say after a game like this, because we didn't have to defend a lot, but the main difference between Leeds and all the other games was the way we defended. It was much better. So, ball-orientated, really being compact and that doesn't mean only a high line, it means really moving to the ball side, giving us options. Today I saw a lot of top, top, top counter-pressing moments – I loved that – and that's, for us, super-important. And yes, that changed. I think we are much clearer again in that department. We have to prove in four days already again but it feels, for us at least, that it changed. If you are solid and not only solid but really good and aggressive and positive in defending then you can build on that. For me, it feels like it's the first time this season that we have that – late but hopefully not too late and now we have to build on that. 

But the most important thing in football is obviously our results and fighting through this situation today and getting three points, you just have to look in the dressing room... the boys are not silly – they know that we were not perfect – but they are really happy about that. It's three super-important points. I told the boys at half-time, we had these kind of games hundreds of times where it's really tough to get through and stuff like this. You have to be patient, you have to stay positive, you have to go for the moment. Ask if anybody would be happy if we win the game 1-0, of course everybody would. So that means we fight and work for this one moment where we can decide it. And in the end, we needed three – but that's fine. So yes, I think things changed but to show consistently we have to keep going and it will be a really tough game again against West Ham. They fight for everything, so we have to be ready for that. 

On Jota's confidence...

Yeah, I think the second goal you really can see what goals do to offensive players. They give confidence. It was a super first touch, it didn't look like a massive chance in the first moment when you see three in the box, bam, first touch great and then the second one is just exceptional. He could have scored a third one in the first half already – I'm not sure, did he have a chance in the second half for the third? Again, that shows you can, as an offensive player, be involved in absolutely each defensive situation and be still a threat offensively. There's no if [or] or – you can do both and Diogo is doing that. That makes him, for us, so valuable and that's why he deserves that obviously. It's wonderful after the long, long time that he was out and now having these positive things – was involved in the Arsenal equaliser in a very important manner and now scoring twice a brace – is top.

On Andy Robertson's responsibilities when Trent Alexander-Arnold plays the hybrid role...

That's a bit football-specific but, of course, it changed the role slightly, that's clear. We cannot have one full-back in the centre of the field and the other one constantly high up on the left side. That's difficult. So Robbo has to judge the situations when he can be involved, like, I don't know which goal number at Leeds, but when Diogo passes the ball and then he overlaps and passes the ball to Cody, Mo, goal. These situations are still there. But in the first moment of the build-up, yes, his positioning has changed slightly. But he's obviously a very experienced player, a very smart player and he knows when we need him there. Today it was a bit of a mix because we needed as well width and depth. That means from time to time he had to be high – but that just depends on the moment and the situation. 

The boys have to learn to read these situations right and do these things in the right moment. Today, obviously Nottingham tried to man-mark both sixes and 10s with Hendo and Curtis, that makes life slightly tricky and gave Ibou a lot of moments on the ball and in the beginning he didn't use it that well. Oh, now I remember Diogo's chance – the long ball from Ibou and a really good header and a really good save. So, Ibou had a lot of time and space. And that's the next thing, if an opponent is doing that, how can we help Ibou to use those moments slightly better? It's, if you want, early days with that kind of system, so we have to work on that.