Jurgen Klopp said he got the reaction he wanted after Harvey Elliott’s sublime strike got struggling Liverpool back on track with a 1-0 win at Wolves in the FA Cup third round on Tuesday.
Klopp’s side have been criticized for losing their last two Premier League games at Brighton and Brentford.
But Elliott’s superb long-range effort in the first half at Molineux secured a much-needed first win in four games in all competitions.
Ironically, Liverpool’s reward for beating Wolves was a return to Brighton in the fourth round.
The Reds’ 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday left them ninth in the Premier League, 10 points off the top four.
“It feels like the past when we feel like we’re winning and playing well,” Klopp said.
“We played a really good first half and in the end we just had the passion to block the shots. That’s the reaction we want to see from ourselves and the boys we sent out.
“The goal was incredible. I don’t want to make Harvey’s performance any smaller, but I had a few players in today’s game, only others didn’t score.
In terms of soul-searching following the embarrassment, Klopp said the struggling team must “go back to basics”.
Amid questions over Klopp’s future at Anfield, the German said this week that he would not leave the club unless forced to and hinted at changes to his squad in the summer.
Hamstrung by injuries to key players including Virgil van Dijk and Luis Diaz, Klopp made eight changes after the Brighton debacle, with only Cody Gakpo, Thiago Alcantara and Ibrahima Konate remaining.
Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker were among those left out, but Liverpool’s students rose to the challenge.
Wolves forced a replay with a 2-2 draw at Anfield, but Julen Lopetegui’s side were left fuming when they had a potential winner from Toti controversially disallowed for offside in the dying seconds.
They could not take the opportunity to avenge the injustice despite a noisy start that saw Adama Traore’s cross headed by Raul Jimenez.
It was Eliott who produced the opener in thrilling fashion in the 13th minute.
Klopp’s midfield has been eliminated because it is old and at its best this season.
But 19-year-old Elliott gave hope for the future, a point underlined by running unchecked from the halfway line before unleashing a superb strike past Jose Sa from 25 yards.
– Resilient Liverpool –
Sa was caught too far off the line but that shouldn’t detract from the quality of Elliott’s first goal since October.
Making tackles and winning the ball twice, Liverpool showed more hunger and tenacity than they have in recent weeks.
Gakpo is still looking for Liverpool’s first goal in his third appearance since joining PSV Eindhoven.
The Dutch forward almost broke the duck with a scintillating dipping volley.
Gakpo was replaced by Salah in the final 25 minutes, but it was Wolves who finished strongly with Ruben Neves’ free-kick hitting the crossbar.
Wolves’ best chance came when Jimenez was unable to head home on the goal line from a Traore cross as Joe Gomez made a crucial block.
Elsewhere, Championship side Birmingham survived a scare with a 2-1 win at third-tier Forest Green.
In a third-round tie that was delayed after the original tie was postponed due to a flooded pitch, Ben Stevenson’s superb long-range strike put Forest Green ahead after eight minutes.
But Lukas Jutkiewicz grabbed Birmingham’s equalizer in the 50th minute and Kevin Long struck for the League One bottom club 15 minutes later.
Bristol City won 2-1 at Swansea, while Luton beat Wigan 2-1 and West Brom beat Chesterfield 4-0.