Use your head like Sadio and subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Jurgen Klopp has revealed how he spelt out to Christian Benteke exactly what's required for him to succeed at Liverpool during a heart-to-heart with the striker.

The Belgium international has endured a difficult start to his Reds career since his £32.5million move from Aston Villa last summer.

Benteke, who has scored five goals in 17 appearances, was dropped to the bench for last weekend's defeat to Watford and then saw Divock Origi brought on ahead of him.

Doubts persist over Benteke's ability to fit Klopp's style but the manager sat him down at Melwood ahead of the Boxing Day clash with Leicester City and talked him through the adjustments he needs to make.

“Christian has trained well this week and we've had a good talk together,” Klopp said.

“We know what he has to do and he knows what he has to do.

“Everything is okay. He didn't lose his place in the squad. Sometimes you start, sometimes you don't. We have a lot of options so we have to make decisions.

“In the offensive line we have three options so we decided to make changes last week.

“Christian is completely clear. He knows. He's not saying 'let's wait and see'. He is working and he's trying to be better.”

'You can't always wait for headers'

Klopp refused to go into detail over what had been discussed with the second most expensive signing in the club's history.

But insisted Benteke can't simply wait to be supplied with crosses from wide areas. The Reds boss wants him to be more mobile and to get in behind defenders.

“I don't like talking to you about things like this,” Klopp said.

“Maybe it's my language, maybe it's you looking for sensations. It always sounds completely different to what I meant!

“We are still at the beginning here. If you are the only striker at the club then you play all the time.

“Every striker will say 'give me five games in a row and then you'll have the striker you want'. That's not possible here.

“We have to try things, we have to create things, we have to change things because the number of games is a big difference. Three games a week or one game a week is a big difference.

“Christian's biggest strength is heading so everyone is waiting for crosses. But you have two high towers, centre-halves, in the box. You can't always wait for that as that is only one situation in offence.

“We need to create more moments for all our offensive players. We need to push up from centre midfield more and get into the box to create more opportunities. We need more movements together.

“If we could train more often then Christian will see that it's easy. 'Go there, come here, go again'.

“We have dominance in a lot of situations with our full-backs pushing up. We just have to make better decisions around the box.

“For me and for Christian, it was a really good talk. Now we have made a few decisions and hopefully you will see the results of that.”

'I think it is a really brave decision what we are doing now with Daniel'

The continued absence of Daniel Sturridge increases the need for Klopp to get more out of Benteke.

Liverpool have scored just 20 league goals in 17 games this season with Philippe Coutinho leading the way on five.

Sturridge won't play any part in the festive league games against Leicester, Sunderland or West Ham after Klopp revealed he was embarking on a “little pre-season”.

The England international suffered the latest in a long line of injuries when he damaged his hamstring against Newcastle three weeks ago.

Klopp admits his continued absence is a blow but believes easing Sturridge back in gently will benefit the Reds in the long-term.

“We all know about his quality and I think it is a really brave decision what we are doing now,” Klopp said.

“Usually in a situation like this everybody would say 'Play. Try as long as you can'. Then next week we have the same problem again. Everything has been tried in the past, but not this.

“There is always pressure, there is always the next game, it is always difficult. You see him and you think 'Oh my God, maybe 10, 20 minutes' but now we do something different.

“There is no decision whether it is 10 days, 14 days, we have to see how he reacts to training like that. And then at the end we have a very good striker, we all know this. But not for Saturday.”

'We have to create a much better mentality to win games in a row'

After such a bright start to his Anfield reign, standards have slipped in recent weeks with the Reds only taking one point from their last three matches.

Klopp admits he's trying to create “a new mentality” and has reinforced to his players the need to adjust to the demands of each contest.

Liverpool failed to do that against Watford when their passing game floundered on a difficult pitch and they got bullied by the Hornets' direct approach.

Klopp is adamant they won't make the same mistakes against high-flying Leicester.

“There is a real good character but we have to create a much better mentality to win games in a row,” he added.

“You know the history of this club. When I came here there was a little bit of the feeling of a knock two years before: 'we were so close (to winning the title) after this long time'. We needed a new start for this.

"With development, you have knocks. You never want these knocks but we had one in Watford.

“We need to have a good plan and take the right decisions in the right moment.

“The pitch at Watford was not good. Play over the midfield please, we are not there to draw perfect football.

“The first goal was a horror, the second was only a long ball behind the line. That is what we have to learn.

“Playing easy, simple, long balls, give us options to fight for second balls around the box. That is what we had to do in this special game. For Saturday, we need a few more ideas and we will be prepared.”

Keeper Simon Mignolet is expected to return from a hamstring problem at the expense of Adam Bogdan, while defender Dejan Lovren is set to replace the injured Martin Skrtel.