Jurgen Klopp is demanding more aggression from his Liverpool side in their Capital One Cup semi-final first leg at Stoke on Tuesday night.
Liverpool were well beaten at West Ham on Saturday and Klopp is desperate to redress the balance at the Britannia Stadium as the Reds strive to win a trophy he rates as important.
"We were passive," he said. "That's not good in life or in football. We have to be more aggressive.
"You have to react to defeats in the right way. This cup is important. We have to go for it.
"Our target is to win it. It will be tough because Mark Hughes has done a brilliant job. It will be a different game against Stoke. We know about the qualities of Stoke. It's a team I know most about because I know most of their players.
"Marko Arnautovic was a young player in Germany who had some problems, but he has a big talent. He's scoring goals, making runs behind lines, playing as more of a false-nine."
West Ham scored with two headers at the weekend and Klopp admits cutting out the supply is a major concern.
"We have issues with crosses," he added. "Before that we had issues with set-pieces. We need to solve that. We've been clear with the words.
"One of biggest rules in football is you have to avoid crosses."
But Klopp is adamant the problem does not lie with goalkeeper Simon Mignolet insisting: "Our goalkeeper situation is absolutely okay. Simon Mignolet is a really good goalkeeper."
