Virgil van Dijk denied the tweaks made to make Liverpool less vulnerable had impacted their attacking abilities.
The uninspiring goalless draw at home to Leeds, their first in over two years, was a missed opportunity to strengthen their hold on fourth place and even a clean sheet and more solidity at set-pieces was little consolation.
Alexander Isak's injury and Mohamed Salah's absence at the Africa Cup of Nations did not help the Reds' cause as they managed to get just four of 19 shots on target - only one of which was in the second half - and had a mere 35 touches in the opposition penalty area as goalkeeper Lucas Perri rarely looked troubled.
A run of nine defeats in 12 matches in October and November led to criticism of Arne Slot's side being too open and easy to beat but, while the head coach has addressed that to go eight matches unbeaten, it has not helped their cutting edge.
"I don't think there's a complete change of system. It feels like more compact, but I think there's a lot more emphasis on the fact that you have to defend as a team in order to prevent chances against you," said Van Dijk.
"That's definitely been happening. You see the hard work that obviously our midfield has put in in order to help us as the last line, but that's how it always has been.
"Obviously you can argue it (had an impact against Leeds), because we didn't create that much. That's a fact."
Victory would have taken Liverpool five points clear of Chelsea and Manchester United, but the draw means 13th-placed Newcastle are only seven points behind.
Asked how much of a missed opportunity it was, Van Dijk added: "There's no point to think about if it feels like a defeat. We take the point and we move on.
"Have you seen the league, how difficult it is at the moment? There are so many twists and turns still to come and I'm not looking at the league table because there's no point.
"Momentum can shift, confidence can go up and down, but we all have to keep going and keep consistent and keep the confidence because that's the basis in order to try and get results."
