Jurgen Klopp has dismissed accusations he has not given the Carabao Cup due respect since he was appointed Liverpool manager in 2015.
The Reds won 2-0 at Arsenal on Thursday night to book their spot in the final thanks to Diogo Jota's double after a goalless first leg at Anfield.
Liverpool have a rich history in the competition having won eight titles, a record tally they share with Manchester City, including four consecutive triumphs between 1981 and 1984.
However, they have not won the EFL Cup, currently known as the Carabao for sponsorship reasons, since their victory over Cardiff in 2012.
Klopp reached the 2016 final during his first season with the club and it has taken him a further six campaigns to replicate that feat.
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The German has often been criticised for putting out weakened teams including many youth players in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, with his focus appearing to be on the Premier League and Champions League.
This has been the case at times this season, while assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders has conducted many of the press conference duties in the boss' place.
Nonetheless, Klopp insisted he "wants to go for everything" when it comes to trophies as he justified his team selections in the Carabao Cup.
The 54-year-old was asked if this is the first season he has taken the competition seriously and hit back: "No, it is not true.
"The situation is always around what time of the year is it? Who is available? How many games have they played?
"I cannot just pick a team by looking at the full squad on paper and just pick an 11 for the game based on that.
"We have to consider a lot of things and we always did that, but you need a lot of luck in certain times and specific moments.
"We have never had that and we have always had really tricky draws on top of that early on and in games we could not line up a Premier League team [in the cup] three days before [a Premier League game].
"It hasn't always been unlucky but it is not always the easiest draw. So it is all good, we want to go for everything.
"It doesn't mean we have won this already but we will be there at the end of February but unfortunately the opponent will as well."
Liverpool will face Chelsea on 27 February as they look to make amends for their heartbreaking defeat on penalties by City in the 2016 final.
The Blues reached Wembley with a convincing 3-0 aggregate victory over Tottenham in the semi-finals.
