Jürgen Klopp today reflected on Liverpool’s start to the 2023-24 season and explained why he felt his players looked ‘full of energy’ after returning to work.
The first group of Reds returned to the AXA Training Center on Saturday, followed by their teammates who represented their respective countries earlier this summer on Tuesday, some of them including new signings Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Then on Thursday morning, the group got together for the first time to train as a collective as the program moved on to the next stop in Kirkby.
Liverpool’s preparations will ramp up over a series of five pre-season friendlies, starting with Germany’s Karlsruher SC next week, with all matches available to watch live and exclusively on LFCTV GO.
After overseeing the first session of the day, Klopp sat down on the training ground with Liverpoolfc.com to reflect on the work of the early days, the arrival of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai and, beyond football, becoming a grandfather for the first time during the day. summer. Read on to see what the manager had to say…
Jürgen, fifth day of another pre-season. How did it get this far from your perspective?
Very good. Very good. We didn’t have a slow start, but a small group starts on Saturday and by Tuesday everyone is in. Of course, there are still a few injured players, but everyone is here now and looking really good. The sessions are good, the intensity is good, the vibe is good, the weather has been interesting – we’ve had pretty much everything since we got back! But nothing to complain about.
This morning the whole group trained together for the first time. How was it?
Attractive. We still lack players – Curtis is out, Harvey is out and then Stefan and Thiago are injured and a few others – but it went well. The quality is good, it’s beautiful. We are all full of energy, I think we can tell. It was a good break, it was also a big break, but it was also quite long. Now we’re back and the guys are really ready to work, this is the first impression I got. You mentioned energy. I think it’s fair to say there was a real buzz here on Tuesday when the rest of the team returned…
Absolutely. Like I said, we don’t have to say it too often and all the time, but we all know we want to show a reaction – and the reaction doesn’t start on the first day of a match, but on the first day of a match. ‘coaching . It was clear; This is how we left and this is how we came back. Yes, there was quite a stir when everyone returned.
Of course there are two new faces with us in Mac Allister and Szoboszlai. How happy are you to have them with us?
Very happy! Two excellent players. I immediately thought of nicknames and thought this would be a good nickname for Alexis… Gary [McAllister]! He obviously plays football very well, just like Dom.
From the moment we signed them I was pretty clear that the public response was pretty good, internally it was excellent, the guys know football and they immediately said ‘oh my god… “So that’s really good. Now they’re here and it didn’t take them long to impress on the pitch, which is good. Like I said, a few changes, Trent cut his hair – [back to] the most successful haircut of his career, so he sacrificed looking cool for success, I like that!
Has anyone surprised anyone else since your return?
No, there are no big surprises. The main things, which don’t happen anymore these days, and that is a player who returns five kilos more or something like that. The guys are really professional. It’s a small misconception, and maybe players misunderstand it too, that it’s not important to be in the best shape on day one of preseason. Players need rest, they have little. We will help them – and we can – to be in the best shape possible physically and in all other areas, including the end of the pre-season or a little bit during the season. The guys really did everything right – they did what they had to do. Yes, a few have done a little more, but that’s okay too
Insider training: Szoboszlai and Mac Allister’s first day as 14 Reds return
Like I said, it’s the fifth day of pre-season. What is the program for the coming days? How is the preparation going?
There’s a big physical part that we can’t ignore – and we won’t. There’s a big tactical part and if you’re racing you also have to do a lot of technical stuff because technique is one thing, but technique when you’re a bit exhausted is another. This is what we do. It will be intense and everything will come, but last year we said: we already started the new season last season and that is why now we are working on how we want to play, how we want to set it up, how we can do more in a different format being more flexible and all that sort of thing. I’m really looking forward to it.
It has already begun; if you watched the workout you might have seen it. There are certain elements that we always need, because it makes no difference: whatever we play, the back pressure will play an important role. I hope we don’t have to use it so much because I want us to keep the ball and then shoot it into the back of the net at the end of possession! It doesn’t always work like that, so we have to work on that, we have to work on defence, attack… we know our problems and we work on them. Don’t sit with your finger all day and go, “That wasn’t right, that wasn’t right” No, let’s start at a specific point and go over things from there with some players they already know and other players I didn’t know didn’t feel like that Often. In the end we will be good.
Well, I don’t just look like one, I am, so that’s cool! It’s perfect, an absolutely perfect summer. We both thought it was a real blessing to be able to be with him for about four weeks while he was growing up and going through all of these things and going through all of the early stages. Yes, stay away but always be involved. It was good, really good, and everything is fine – mom is fine, dad is fine and the baby is fine too. It’s been a long time since we had that role, to be honest, but I can tell you it’s like riding a bike, you don’t lose it, so that was right there. It’s just beautiful, the most beautiful thing I’ve experienced, probably in the last 30 years, to welcome such a wonderful little human being.
