SANTA CLARA, USA - Friday, July 29, 2016: Liverpool's manager Jürgen Klopp during a training session ahead of the International Champions Cup 2016 game against AC Milan on day nine of the club's USA Pre-season Tour at the Levi's Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Jurgen Klopp planning another “pre-season” during Liverpool’s 15-day break

With Liverpool not set to play again until February 27, Jurgen Klopp is planning to utilise the time as another “pre-season” for his players.

Saturday’s 2-0 win at home to Tottenham was the Reds’ second of three outings in February, owing to their exit from both the FA Cup and the League Cup in January.

Their next clash comes away to Leicester City towards the end of the month, giving Klopp’s side 15 days off between fixtures.

This can be seen as a blessing or a curse, but for the German, it provides him valuable time to oversee a crucial period of training as the Reds get their season back on track.

They are due to head off for warm-weather training, with their destination likely to be in Spain; and they could also play a behind-closed-door friendly back at Melwood.

“It’s not that we played 20 games really bad, we played a few ones,” Klopp told reporters at Anfield.

“But now we’re back in this race and we have to use this situation.

“Because even when we didn’t perform fantastically in January, we’re still in a really good position in the league.

“I don’t want to find excuses for these not-so-good games, and before the Leicester game everybody will ask ‘what will you do now?’

“It’s not that we have no idea about it, but of course you need the boys in the best shape.

“You need to make the right decisions on the pitch, it’s not always about willing, sometimes you have to wait a little bit.

“For this moment we are there. We now have 14, 15 days – two or three days’ rest for the boys, then pre-season [ready] for the rest of the season.”

STANFORD, USA - Saturday, July 23, 2016: Liverpool's Ragnar Klavan, captain Jordan Henderson and Dejan Lovren with manager J¸rgen Klopp during a training session in the Laird Q. Cagan Stadium at Stanford University on day one of the club's USA Pre-season Tour. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

While defeat in the cup competitions is a blow to the Reds’ ambitions, as is their falling behind in the Premier League title race, a streamlined schedule can be a real positive.

And with Klopp describing this two-week period as a “pre-season” for his side, it is clear he is planning to make the most of the time off.

This is similar to last March, when the Reds were whisked off to Tenerife for a mid-season training camp, with Klopp using the international break to work with some of his peripheral figures.

There is an argument that a 15-day break after a 2-0 win hampers Liverpool’s momentum, but Klopp does not agree with this notion, as he explained.

“It’s not a shame, I love football but I have no problem with now having a few days where we can really train,” he added.

“A little bit of rest, then we really start a pre-season, that’s how we understand it.

“We want to use the time that we have then, and hopefully everybody can see that would make sense.”

The Reds have another 13 games left before the end of the season, with Klopp targeting victory in each one, and this period of intense preparation can prove vital in doing so.

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