Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists he did not have to lift the morale of his England players after they returned to training following a disappointing Euro 2016.
Roy Hodgson’s side exited the tournament in the last-16 to minnows Iceland, but their three-week break has allowed James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge to get over the shock.
“They had three weeks’ holiday and they came back pretty well recovered,” said Klopp.
“Of course we spoke about the European Championship but I told them my view.
“When we spoke in general about English football in this tournament I thought it was really good.
“Until England left the tournament they didn’t play worse than Portugal, for example, but they didn’t have the time for development Portugal had.
“So it was not that I had to give them back the optimism. They came back [after] three weeks, it’s how national players have to do it, and it was not that disappointing.”
The England contingent are likely to feature in Saturday’s friendly against Barcelona at Wembley, set to kick off at 5.15pm (BST).
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