Jurgen Klopp is looking to make the most of the next four weeks, with the Liverpool manager highlighting the importance of a rare extended time to train.
The Reds have returned from their pre-season tour of Asia, and are set to depart for Austria next week for an eight-day training camp and friendlies against RB Leipzig (July 21) and Salzburg (July 27).
After that, they will head back to Merseyside ahead of a double-header against Man City in the Community Shield (July 30) and Strasbourg in their closing friendly at Anfield (July 31).
That will prepare them for the Premier League opener against Fulham (August 6), with a nine-day gap to follow before their next game at home to Crystal Palace (August 15).
Liverpool will play five times in the next four weeks, then, but beyond that point there is little reprieve, with at most a week between games and more often than not one every three or four days.
With a mid-season World Cup, the campaign begins a week early, while Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup games are squeezed into the schedule, too.
It is no surprise, then, that Klopp is aiming to make the most of the month ahead.
“We have to work a lot in the next four weeks, I would say, especially to prepare the rest of the season,” he told reporters on Friday.
“We have to use the time, because from mid-September on we will not have time to train anymore. We just play then every three days.
“That’s why it’s so important that we get through these kinds of things, that some players have 45 minutes, for others 30 minutes.”
As the manager explained, the minutes are already beginning to increase for many of the players during pre-season friendlies, with 13 of those clocking 45 minutes in the 2-0 win over Palace.
That is designed to get them back up to speed as quickly as possible, but the manager is also eager to reward the efforts of those young players travelling with them.
“They might have been able to play a bit longer as well, but I really want to give the young boys the opportunity as well to play in this incredible atmosphere,” Klopp continued.
“They do everything with us, they are constantly with us, and then in a moment like this when it’s really enjoyable to play football, I didn’t want to leave them out.
“That’s why they came on. So far, so OK.”
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