Jurgen Klopp‘s side spent 10 days in Germany for their training camp and two friendlies, an intense start to lay the foundations for the season to come.
The Reds took a 32-man squad to Klopp’s homeland and lost their captain midway after agreeing a £12 million deal for his move to the Saudi Pro League.
There have been no new incomings, yet, but Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott returned to bolster the squad and the mood is positive for what lies ahead.
A quick stop on Merseyside now awaits before the team jets off to Singapore on Thursday for two more friendlies.
Liverpool’s time in Germany has concluded after triple training sessions, two friendlies, team bonding activities and plenty of bike rides – here’s a quick recap.
Intense sessions
Klopp took his side to the German town of Donaueschingen in the Black Forest region – where Klopp grew up – an isolated and rural town that did not allow for distractions.
The team hotel, Hotel Öschberghof, was a close bike ride away from the training pitches, which the team visited frequently!
They were put through three training sessions a day, which was a new experience for new signing Dominik Szoboszlai.
“It was not easy,” he said. “I came from a really good team in Leipzig and pre-season is hard everywhere but I never had three training sessions a day before in my life!”
Better them than us!
2 friendlies, 29 Reds in action
- Karlsruher 2-4 Liverpool
- Greuther Furth 4-4 Liverpool
The Reds combined their intense training sessions with two pre-season friendlies, they scored eight but conceded six. Feels kind of familiar, doesn’t it?
Of the 34 players that travelled to the camp, 29 got minutes on the pitch as the manager changed his XIs for each half.
Henderson was the obvious absentee from the original squad, while Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic did not take part as their recovery from injuries sustained last season continued.
The results of the matches were not the priority for Klopp and while the defence needs some tending to, exciting combinations in the final third have started to emerge.
Players used: Alisson, Kelleher, Adrian, Jaros, Pitaluga, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez, Quansah, Matip, Bradley, Tsimikas, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, McConnell, Elliott, Jones, Clark, Frauendorf, Scanlon, Gakpo, Koumas, Doak, Diaz, Jota, Salah, Nunez
Bike rides and team bonding
The pre-season tradition of cycling to and from training continued, some had a wheelie good time and others seemed uncertain as to how a helmet worked.
It would not be my chosen method of transportation after a training session, and some Reds may agree – especially when a hill is involved on the way back!
Away from training, team bonding is just important and we have seen table tennis tournaments, canoe races and time enjoying the picturesque setting of the Black Forest.
The desire to “be the best”
The manager assessed the training camp as “absolutely top class” and he is already thinking about coming back.
The Reds were able to have uninterrupted time on the training pitch and there is a clear desire from Klopp to see his side be the “best” in all facets of the game.
“I want us to be a lot,” Klopp told the ‘We are Liverpool’ official podcast. “I really love to be that team where everybody thinks, ‘oh god, Liverpool’.
“But I want us to be a possession team, I want us to be a high-press team, specialists [in both].
“The best in the world in counter-press, best in deep defending, best in midfield press, best in set-pieces – offensively and defensively – and that’s how I want to do this pre-season.”
We can all get behind that!
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