Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Liverpool’s new-look leadership group had asked him to rate their input out of 10, explaining that “everybody stepped up.”
Though their influence on the pitch was waning, the departures of both Jordan Henderson and James Milner in one summer left Klopp with a void to fill.
Captain and vice-captain respectively, the pair were regarded as the leaders of Liverpool’s dressing room, instilling the mentality required to be as successful as the club has been under Klopp.
Henderson and Milner operated within an established leadership group that changed over the years, initially voted for by the squad to include Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum.
Now that group is comprised of captain Van Dijk, vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold and the support cast of Andy Robertson, Alisson and Mohamed Salah.
“I had only yesterday a meeting with our leadership group and they do extremely well,” he told Ben Foster in an interview for Amazon Prime.
“I had to rate them from one to 10, and I gave them an eight. It’s not bad, really. Everybody stepped up.
“It’s obviously Virgil, Trent, Ali, Robbo and Mo. Outstanding personalities, outstanding characters, really smart people, understanding the bigger picture. It’s a joy to watch.”
The role of a leader within the Liverpool squad is not restricted to matchdays, with Klopp himself left surprised by the work Henderson and Milner put in.
“Hendo and Milly took a lot away,” he continued.
“As much as I was not aware of a lot of things, [our new captains] were not aware of a lot of things. Milly and Hendo just did it. So that’s how it is.
“So now they have to do it, but I’m pretty sure they enjoy it. Then when it’s going well football-wise it’s nicer to do it.
“I think Robbo is probably the most experienced. Now Scotland is in a really good moment, but when Scotland were not in a good moment and you’re captain and you have to give an interview and explain a 3-0 defeat, that’s not so cool.
“So far it all goes well and I’m really happy.”
The decision to appoint Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold as official captain and vice-captain was a no brainer, as was the involvement of Alisson, Robertson and Salah.
Beyond those five players, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Adrian are the only other constants in Klopp’s most successful period as Liverpool manager.
“We had a super successful team, I know we didn’t win everything but we were close enough to call it success,” the manager explained.
“Not winning the league by one point, twice, what does that say about you if you look back? You were still an incredibly consistent team on an extremely high level.
“Losing two Champions League finals, yes it’s not great, but qualifying for three is a pretty big achievement.
“So that was with this group and we had to change. It was only the question of when is the right moment to change?
“I think we did it in the right moment and so far it works out pretty well, we create other real leaders.”
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