It is always fascinating to watch Jurgen Klopp talk. He is as entertaining off the pitch as he is, on it. The German knows how to deliver his message without beating around the bush.
Klopp has gone into the summer transfer window with the single devotion of strengthening the squad and mounting a title challenge this season. We finished fourth last year but the squad was literally threadbare. He effectively relied on 13 fit players to drive the charge.
But this year with all the new signings, Klopp expects to increase the depth and feels that the players should be braced for bench time as it would be difficult for all of them to be regulars. As quoted by Daily Mail, he said:
“We need to be independent of one or two players. We still have to have a style, a way of playing and if we need to play completely different if we need. If we have time to train, if not then do the same but a little bit less left or right. So far the pre-season is pretty good.
“We know what we see in the players and we know what we have to do. We need to make sure it works much more often than it doesn’t work. It is about how do we react when it doesn’t work in our direction? That’s how it is more difficult.
“I said we always want to develop this team, and there are two things to do – signings and training so we did both. The signings are nice, either they play or they push another player. Now it’s more difficult to play all the time.”
It has been a good pre-season for the Reds so far, highlighted by the 3-0 thrashing they handed over to Bayern Munich. The win was achieved without Adam Lallana, James Milner, Gigi Wijnaldum and Daniel Sturridge starting.
Some of these names are usually the first ones on the team sheet and Klopp would be satisfied with the result. However, the players must have got a feel of the increasing competition and how difficult it would be to break into the first team now.
Need To Move Away From Being A One-Player Team
The biggest takeaway this pre-season is that we are close to moving away from being a one-player team. There were times last year when we were over-dependent on Philippe Coutinho. Klopp has repeatedly indicated that none of his top players would be sold. His stance on Coutinho was clear although certain media outlets continuously link him to Barcelona.
The German tactician is no stranger to these things, as during his time at Borussia Dortmund, his top players were regularly poached by Bayern Munich. He wants to build a system and make sure that even if a big player moves on, the club could cope.
“We are building something but building something should be independent of this,” said Klopp.
Not A Message For Coutinho
Is this a subtle message for Coutinho or even Emre Can? Hardly so, because Klopp would be the last man to sanction the playmaker’s sale. But, if things go out of hand this year or next, he does not want to be caught in no man’s land.
Emre Can’s contract situation too should not bother the fans as Klopp has indicated that everything is fine from his view point.
“I speak to Emre every day – not about the contract, but I speak to him. From my point of view everything is fine at the moment.”
Things are good as of now. Phew!
https://youtu.be/_auycTp_fj4
