Jürgen Klopp on the Importance of Pre-Season

Pre-season is almost upon us. The exotic and luxurious beach vacations are set to come to an end, along with, if Roberto Firmino’s Instagram is anything to go by, the gothic masquerade balls. Ok, Bobby. You do you, bud.

Next week all of the available players will convene at Melwood as Klopp begins his pre-season training. Among them will be new guy Mohamed Salah, who will thankfully get plenty of time to work with his new teammates.

This summer, the team will be playing friendlies, along with the Premier League Asia Cup, and the Audi Cup.

Manager Jürgen Klopp spoke to the official site about the importance of the pre-season in preparing the team for this season’s campaign.

“Apart from the games during the season, it’s the most important thing and it has a big influence on the games. You create a base for the whole year. This game is a players’ game and the players’ game means they need to know what the other guy is thinking,” he said.

“You learn all of this in the pre-season. Of course you learn in the season – you fine-tune – but the better the basis you can create, the better the season will be, 100 per cent.

“I really love the sessions. There should be a 100 per cent difference between the first day of pre-season and the last day. We really want to see big, big progress.”

Same, boss. Same. With players at various levels of fitness after a summer full of international games, and hopefully, more new signings entering the ranks and some familiar faces leaving as the pre-season wears on, this is always an interesting and fluctuating time.

This is a big season for the club, though, and therefore a big pre-season as well. They will be looking to build on their top-four finish in May and regain their reputation as a team that consistently lands in those Champions League spots. And a trophy or two wouldn’t hurt either.