Liverpool Return to Spain for “Pre-Season” Training Camp

Having already taken two mid-season breaks under Jürgen Klopp, jetting off to spend a bit of time training away from Merseyside, it will probably come as no surprise to anyone that Liverpool are today on their way to La Manga on Spain’s Mediterranean coast for a “pre-season” training camp.

That pre-season bit is important. It means that despite the sun and sand, after a few days to rest the players will be back doing three-a-day training in the hopes that when they return to league play on the 27th, it will be looking a little more like they did over the first four months of the season.

“We have 14-15 days, so there are two or three days rest then pre-season for the rest of the season,” Klopp noted before he and his players headed to Spain. “That’s how we understand the situation. We have to use this. I love football, but I have no problem that we can really train so we want to use the time.”

Last season, Liverpool prepared for their final push down the stretch with a break and training camp in Tenerife. Following it, they made it to the Europa League final. Less successful perhaps was a brief winter camp on the outskirts of Barcelona in December of this season following the Bournemouth loss.

Though even in that more recent case, while Liverpool’s December didn’t see them hit the heights of August through November, they still managed four wins and a draw to go along with the Bournemouth loss in league play. Compared to what came next, they were in stellar form.

Following a December that seems far better in retrospect than many felt it was at the time, Liverpool managed just one win to go along with four draws and five losses before Saturday’s unexpectedly convincing victory over Tottenham.