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Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
And other preseason opening thoughts from the manager.
With the Liverpool squad returning to the training ground for preseason, Jurgen Klopp is happy to have his boys back together.
New recruits Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been welcomed with a warm reception.
“Now they are here and didn’t take long, let me say, to impress on the pitch as well, so that’s good”, said Klopp.
The players went through the dreaded lactate test, which has been won by James Milner in recent years - although this year the prize was taken by Mohamed Salah. But player fitness has been promising overall, according to Klopp,
“The players need a rest, they don’t have a lot. We will - and we can - help them to be in the best possible shape physically and in all other parts as well at the end of the pre-season, or a little bit into the season. The boys came proper, really - they did what they had to do. Yes, a couple did a bit more, but that’s fine as well”, he said.
Preseason will be a combination of physical and tactical training.
“It will be intense and there will be a lot of things, but we said last year: we started the new season last season already and that’s why we work now on how we want to play, how we want to set it up, how we can be more in a different set-up, more flexible and all of these kind of things”, Klopp explained.
As for one thing that’s changed since last season - Trent Alexander-Arnold’s hair.
“How I said, some changes, Trent cut his hair - [back to] the most successful haircut in his career, so he sacrificed the cool look for success, I like that!” Klopp added.
