PL 2021/22 Season

[Scratch]

Interesting that they put so much stock in last years truncated season, where the matches came thick and fast and the teams with the biggest squads did better than the others.

This season will be back to normal, with more rest/training between games, so I think we (and other clubs with less squad depth) will fare much better, assuming injuries beyond the norm are not a factor this time round.

[RedReet]

I just can't see Chelsea finishing above us and City. Too many things would need to fall right for them. Have they signed any decent CB's this year?

I'll also be amazed if United finish ahead of us as well.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Where is this myth coming from that last season City had no forwards or strikers, and that they are going into this season without one unless they buy Kane?


I don't see any of the "experts" using the lack of an out and out striker as an excuse for us in any way or form.


They have Jesus who is a striker and who can play anywhere across a front three, and who just so happened to be Brazil's first chice striker.


Then in terms of attackers that can play across the front three they also have Sterling, Mahrez, Foden, Torres and depending on what position he is used in Grealish.


Silva is also able to play on the wing for them in attack and they have the likes of KDB providing an attacking threat be it directly or in a creative role.


Plus under Guardiola they rarely play with an out and out front man and instead spread the goal threat throughout the team.

[Irishnev]

I just can't see Chelsea finishing above us and City. Too many things would need to fall right for them. Have they signed any decent CB's this year?

I'll also be amazed if United finish ahead of us as well.

Strongly linked to Kounde who is v good - I also expect them to buy a CM

[RedReet]

Strongly linked to Kounde who is v good - I also expect them to buy a CM

[RedReet]

Long article on preseason. Don't read if you get bored after one paragraph or would rather moan about lack of signings than take the positives from this summer...


For Jurgen Klopp, this summer was unprecedented in his two decades of management.

The Liverpool boss had the luxury of a four-week training camp, divided between sites in Austria and France. No long-haul travel for the players to the US or Far East, no commercial appearances, no media throng, no distractions.

Klopp talks about pre-season acting as “a trampoline” for the campaign ahead and Liverpool bounced higher and higher during a productive month away which was followed up by back-to-back Anfield friendlies on successive days before finalising their preparations this week in the familiar surroundings of their Kirkby training ground.

“Close to perfect,” is how one senior staff member has described it to The Athletic.

“A really good atmosphere was created in the camp. The facilities were brilliant and the quality of the training was exceptional. All the things organised away from the training field brought people closer together. It ticked all the boxes.

“No one had ever been away for that long in pre-season before. It was a big ask, especially for the boys with young kids, but a lot was achieved. Hard work, but massively beneficial. The base for the season ahead has been created.”

Liverpool’s anticipated title-race rivals have certainly been more active in the transfer market.

Champions Manchester City splashed out £100 million on Jack Grealish last week and continue to pursue Tottenham Hotspur’s England captain Harry Kane, who would surely cost them even more. Romelu Lukaku is rejoining Chelsea for a similarly eye-watering fee to Grealish’s, while Manchester United will surely be stronger following the signings of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane.

With centre-back Ibrahima Konate, a £35 million purchase from RB Leipzig, the only new arrival at Anfield so far this summer, Klopp’s focus has been on getting more from the talent already at his disposal and creating the kind of collective, “us versus the world” mentality money can’t buy.

Concerns remain over the lack of business, given that midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum hasn’t been replaced after leaving at the end of his contract and there are questions over whether they have sufficient cover in attacking positions. Andy Robertson’s ankle ligament injury was also a painful blow, but there has been a stack of positives for Klopp over the past five weeks with key personnel returning to fitness, fringe players staking a claim for greater involvement at first-team level and talented youngsters showcasing their rich potential.

Neuroscientists, gruelling double sessions, motivational talks from TV presenters, quizzes, table-tennis competitions, bike rides, karaoke nights and embarrassing forfeits have all featured.

This is the story of Liverpool’s 2020-21 pre-season.

Dr Niklas Hausler and Patrick Hantschke are the co-founders and CEOs of German company Neuro11. They offer their expertise in neuroscience and psychology to elite athletes in the form of mental strength training.

Klopp brought them on board this summer as part of his ongoing search for marginal gains. He’s convinced that they can help improve Liverpool’s output from dead-ball situations.

Neuro11, who also work with golfers and basketball players, seek to help athletes train their brains to be “in flow” — a subconscious state of mind where their focus is razor-sharp and their actions feel automatic, potentially boosting shooting accuracy. Klopp believes Liverpool will reap the benefits this season when it comes to free kicks, corners and penalties.

Players were fitted with headsets that recorded their brain activity while on the training pitch, enabling Hausler and Hantschke to calculate each individual’s unique “neural activity index”. Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold were among those to embrace the link-up and it’s an ongoing partnership.

“Jurgen and I really believe in these two guys and their concept. We believe in the stimulus they give,” says Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders.

Both video and practical sessions were put on by specialist throw-ins coach Thomas Gronnemark, who recently penned a new contract to cover the coming season.

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Klopp leading a Liverpool pre-season training session in Austria (Photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
During their time in the picturesque French town of Evian, there was also a visit from TV presenter, author and adventurer Ben Fogle.

He spoke to the players about the challenges he faced when he rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, ran 160 miles through the Sahara Desert and climbed Mount Everest. The message was that nothing is impossible when you have the right mindset and are prepared to push yourself to the limit, both physically and mentally.

“We all have to climb our own Everest,” Fogle told those seated in front of him.

Liverpool certainly suffered last season, when an injury crisis derailed their title defence, including six home losses in a row from January to April, before they recovered to win the final five league games and salvage Champions League qualification.

Klopp believes dealing with all that adversity and coming out the other side stronger for the experience will help his players this time around.

Before Evian, there was a fortnight in the Austrian city of Salzburg and a further week in that country’s Tirol region.

Liverpool picked Austria as their initial base for pre-season following detailed discussions with the local authorities. They received guarantees that staying in a COVID-19 secure bubble would ensure that those players returning at different stages following European Championship and Copa America duty wouldn’t have to quarantine.

Anyone wanting to enter Liverpool’s camp had to return a negative test before being given the green light. Staff and players were also tested before each friendly.

Klopp’s attention to detail included taking the club’s groundstaff team manager, Warren Scott, with them so the training pitches were prepared exactly how he wanted them.

Former Manchester City midfielder and The Athletic columnist Yaya Toure was among the select group allowed in to watch training in the Alpine town of Saalfelden.

Toure, now on the coaching staff at Russian top-flight side Akhmat Grozny, is good friends with Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, who secured Klopp’s permission for the visit. He witnessed a squad working towards Klopp’s target of hitting teams with “organised chaos” — pace, skill and hunger in abundance, but coupled with control and discipline.

There has been a big emphasis on drills designed to increase the intensity of Liverpool’s counter-pressing as well as the fluency and potency of their counter-attacks. What’s helped on that front has been how fresh and revitalised Salah and Mane have looked. With no international tournament for their Egypt and Senegal sides this summer, the two forwards enjoyed a rare extended break.

“Mo and Sadio helped set the standard in every session over there,” revealed another staff member. “They looked so lean and hungry. They are superstars but they are also exemplary professionals who are always striving to be better.”

liverpool-football
Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Konate and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during a training drill (Photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both endured a 2020-21 season to forget but have shown over the past month why Klopp refused to give up on them. The same goes for Takumi Minamino, who returned from being on loan to Southampton for the second half of last season determined to force his way into the manager’s plans.

Having initially experimented in pre-season with Oxlade-Chamberlain as a false No 9, Klopp has since reverted to playing him in more familiar roles. “Ox is on fire,” was the manager’s assessment, following the final friendly with Spanish top-flight side Osasuna on Monday night.

Kostas Tsimikas was barely seen last season during his debut year at Liverpool but the Greek left-back suddenly looks the part, fuelling the belief that Robertson’s absence through injury for the opening weeks of this season won’t be too damaging.

The feel-good factor was intensified by the sight of first Joel Matip and then his fellow centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez making their returns from last term’s long-term injuries.

For Van Dijk, it had been 285 days since his ACL was ruptured by Jordan Pickford’s reckless challenge in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. One of the biggest and most inspirational voices in the Liverpool dressing room is back.

“When Virgil and Joe came on in the friendly against Hertha Berlin, it was an emotional moment for all of us,” one member of Klopp’s backroom staff adds. “After such a tough time and knowing what they had both been through over the past year, the sight of them back playing gave everyone a huge lift.”

Their gradual returns had been carefully overseen by Dr Andreas Schlumberger, who joined Liverpool from German club Schalke as head of recovery and performance midway through last season.

Alexander-Arnold was devastated to miss the Euros because of a thigh injury in one of England’s warm-up friendlies but he has also enjoyed a full pre-season after a decent break to recharge. He’s only 22 but his leadership role within the squad continues to grow.

It’s an elite environment where young players have flourished. Lijnders talked about wanting to see talents who are prepared to nutmeg Van Dijk on the training field but then politely step aside for the Netherlands’ 30-year-old captain in the corridor of the hotel. In effect, footballing arrogance coupled with humility – which nicely sums up Harvey Elliott.

In the space of a month, the gifted 18-year-old Londoner has transformed the debate from whether he should be loaned out again after doing well with Blackburn Rovers of the Championship last season to whether he should be starting for his parent club.

Klopp’s decision to experiment with Elliott as an attacking midfielder proved inspired. The reality is he’s not going to get many minutes this season wide on the right, given that it is Salah’s position, but the teenager has showcased his versatility.

“Harvey can play different positions, there’s absolutely no doubt about it. But in the pre-season we wanted to see him just in a deeper role,” says Klopp. “We wanted to have him more involved. I think he made a big step. If Harvey stays fit, then the football world can be really excited about that.”

Elliott cut short his time off this summer to ensure he was in the best possible shape for pre-season and the sacrifices have paid off. Teenage rookies Kaide Gordon, Owen Beck and Conor Bradley have also made their mark.

Ben Woodburn is still Liverpool’s youngest ever goalscorer after netting at age 17 years and 45 days in a November 2016 League Cup tie, but he isn’t a kid any more. The now 21-year-old Wales international provided a timely reminder of the quality he possesses after a difficult, injury-plagued few years largely spent out on loan.

“One of the great things to see when we were away was how many senior players spent time with the youngsters passing on bits of advice,” says one staff member.

“It’s always interesting to see in pre-season how young players from the academy deal with both the physical and the tactical side of first-team training. They were dragged to a higher level by the quality, speed and intensity of the players around them. Harvey and Kaide were the perfect examples of that.

“It’s hard to believe that Kaide is still only 16.”

Away from the training fields, there were plenty of activities designed to avert boredom and foster the kind of spirit and camaraderie Klopp cherishes.

The traditional annual doubles table-tennis tournament for players and staff held in Evian’s Hotel Royal culminated in Salah and head of press Matt McCann facing the club’s performance psychologist Lee Richardson and reserve goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher in the final.

Salah and McCann triumphed. The beaming Egyptian, who held up three fingers to indicate how many Liverpool ping-pong titles he has now claimed, is as deadly with a bat in his hand as he is when bearing down on goal.

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Salah is the Liverpool table tennis champion (Photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
During downtime, some watched action from the Tokyo Olympics or UK reality show Love Island. Others opted for darts, chess or playing FIFA on the PlayStation.

Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip went head to head in a game of Austrian nine-pin bowling. Van Dijk, whose mind-games included turning off the lights just as Matip was about to take his turn, was crowned champion.

With so many double training sessions, the decision was taken to give the players one day off per week. Leisure options were limited, given the bubble they were in, but activities included paddle boarding, pedal boating, golf, mountain biking and fishing.

The quiz night ended in defeat for a team consisting of Lijnders, Gordon, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gomez and elite development coach Vitor Matos. They had to dance as their forfeit. “I think only Ox enjoyed it, pretty much all the others felt slightly awkward,” laughed Klopp, who had visiting chief executive Billy Hogan in his team.

Karaoke is a rite of passage at Liverpool for any player or member of staff new to the senior squad. It was spread across two nights, in Tirol and Evian.

“Konate was pretty good and Taki (Minamino) surprised a few people with his singing too, but young Billy Koumetio really stole the show with his dancing,” revealed one member of the crowd.

Academy youngster Jake Cain gave a rendition of 50 Cent’s Candy Shop.

It wasn’t only the players who needed a break after the events of last season. Klopp himself looked weary by May.

The succession of cruel injury setbacks left him dealing with the first real crisis of his Anfield reign. He felt the absence of supporters more than anyone. There was also the personal anguish of losing his mother Elisabeth in February and not being able to attend her funeral back home in Germany due to the pandemic.

From the day pre-season started on July 12, though, he has looked re-energised. The sparkle is back and staff believe he’s more driven than ever.

With Liverpool not signing up to a lucrative friendly tournament, Klopp was able to tailor their warm-up programme exactly how he wanted it. After two 30-minute games against Austria’s Wacker Innsbruck and his hometown club Stuttgart, most players then played a half in full-length matches against two more German sides — his old club Mainz and Hertha Berlin. The camp was completed with two 60-minute games against Bologna of Italy, before flying home for those back-to-back Anfield friendlies against Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna.

The latter game saw captain Jordan Henderson and Thiago make their pre-season debuts. Henderson, who sat out the final three months of the 2020-21 club season following groin surgery, was granted an extended break by Klopp after the Euros and only linked up with his team-mates on their return to the UK. Thiago is also still getting up to speed but in the coming weeks that duo should form part of Klopp’s strongest midfield, alongside Fabinho.

Liverpool’s solitary friendly defeat, against Hertha, was hardly a surprise given the energy-sapping double session they did a day earlier as well as training on the morning of the game.

‘Champions don’t complain, they are too busy getting better,’ was written in large letters on a flipchart when the players arrived in Tirol after the two-hour drive from Salzburg.

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Klopp talking with Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri in Evian (Photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Klopp took great delight in keeping a watchful eye over the punishing 6-x-1,000m runs with a minute’s rest in between. Once again this year, the evergreen James Milner set the pace at the age of 35. The manager spiced things up by introducing penalty and crossbar challenges when heart-rates were still sky-high. Succeed, and you were excused having to run the sixth 1,000m leg.

“We’re not going to kill you on the first day…. I thought we’d do that on the second day,” he boomed to the watching Fabinho and Roberto Firmino after they reported for duty.

What a contrast to a year ago, when Liverpool’s shorter pre-season stint in Austria was hampered by several positive COVID-19 tests and monsoon weather conditions. The mood in their 2021 camp was very different.

There were plenty of young versus old players training exercises, with 30 push-ups each time for the losers. On one occasion, Oxlade-Chamberlain, deemed old at 27, was rumbled by 20-year-old Curtis Jones after taking off his yellow bib and trying to join in the youngsters’ celebrations.

If a counter-attacking drill didn’t end with a goal being scored, then the attackers had to sprint back to the halfway line.

“The better you play, the more you play. The better you finish, the less you run. The worse you play, the more you run. Natural pressure. I like to make the team fit in this way a lot,” explains Lijnders.

Klopp wants Liverpool to have an element of surprise in the new season, and that means being able to switch from being a possession-based team to playing on the counter.

“The pass we play is always the best pass in the world,” he tells players, meaning that even when they lose the ball, he expects them to react immediately to try to get it back rather than retreat. The number of times Liverpool have created goalscoring opportunities from counter-press situations this pre-season certainly bodes well for the challenges ahead.

In team meetings, Klopp has struck a bullish and defiant tone. He has repeatedly talked up the calibre of the talent he’s working with. If there’s any hint of frustration at the lack of new faces, given their rivals’ transfer activity, he’s kept it well hidden.

“I am more than happy with the squad I have,” he insists. “We have so many things that you cannot sign. You cannot sign counter-pressing, you cannot sign the atmosphere that we create in the stadium, you cannot sign togetherness, you cannot sign Anfield, you cannot sign our anthem. You cannot sign a lot of things, and that’s what we have to use.”

Senior club sources have told The Athletic that further incomings at this stage are deemed unlikely. It depends to an extent on outgoings, given that Liverpool currently have the full quota of non-homegrown players for their 25-man Premier League squad.

Few pundits are tipping the 2019-20 champions to repeat that glory this season, but that suits Klopp and his squad perfectly.

There’s been no booming statement of intent from Liverpool in the transfer market but no sagas or sense of upheaval either. Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and goalkeeper Alisson have all signed new contracts and other extensions for key figures are in the pipeline.

After the turmoil of last season, Klopp has relished having such a calm, settled summer.

“Physically, tactically, and in terms of creating a real spirit, we couldn’t have asked for much more from pre-season,” adds one member of the backroom staff. “The boys are ready. Now we have to go and deliver.”

(Top photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

[Tribute]

Great article and well worth the extended read... gives you an idea that Klopp and the team are really, intensely focused on coming back with a bang this season and hopefuly that means coming out of the blocks so fast, others around them will be like 'wtf...?!'

Two really interesting points from that article:
1) Ben Fogle as a motivational speaker... I'm used to seeing him chasing chickens...
2) Players relaxed by playing FIFA, Playstation, watching the Olympics, golf... chess? **** off, none of them play chess... hahahaha, actually maybe Millie..

[Pablo]

I remember reading a while back that Trent is really good at chess.

[RedReet]

I'm convinced we'll have a lightening start this year, it's whether we can navigate through February, when we lose key players.

[Rich]

Mo definitely plays chess.

[Fredo]

I'm convinced we'll have a lightening start this year, it's whether we can navigate through February, when we lose key players.

I’m really looking forward to this season. Excited to see the likes of Elliot, Tsimikas, Naby and Taki making the step up and fulfilling their talent.

[Pablo]

Even in the training footage Naby stands out. I'm ready to get hurt again

[Doc_Piptorious]

I'm convinced we'll have a lightening start this year, it's whether we can navigate through February, when we lose key players.

Think we are going to have a good start but maybe one that sees us systematically beat them for maybe the first quarter of the season and then go into crushing machine mode from about Xmas in.

My logic for this is teams have gotten used to having a go at us and having a decent chance of getting a result when they do so, so I think that is going to happen early on in the season and then when teams realise that we are a lot more solid than last season we start to have less teams coming at us and more going into survival mode.


Think Us, City and Chelsea are all going to break the 80 point mark this season and whoever comes fourth will not be far off of 80 as well.

[spud_gun]

I’m really looking forward to this season. Excited to see the likes of Elliot, Tsimikas, Naby and Taki making the step up and fulfilling their talent.

and Thiago

We only started to see him shine during that phenomenal run at the end of the season

[Harv]

Would bloody love Naby and Taki to come out firing and stick it up the haters. Theres clearly two very good footballers there, theyve just never got a chance to show it really.