Jurgen Klopp admits it will take time for his new-look Liverpool to realise their full potential – but has no concerns over the age of his midfield.
Jurgen Klopp said: “Age is no issue. These players have already played a lot of games at a really high level. That’s the experience you need. We have other players in the squad who have won a lot of things. I know it was ages ago, but at Dortmund we became the youngest champions ever and a year later the second-youngest champions ever as the team was a year older. That’s no problem, it didn’t hold us back then and it will not hold us back now. Each new start, obviously when you change that much, are we now (clicks fingers) turning up as absolute favourites for all competitions? No. If we are confronted by those expectations, then it will be tricky. But if you give us time… I don’t know where the limits are at the moment. We will see that. We have to go through difficult moments and we have to look at the reaction, prepare the reaction maybe if it’s possible, and then we have to win football games. I don’t see that we are somehow too young. We have players in the best age group of mid-20s, younger 20s, early 30s, everything is in there. It’s about how we grow together and can build this unit, how we can build this spirit to go for it.”
Klopp believes his Liverpool squad has already demonstrated that character in earning victories against Bournemouth and Newcastle United despite being reduced to 10 men in each game after red cards for Alexis Mac Allister and Virgil van Dijk respectively. And the Reds boss says the team are already showing they can win the hearts of the fanbase, with Liverpool aiming to extend their 14-game unbeaten run when they entertain Aston Villa on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp said: “I think it’s very important, especially at Liverpool, from Saturday morning on our people, with all the speculation that has gone on, will buy into it and spread the love for this team. I really think it’s easy to love this team. You could already see that. What can you get from a team in the first three games besides results? The fighting spirit, the mentality we showed so early in the season already – yes, forced into it, it’s not like we planned it and said ‘come on, let’s give it a try with an extended pre-season because we forgot to work with 10 men so do that in the competition’. That’s a good start. To create relationship between our people and this team, I absolutely think it’s worth giving it a try.”
Endo has had a testing start to his Anfield career having played all bar 28 minutes of his first two appearances in a team with 10 men. His predecessor Fabinho took several months to adapt to the defensive midfield position having arrived from Monaco in 2018 before becoming a major part of Liverpool’s recent successes, and Klopp has revealed already having meetings with the Japan international to help his tactical acclimatisation.
Jurgen Klopp said: “We are a counter-pressing team still with all the possession and stuff, and that means you have to be in specific positions. And you can see in moments where he is slightly too deep, those kind of things. I’ve had meetings with him and we will work on that. He wants to do it 100% right, and you can see in training when the spaces are smaller, he is a machine. Can you have a more difficult start than playing twice with 10 men for such a long time? Probably not. We are getting there. He didn’t have a pre-season and that’s the biggest difference between him and the other two new boys. They had the pre-season with us, a long pre-season, a good pre-season and it changes everything. He just needs training and everything will be fine.”
