No other team save Manchester City is capable, in the opinion of coach Jurgen Klopp, of establishing a target for the upcoming season that is reasonable for winning the Premier League.
In a news conference held on August 1 in Singapore, prior to a friendly match against Bayern Munich, Jurgen Klopp shared these thoughts with the media.
In the 2022-2023 season of the Premier League, Liverpool finished in fifth place because they were unsuccessful when they played while they were without any players.They also suffered through a difficult summer when they parted ways with a number of key players, including James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson, and Fabinho.
This was a particularly difficult time for the club.Dominik Szoboszlai was brought in by Liverpool from RB Leipzig at a fee of $76 million, while 2022 World Cup champion Alexis Mac Allister was acquired by Liverpool from Brighton for a fee of $46 million.
As a result, Jurgen Klopp has stated that the objective for Liverpool’s upcoming campaign would be to simply battle for a position in the top four. “The sooner you win tickets to the Champions League, the higher you rank,” the German head coach noted.
“If you’re in second place and you’re making up ground on the leader, then you have a shot at taking home the championship. However, a club of Liverpool’s scale absolutely needs to be successful; otherwise, the club will need to look into other options.
Klopp has stated that he is not yet thinking about the upcoming season and that he is simply concentrating on the club’s final two friendly, which will take place tonight against Bayern and on August 7 against Darmstadt.The head coach, who is 56 years old, emphasized how important it was to construct a powerful team with a positive spirit and atmosphere in order to lay the groundwork for the most successful season that could be had.
Defense, not the middle of the field, is what Klopp sees as Liverpool’s most pressing issue heading into the new season.He stated, “From the very first day after joining, I made it clear that the defense must be on an entirely different level than it was during the previous season.” In order to avoid any issues in the future, Liverpool must improve their defense beginning with the game against Bayern. genuine topic of discussion”
On July 31, Liverpool announced that Virgil van Dijk would succeed Jordan Henderson as captain of the team, and Trent Alexander-Arnold would take over for James Milner as vice captain. Both positions were previously held by Henderson.Klopp has stated that he has made the decision to appoint a new Liverpool staff rather than allowing the players to vote on the matter.
The German head coach praised Van Dijk as a leader, stating that the Dutch midfielder had everything it took to be the club’s captain, and he watched as the handing of the captain’s armband to the Dutch player opened the next chapter at Anfield.In addition to this, he underlined that Alexander-Arnold has significantly developed over the past few years and is now prepared to take on a new position.
While this is going on, Alexander-Arnold has stated that he is looking forward to the possibility of being given additional duties and guiding the club into a new era with significant championships.The English defender has stated in the past that he wants to one day lead Liverpool as its captain, and he views his current role as vice captain as a stepping stone toward achieving that goal.
In the previous twenty years, Liverpool has had only three recognized captains: the iconic Steven Gerrard, Henderson, and now Van Dijk. Van Dijk is the third of the three.Alexander-Arnold is of the opinion that the Dutch midfielder is the ideal candidate to take charge of the team.
Because Van Dijk is the captain of the Dutch squad, this is a decision that can be considered legitimate. Van Dijk is accustomed to taking on the role of a leader and will perform admirably in this capacity. According to the article, “the entire team will proceed to go and follow Van Dijk’s instructions.” a guard who was 24 years old remarked.