Martin King explains how Liverpool will work their way through a testing fixture list as the Reds seek to win silverware for the first time under Jürgen Klopp.
If you ask former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman to pick between having the most talented team versus the team with the strongest mentality, he would most likely choose the former, if his post-match comments on BT Sport are anything to go by.
That alone is enough to start an interesting debate over which one is enough to achieve success in football – the best players or the best mentality? – but whichever one you prefer, both always seem to eventually complement each other and only a few clubs in world football are blessed to have both in the same squad.
Under Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool have had to steward one before receiving the other, as in October 2015, the former Borussia Dortmund manager inherited a team that, in all fairness, wasn’t at all equipped with the best talent.
Fast-forward three years and the 51-year-old has assembled a world-class team capable of competing on all fronts but in a time when winning titles is the ultimate expectation, what stands out as a particularly interesting quality about this team isn’t so much how talented it is, but that they’ve already taken the first step towards success by finding a strength their manager prioritises above all else.
Hunger, determination and belief
When the target of delivering consistent results across the league season is set for any side, the team’s attitude ahead of every game is obviously considered an important asset to achieving victory. However, ask any professional of the game and they will tell you that the team’s attitude after the game – win or lose – is just as important, if not greater.
Liverpool’s season is only three games old and the Reds will be pleased to reflect on three clean sheet wins and a place on top of the early table.
Take not for granted the fact that it would be easy to gloat in their victories thus far, believing that they will win the Premier League title in May, but Klopp has instilled a mentality consisting mainly of hunger, determination and belief at Anfield, one that is as strong within the squad after the game as it is before.
“We feel good, but the most important thing is that we’re going to try to feel as good for a long time,” said Georginio Wijnaldum on Liverpool’s official website.
“The Premier League has just started and everything can happen.
“What we have to do is stay confident but know that sometimes things can go wrong, so we have to work hard to keep things as good as they are right now. I think that’s the most important thing – that we have to work really hard to keep it how it is right now.”
How’s that for a perfect summary of just where Liverpool are mentally at the moment?
There is never enough positive work done, according to the Dutch midfielder. The team wants to do more (hunger); they are driven to not just do it, but do it well (determination) and to top it off, there’s a unified confidence that as they do it well, it will all lead to the best result: that title (belief).
A testing few weeks ahead
You have it, now use it.
Reds manager Klopp’s team talks over the next few weeks will most likely revolve somewhere along that line, as Liverpool enter the month of September with a host of testing fixtures awaiting them.
First, a trip to Leicester City in the Premier League, which serves as the first of three tough away fixtures – the other two being at Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. The Merseysiders have a home match against Southampton in between, with a UEFA Champions League group stage fixture against PSG at home before the Soton clash.
It won’t be easy and the assignment will test the true depth of Klopp’s side, but as mentioned, the Reds are in a season when they not only boast a strong mentality but have the players to back it.
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