Liverpool Ready to Embrace New Era of Success as Players Report Back for Pre-Season Training
As Liverpool’s players report back for pre-season training at Kirkby on Saturday, there will be a somewhat unfamiliar feel to proceedings. For the first time in the Jurgen Klopp era, the dreaded ‘lactate test’ will have a new champion, with James Milner’s departure leaving a void. The challenge for those coming into the club, and just as importantly for those who remain, is to maintain, if possible improve, the standards and the togetherness which underpinned Liverpool’s success.
The Departure of Club Legends
Liverpool have lost perhaps the most-loved member of their squad in Roberto Firmino and, in Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, two players who never quite scaled the heights they would have liked to on Merseyside, but who nonetheless played a significant role in the club’s success. All will, in their own way, be missed – witness the scenes at the end of last season for proof – and the challenge for those coming into the club, and just as importantly for those who remain, is to maintain, if possible improve, the standards and the togetherness which underpinned Liverpool’s success.
The New Recruits
Club sources believe that in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, and before that Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, Liverpool have recruited players who have both the talent and the personality to succeed on Merseyside, who work hard and have a commitment to self-improvement, and who as a result will fit in well within the dressing room dynamic at Kirkby.
Virgil van Dijk as Vice-Captain
Virgil van Dijk will officially step up to the role of vice-captain following Milner’s departure, and it will be interesting to see who, if anyone, is now added to the first-team ‘leadership group’, which is voted for by the players and which now consists of Van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Alisson Becker and Trent Alexander-Arnold, as well as club captain Jordan Henderson. Mohamed Salah, surely, would be the obvious candidate, given his standing and years of service.
The Challenge Ahead
Liverpool are going to need more from their senior players if they are to recover from last season’s disappointment. They need the likes of Van Dijk, Henderson, Robertson and Fabinho back to their best, for Alexander-Arnold to continue to ensure his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses and for Salah and Alisson to maintain the staggering levels of consistency they have shown previously. Equally, they need Diaz, Nunez and Gakpo to now move through the gears, and for Mac Allister and Szoboszlai to step up and deliver from the word go.
Conclusion
Liverpool have gambled on those players to replace bona fide club legends, and it is their duty to help usher in a new era of success. Certainly, Liverpool must embrace this challenge head on if they are to recover from last season’s disappointment. The future starts here.