Leicester benefitted from having few other distractions past year, least of all long continental trips, while Liverpool would have done likewise in 2013-14 but for Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip that helped the Blues win at Anfield.
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After the game, the Chelsea midfielder went to the Liverpool dressing room and offered his apologies to both Ragnar Klavan as well as the Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for the mistimed challenge.
Players coming in means spending and for the calibre of player Klopp requires to play his way, it means serious amounts of cash.
“I am feeling fresh”.
“That’s what I really love in pre-season, that you can work on these things twice a day – flawless”.
“It is certainly something everyone is getting used to and something which will hopefully put us in good stead for the rest of the season. I think he will be okay”, Jurgen Klopp following the game. He spent the second half of last season on-loan with his former club.
Liverpool visit Arsenal on the first day of the 2016-17 Premier League season.
He insists he is not affected by what his critics throw at him.
He retains value despite his limited athletic gifts because of his intense work-rate and top-notch football intelligence.
“It is about being successful, being a victor, setting yourself targets and beating them”. That is important for me, it is important for the club and the owner – everyone.
“We have to prove that our thinking about the team is right. I have to build a group here, I have to start anew, so I thought it maybe made sense that he flew home to Liverpool and after eight days, when we come back, we can talk about it”, said the former Dortmund gaffer. If everyone does their job we will be successful. “We train to prepare for that because I want that my team has an identity”, Conte told Eurosport.
Klopp, unsurprisingly, was unfazed and uninterested by this latest turn of events.
“The expectation level does not go up because we are not in Europe”, Sturridge said. I look for other players, the ones who have the quality and ability to play in the Champions League but are ready to qualify together. “The association is one of the largest in the world, and who does not recognize that does not fit here”.
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“I think it will be the things that happened last season – losing in finals and not finishing as high in the league – which will push us on”.
