Jurgen Klopp to work on versatility with Liverpool in pre-season
Sunday 2 July 2017 11:43, UK
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he still has not settled on his preferred formation and will be preparing the Reds for a number of different systems ahead of the new season.
Klopp predominantly used a 4-3-3 formation in the last campaign as the Reds qualified for the Champions League after finishing fourth in the Premier League.
Liverpool have already signed two new faces as they look to build a squad capable of challenging in Europe, with Dominic Solanke and Mohamed Salah arriving from Chelsea and Roma respectively.
Klopp's squad will return for pre-season training next week and the German says he will be working on versatility ahead of the club's opening warm-up fixture against Tranmere Rovers on July 12.
Speaking about his aims for pre-season, Klopp said: "Tactically-wise, getting more flexible - depending who is there and when - and introducing different systems.
"[In 2015-16], we played most of the time kind of 4-2-3-1, [in 2016-17] most of the time 4-3-3 or 4-5-1. In our opinion, it fitted best to the players we had.
"I'm not sure which way we have to play next year, there will be a few different ones. And we'll prepare for European football also, so we need a bigger squad of course. We'll be good. I'm looking forward to it."
Liverpool failed to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title last season after falling away in January, while Klopp's side also struggled in the cup competitions.
But the former Borussia Dortmund boss believes his young squad will have learnt from their mistakes from last season.
"Usually you always want to take the next step from one year to the next year," Klopp told the club's website.
"You have to see how things fit and when the new players are in. Young players are one year older, that doesn't make the biggest difference but being one year longer involved in the first team.
"They can make big steps because they are a little bit settled in a good way. They feel not as excited anymore about each day in training, thinking 'Oh my god, that's Adam Lallana next to me' and things like this. That can be a big difference.
"You have to probably make one or two steps back to then make five or six steps in the right direction. They are the same objectives."
