James Milner says this season has seen a need for Klopp and co to continue evolving Liverpool’s playing style when facing teams focused on defending.
The Reds have won 10 of their opening 11 Premier League games, only dropping points in the 1-1 draw away to Manchester United. This has been achieved while also going top of their Champions League group after four games and progressing to the quarter-finals stage of the Carabao Cup.
It goes without saying that an incredible amount of work must go on behind the scenes to achieve such consistent levels of performance.
James Milner, speaking in the official Liverpool FC matchday programme, was keen to highlight just how much work is done in training by the players and staff to maintain The Reds’ incredible standard.
“Teams have been trying to find different ways of playing against us and trying to shut us down, so we have to keep working hard and putting into practice the plans that we’re coming up with, in training, especially in learning how to play against teams that have that deep, deep defence.
“Obviously when teams see more of you, they know the style of football that you’re going to try to play and they’ll try different things to stop you, but that’s a compliment to us.
“It poses new challenges and we have to change things in the game and come up with new approaches.
“We watch teams and try to work out what they might do and then work out how we want to play as well. It makes us play different styles and have different gameplans.”
Milner went on to say that this Liverpool team is yet to reach the performance level it is capable of this season.
“It was always going to be tough coming off the back of a long season and getting to a Champions League final, the emotion of that and the season being a bit longer, then players taking part in international football throughout the summer and coming back at different times.
“The start we’ve had has been very good but we know that we can improve.”
Liverpool face Manchester City at Anfield this Sunday in the first top-of-the-table clash of the season between the two sides.
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