Andy Robertson has revealed Liverpool's preparation for the new season started months ago as the defender talked up the importance of a good summer schedule.
The Reds went unbeaten in their final 11 matches to eventually climb up to fifth in the Premier League but missed out on a place in next season's Champions League as they slipped to their lowest finish of Robertson's six-year career on Merseyside.
Despite a troubling campaign, though, Liverpool headed off into the post-season period with some optimism due to a run of results that saw them take 25 points from the last 33 available and Robertson told talkSPORT how plans for the coming term actually began as far back as April, when the unbeaten run began with a goalless draw at Chelsea.
“I think that message [for next season] started six to eight weeks before the end of the season when we changed stuff and we were always looking to the next season – the message already started," Robertson said.
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“But the pre-season will be a big one. We have to get it right in terms of fitness and everything like that and get ourselves as ready as we can and tactically I’m sure we will be doing a lot of work as well to try and make us a better team and a team than can compete for the trophies we want to compete for."
Robertson added: "Manchester City were a class apart from the whole league last season. We weren’t anywhere close to that. Obviously the last four, five seasons, we have been the team that has pushed them, we’ve been the team that has tried to compete with them, but this season they won it all.
“They won the treble and rightly so, they were the best team in Europe by a country mile and deserve all the plaudits they are going to get. But we can’t concentrate on other teams, we were below the standards we have set for ourselves and it is up to us to try and get back to that and if we do, I believe we can be successful again.
“We have to be back to our best and we believe if we are back to our best, we can compete with any team, but if we drop below those standards then we know we are struggling. That is what we have done this season – we dropped below the consistent standards we set for ourselves the last five, six years and we have been punished for it. We have to deal with that and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Liverpool will begin the 2023/24 Premier League campaign with a visit to Chelsea on August 13.
