James Milner believes Jurgen Klopp was affected by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic - but has rediscovered his mojo at Liverpool this season.
The Reds continue to challenge on all four fronts, having won through to the Carabao Cup final, the last 16 of the FA Cup and Champions League while continuing to chase Premier League leaders Manchester City.
It compares favourably to last term when, in front of empty stadia, Liverpool were hampered by a succession of serious injuries as they were left to scramble for a top-four finish.
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And while Milner admits seeing a change in Klopp last season, the Reds boss has long reverted to his old self.
"If you look at Jurgen's career he is obviously an incredible manager and since he's been here look at the energy he's had, bouncing around on the touchline, giving us strength and energy and that will to win," said the Liverpool vice-captain.
"The amount of time he's been at the club, what he's put into it, the amount of pressure he and the coaching staff are under, the amount of media, interviews and press conference he has to do - answering the same sorts of questions several times a week - I'm pretty sure any human being would be ground down at some point.
"Maybe he was slightly low on energy at the end of last year like probably everybody was with everything going on in the world and trying to deal with everything around it, worrying about friends and family while still being Liverpool manager as well.
"But for sure, this year he has been incredible, trying to drive us on and keep pushing us on. We're in a good position, everyone is working hard and that starts with the manager.
"I don't think there is anyone better to keep pushing us forward and to keep this club successful."
Liverpool will look to keep the pressure on City when they travel to Burnley on Sunday having gone into the weekend nine points behind the leaders, albeit having played a game fewer.
And speaking to the official Liverpool FC matchday programme, Milner said: "The gap is there, but we've got a game in hand. We know we're capable of putting big runs together and that is what it is going to take, but you can't look ahead and say we need to do this, this and this. It's a process.
"It's about taking it game by game and that's what we've always done at this club, but we need that target of accumulating points to put them under pressure.
"We had 97 points one year and that's wasn't enough to beat City so we know they're a special team, but we've proved we can do things in the past as well."
