Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool have learned the ultimate lesson from this disastrous season - how not to do things!!
And the Reds boss is adamant that “the future” has already started for his team, with the remainder of a painful campaign used to drill home those lessons, to ensure they hit the ground running next season.
Klopp was blunt in his message - to his players as much as the fans - about the problems his side have endured, and he explained it stems from the sudden loss of their ability to counter press. And he said: "So what we learned this season is a lot - how it doesn't work out! We learned a lot which we didn’t want to learn.
“But after this season there is another season. That’s already in my mind as well, we have to build on what we do now and what we learn now. And now we have the opportunity to learn a few things we really can use. That’s how I see it. That means everything is fine.”
Klopp was keen to speak about Liverpool’s problems in controlling their famous press during the season, which saw them slip to as low as 10th in the Premier League in February - the worst-ever position during his reign outside the early weeks of a campaign.
And he offered a fascinating explanation on what he sees as the root cause of their issues. “So (we went) from (being) a counter-pressing monster to pretty much a non-existent counter-pressing side. I thought (that) was a long way away to be honest but it was pretty quick, to be honest, it was bam, bam, bam…and it was pretty much done.
“Getting back to that to make it pretty natural is not that easy. If counter-pressing would just work by telling the boys ‘don't forget to counter-press', then it would be really easy, but it doesn't work like that.
"Obviously when it's gone, it is for different reasons. Frontline defending was not great, midfield was not there. Now when we haven't defended that well up front anymore, all of a sudden the last line was too high but we realise that too late.
"And if the last line was too high, you tell them to defend deeper and these kinds of things. That is how it has developed. So now we know how it doesn't work, which is good. It is important information. Finally we know.”
In Liverpool’s last two victories, the 7-0 against Manchester United, and Monday’s 6-1 thrashing of Leeds, the press worked. But in the 44 days without a win in between those wins, it didn’t.
In part, Klopp believes that is down to new forwards Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo having to learn the system in a frenetic season. Nunez has been missing from the starting line up in recent weeks, but the manager insisted he will come good.
“Darwin is a player with a different skillset to all our other players. That’s good. He’s a real handful, he’s a machine and he’s scored already a decent number of goals, so that’s all fine. But yes, of course, he’s still adapting.
“It’s not helpful to go through a difficult debut season for the whole team, which makes it [difficult] then for a striker... how can a striker shine when the whole team is struggling?
“That’s not helpful but it’s no problem at all. This is a long-term project. I understand the team wants to play desperately from the beginning. That’s all fine but we have to find a way that works really for us again. I’m completely fine with the situation.”
Gakpo has adapted quicker, and Klopp believes he is learning from the master of the counter-press, Roberto Firmino. “I think Bobby in this role is an inspiration for pretty much every player in a similar position.
“But Cody is a super smart kid. A real team player and on top of that a really good player, and he can create his own way in this position. Since he's been here, has done exceptionally well - from the first day he has been a real joy to work with."
