Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he is happy with the quality of his squad
The new Premier League campaign promises to be an exciting one. Big name foreign bosses have arrived in the shape of Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte.
In the case of Jose Mourinho, a big name has returned to the English top-flight.
However, for one highly-rated boss who was managing in the Premier League last season Jurgen Klopp, next season could be a decisive one in his career as Liverpool boss.
His squad, no excuses
The Kop boss has recently been talking about his squad and how pleased he is with his options.
On Saturday the German boss told Sky Sports: “This is my squad now,”
“After all the transfers…this time, it is my team. There are probably no players here anymore I don’t want. There are no signings I didn’t want, we have not sold anyone I didn’t want to.
“And if you have seen them in training, there is a special quality that we did not have last year. Above all, you can see we have created a special atmosphere, not only in our team but with our fans.”
The German also stated that there will no excuses ‘like he needs more time’ and that his team will fight for every trophy next season.
Reshaped his squad this summer
The Liverpool boss has been very busy in the transfer market strengthening his squad this summer. The former-BVB boss has also been busy offloading players as well.
The two highest profile signings have been that of Georginio Wijnaldum from relegated Newcastle and Sadio Mane from Southampton.
Both arrived for big money having impressed immensely last season in the Premier League. The pair seem to be impressive signings, but both will need to step up their level of consistency if they are to find their top form next season.
Some of the other signings are slightly more interesting, as the likes of Mario Grujic, Joel Matip, Ragnar Klavan and Loris Karius are all unknown quantities to most Premier League fans.
Klopp obviously has good knowledge of Klavan, Matip and Karius, as all three signed from clubs in the Bundesliga, the German’s former haunt. All four of those signings have Klopp written all over them.
In the past, he has pulled some fantastic rabbits out the hat at Dortmund. He built his teams on those sorts of signings. He plucked the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa out obscurity and they went on to be key players in his Bundesliga-winning side.
His work in the transfer work has to be applauded. People will say the German has spent a lot of money, but he has recouped quite a bit as well. Jordon Ibe and Brad Smith left for Bournemouth for £15million and £6million respectively, Joe Allen joined Stoke for £13million and Martin Skrtel joined Fenerbahce for £6million.
There is also a number of players whose futures are in doubt at Anfield, the likes of Lazar Markovic and Christian Benteke and Mario Balotelli, who if sold are likely to recoup a fair bit of money.
To be fair Klopp has reshaped his squad and may even end the summer transfer in the red, depending on whether he brings in any more players.
Aiming for top four
Liverpool and Klopp’s aim has to be to finish in the top-four next season, which they are odds of 11/8 to achieve. The Reds were the Jekyll and Hyde of the Premier League last season. When they were good they were very good, but when they were bad they were very bad.
There was evidence that Klopp’s football philosophy and ideas were getting through to the team, but the results were mixed. At the end of the campaign the team from Merseyside finished a disappointing eighth in the Premier League table.
The Reds also reached the Capital One Cup and Europa League finals but lost to Manchester City and Sevilla respectively.
Maybe now that Klopp has been able to sign some of the players he wants, the team will find a greater level of consistency. Klopp is refreshingly honest about his team and it is hard to dislike the guy.
Competition for a top-four place will be tougher than ever in the new campaign, but that has to be the aim for the Reds next season. Arguably anything else will be regarded as a failure for the highly-rated German boss.
Can Liverpool make the Premier League top next season?
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