Klopp's dressing room secret that gives Liverpool edge on Premier League rivals
Jurgen Klopp is capitalising on a dressing room full of international captains as he bids to return Liverpool to the top four.
The Reds endured a disappointing season last year, finishing fifth and missing out qualification to the Champions League as a result. In response, Klopp undertook a raft of radical changes in the summer, with a number of players moved on.
Skipper Jordan Henderson, vice-captain James Milner and senior star Fabinho all departed Anfield for pastures new. Klopp brought in several younger stars to replace them and also decided to build a new leadership group within his squad.
Virgil van Dijk was named captain, a role he also fills for the Netherlands, while Trent Alexander-Arnold became his deputy. The Dutchman is not the only international captain in the Liverpool dressing room though.
Andy Robertson ( Scotland ) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt) were already at the club before the summer, while Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary) and Wataru Endo (Japan) both joined the club ahead of the new season.
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And Klopp has admitted he is taking full advantage of having a squad that is stacked full of leadership. It is something that is clearly paying off, with the Reds enjoying a successful campaign, something their manager is hoping will continue.
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Liverpool are taking advantage of having so many international captains in their squad, including Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson (Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images)"We lost Jordan Henderson and James Milner, two captains of this team for years. I was very hopeful that we could deal with but I was not sure. I am happy with the way the boys have gone into it," Klopp said ahead of Sunday's clash with Luton," he said.
"Especially Virgil. He was part of the leadership group in the last years but he enjoys the new role as well. Trent is growing into it. Robbo more of the same. A good leader is only as good as the group you lead and these players are really into it.
"The new boys have impact but don’t want to have impact on everything around so they can adjust to the club in some sense. I am very pleased with that. The international captains, they are all different anyway but it’s good to have them."
Klopp is also pleased his current squad have continued the tradition of sorting any issues out between themselves, rather than letting them escalate to him. The German hailed the culture that has been created at Anfield and insisted it was key to their success.
"I’m the last door when things get really important but with Milly and Hendo a lot of things didn’t arrive in my office because they sorted it beforehand. It’s always been like that here and it’s kind of the same now because the players are all used to it.
"It is well set-up. I have to make the big decisions but all the rest is really up to the boys and the culture you create in a team. Most of the things are not important enough to worry about but they need to get sorted because they are important for the boys in that moment."
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