'We have to create pressure throughout the squad'
Jürgen Klopp insists he intends to keep his options open throughout the Liverpool squad as the Reds prepare to resume their Premier League campaign this weekend.
The manager will be carefully considering a starting XI for the Anfield clash with Leicester City as a number of players return to Melwood from their international duties.
One question at his pre-match press conference on Thursday was based on the possibility of Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip striking up a long-term partnership in central defence.
And Klopp explained why several factors come in to play when making such a decision – not just for the two men mentioned but for each position in the team.
“We have to use the quality of the squad, that’s what we try to do,” said the boss.
“We have to work as well as possible and that the different pairs know how to play together. That’s how it is, why should I now say that’s the pair for the whole season?
“Then next week one of these players is injured and I have to say ‘OK, sorry, maybe you read in the newspaper, that was not what I actually wanted to say.’
“It’s about having quality and bringing it onto the pitch, that’s the pressure all the players have. They need to perform. It’s not about being a nice guy, it’s about getting results for Liverpool. That’s the pressure we have to create in training situations when they are together.
“It was a very young season and then two weeks away. I haven’t seen Phil [Coutinho] since Tottenham. That’s long.
“They all have different things to do, it’s the same for all the teams. They play with Brazil like this, with Holland like this. You have two or three days, for all of us, to bring all that stuff together again and judging was the travel too long or not? Is he recovered?
“They’re the decisions we make and not thinking about which centre-half pair could play for the next 12 years.”
Watch the manager's pre-match press conference in full on LFCTV GO
Three games into the season, Liverpool have four points on the board, having defeated Arsenal and drawn with Tottenham Hotspur in north London, either side of a reversal at Burnley.
Analysis of the matches has given Klopp no cause for concern and the German is confident the Reds will improve with a long road still ahead in 2016-17.
He said: “We showed different things against different opponents. Against Arsenal, we had one of the best 30 minutes I have seen until now from my team, this season and last season.
“It was really good after half-time, it was a deserved win.
“I know it is quite difficult to speak about, but against Burnley we played a really good game against a team like Burnley. And we missed, unfortunately, 14 or 15 times the last pass, because we lost our nerves in this moment.
“We came in the dangerous areas but then we didn’t play the pass, that’s how it is.
“We played really well against Tottenham for a long time. We could have won there, we could have lost there. When I watched it again, I felt more and more that the draw was the fair result.
“After the game, immediately I thought we should have won, especially because we had this big opportunity in nearly the last minute. But they had their moments, especially around the goal.
“Our problem was that in the second half we didn’t play enough football anymore, we were too direct, a little bit like ‘Come on, let’s close the game now.’ [That] makes no sense.
“That’s the way you have to go, it’s a very young season. We have to develop things. Nobody plays at their best in this moment, even the teams with nine points now.
“We all have to work, we all have to develop our game, and that’s what we will do.”