[ad_1]
Jurgen Klopp says that the best way to defend one title is to attack the next.
The Liverpool manager wants his team to rush into the new Premier League campaign.
The Reds ended a 30-year wait for the title last season after an outstanding campaign in which they added 32 wins and 99 points.
Overcoming that would be a remarkable achievement, but Klopp feels that’s the goal his players should have.
He feels they showed that mindset last year after racking up 97 points and winning the Champions League in 2018-19 and he wants to see the same thing again.
“We will not try to defend him, we will try to attack the next one,” said the German, whose team will launch its new campaign against FA Cup champions Arsenal on Saturday at the Community Shield.
“That’s the truth, you don’t change your focus. That is what we always did and there is no reason to change it.
“Motivation will not be our problem. I know this team will not stop trying.
“I don’t expect everything to happen to me, I never expected it, but I hope to give absolutely everything and I hope the boys do too.”
Liverpool will have to deal with the label of being champion, which could provide opponents with additional motivation, but Klopp feels he’s well used to dealing with it anyway.
He said: “When I got here I was really surprised how much a game against Liverpool means to other teams, even when we weren’t considered the Liverpool of the past, seventh or eighth in the league.
“When we got to the stadium, I thought, ‘Wow, they really have.’
“That has never changed, so I’m not sure we can have a bigger goal on our backs than we already had last season.
“Everyone wanted to beat us, obviously, for good reason. (Although) not many were able to do it, I don’t think that will change.
“If we think that because we are champions they want to beat us even more, then we have already lost a small percentage of our focus, mood, attitude and all that. I’m not ready for that.”
[ad_2]