In the wake of Liverpool's stunning 4-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp says he is confident his team are heading in the right direction.
Speaking to Liverpool's official website, the German said, “I’m really optimistic about the future (but) we know we have to be ready now”.
The club still hopes to add at least one more player to their squad for the coming season, but Klopp was pleased with the performance of the eleven selected against the Gunners.
Outstanding
“What I have to say is that it was a summary of eleven outstanding good performances and with attitude, bringing together, working hard, really hard, then we can play football,” he said.
“Like I’ve said a few times, we want to build a squad and actually keep the squad and work together. A few things were that good because most of the players have worked together already for a year.
“That doesn’t mean it always works, but I saw these situations - passing here, passing there, the crosses from the half-space [from] Hendo, Emre [arriving at the] second post area in the box, things like this.
“That’s football, but if you have to tell a player ‘look, if we have the ball there, cross it, and if you see him with the ball there, run’, that’s what we did 500 times."
Mo Salah and Joe Gomez were among those particularly praised, with Klopp calling both players ‘outstanding’.
Next up for Liverpool is a trip to Manchester City, before they begin their Champions League campaign against Sevilla.