Adam Lallana on the moment that Liverpool players knew Jurgen Klopp was building something special at Anfield.
The Englishman left the club on a free transfer last summer after five years at the club.
Lallana was a key member of the Liverpool team in Klopp's early years at the club but the arrival of other key midfielders and a torrid run of injuries saw his influence on the side fade towards the end of his time.
Having watched Klopp build the squad from when he arrived to leaving the club as Premier League champions, the now-Brighton man is well placed to explain the journey under Klopp.
Lallana recalled how, despite, inconsistent league form, important wins against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium and against other big sides convinced the dressing room they were building something special.
“It’s very intense. When you hear people say they dedicate their lives to the football club, that literally is the case," Lallana told BT Sport.
"Even if it’s just as little to training starting in the afternoon, your whole morning will just be building up to training. There’s a lot of sacrifice to playing for that football club, but it’s worth every moment.
"Especially when you’re lucky enough to win silverware like we did in the last couple of years.
“Over the last couple of years, in my spell at Liverpool, I didn’t play so much. Of course, at times, you’re frustrated, but he has the ability to just like that, have you back fighting for not just the team, but for him.
"That’s just man-management skills. I’m sure he wouldn’t have had that straight away - he’s an experienced manager now, so he would’ve learnt a lot in his early years.”
He added: “It’s a special group. I think when he took over, it probably took him two, or two and a half years to get the core of the group, to have it where he wanted it. You have to look at the squad now, there’s leaders everywhere. Hendo is the captain, but you’ve got seven or eight captains in the dressing room. That goes a long way to why they’ve had such success in the past couple of years.”
“We were taking two steps forward and one step back at that time. We’d have a couple of good performances and I remember we went away to Hull and lost 2-0 - backs against the wall. It was tough, but he had his philosophy, he had his way, and he knew.
"There were a couple of big performances in his first couple of years. Going to the Etihad and winning a couple of times, that’s when we knew we needed to believe and trust him. We’ve never looked back, or Liverpool have never looked back.”
