Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are the duo ‘setting the standard’ in pre-season training ahead of Liverpool’s 2020-21 Premier League opening fixture.
Liverpool had a ‘close to perfect’ pre-season campaign, according to one insider who suggested that Jurgen Klopp was able to accomplish more in this pre-season than in any prior during his tenure.
As one of Europe’s biggest clubs, Liverpool are usually resigned to jetting off to the USA or parts of south-Asia to connect with international fans and grow the club’s brand in areas targeted for commercial success.
However, due to restrictions placed on travel due to COVID-19, Liverpool were able to arrange an extremely productive four-week pre-season camp in nearby Austria and France.
Due to the locality of the trip and the focus on football, The Reds have had a pre-season experience deemed to be far more useful in preparing the players for the new season.
Leading the preparations were Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, who “helped to set the standard over there”.
According to The Athletic, Liverpool’s star forwards were described by a staff member as appearing, “So lean and hungry. They are superstars, but they are also exemplary professionals who are always striving to be better.”
Sadio Mane had a tough campaign for Liverpool last year, and suspicions have started to grow on whether an element of cumulative fatigue has started to set in on the Senegalese forward.
Klopp’s Liverpool is known for an intense pressing game, and the lightning-fast winger has been an integral member of the side since joining from Southampton in 2016.
However, following a long post-season break and a comprehensive pre-season, Sadio Mane revealed to the club website : “I still remember that I had 10 days of holidays [in the summer of 2019], but this season is a little bit different because I have had enough holidays. So hopefully, it’s going to be an exciting season for me and Liverpool Football Club.”
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“I think it’s always important as a player to have rest and I think in this last summer everybody has enough rest, especially myself.
“I said it was my first [extended break] since I came to Liverpool, and that is the truth. The pre-season went well, and I think everybody is physically ready, and we are just looking forward to the season.”
Klopp delighted in the quality of the sessions in pre-season due to the amount of first-team players available.
While summer international tournaments ravaged the Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City squads, key players such as Mane, Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez joined up at the beginning of pre-season.
As the disciplined German boss set the team up for gruelling 6x 1000m running exercises, he joked to the returning Roberto Firmino and Fabinho, “We’re not going to kill you on the first day…. I thought we’d do that on the second day.”
Liverpool begin their 2020-21 season away to Norwich on Saturday, two years on from a 4-1 drubbing of the Canaries that set them on their way to their first Premier League title.
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