Jurgen Klopp's assistant manager Pep Lijnders has outlined what makes Liverpool 'different' to the other top teams around Europe, offering a hint as to what might happen in the January transfer window in the process.
Liverpool have been hit hard with injuries to key players over the first few months of the season, but Lijnders has hinted the club do not believe the answer lies in making a mid-season signing.
He told Liverpool's official website : "What separates us from other teams and what I feel is really different is we have a strong culture and we have a clear identity of play and that even with losing individuals we stay focused on this collective idea.
"There’s a saying that without good players there’s no collective, but without a collective there will never be success.
"Some devastating moments create life-changing moments for other players because we have so much faith in our young blood, in the players we brought up, our own players.
"These moments where you lose a top, top player automatically creates a big chance for a young player because we invest a lot of time and we have a big commitment to them to be part of our squad.
"What I’m trying to say is: I feel really the best back-up plan is the Academy - if the Academy is right and there’s a fluid process between the Academy and the first team, the best back-up plan is always young players.
"They never let you down - never, never."
Liverpool have been decimated with injuries so far this season, to key men including Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez with long-term problems, and several others on a more short-term basis.
Diogo Jota is the latest one to be added somewhere on that list having picked up a knee injury, the extent of which is as yet unclear, with Liverpool's squad being tested to the maximum.
While there have been calls to sign more cover at centre-back, for instance in the form of RB Leipzig star Dayot Upamecano among others, Lijnders has no doubt that Liverpool's current players will continue to push through.
He added: "It’s purely about mental resilience, to be honest, the team who will want it more. I think the inner drive of us, of the team, of the individual players, is getting tested without fans, with the amount of games.
"And then you lose key players in very specific moments in the season. It’s about how can you turn that adversity into a challenge?
"In terms of: how good are we without those players? How good can we be? I think all our success came from adversity, to be honest.
"Take, for example, Barcelona away, 3-0 – losing Bobby, losing Mo, losing Robbo. Because we kept our plan, we kept our way, we focused on what we have and what we had.
"That mentality is installed in this team by, of course, the character of Jurgen, the way he speaks to them and the way we prepare the game.
"Each next game, we want to play our best counter-pressing game possible. That’s always the target."
