Jurgen Klopp has been in the game far, far too long to hold any great stock in an opening pre-season friendly.
But for good reason was the Liverpool boss all smiles after his team eventually secured a 4-2 win at German second tier side Karlsruher SC on Wednesday evening.
After a testing day with the news Jordan Henderson was following Fabinho in edging towards a move to Saudi Arabia, there was welcome positivity on the pitch, from solid performances by first-team regulars, some clinical finishing through to encouraging showings from a number of new faces.
A first friendly can often set the tone and reflect the mood of a squad. Witness 12 months ago when, with the demoralising effects of narrowly missing out on the Premier League title and Champions League crown still lingering after only a brief break, Liverpool were thrashed 4-0 by Manchester United in Bangkok. The Reds were on the back foot from that moment.
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Karlsruher, of course, aren’t quite of the same standard. But a raucous 34,000 crowd at the reopened – if not quite entirely finished – BBBank Wildpark stadium meant Wednesday’s match had the feel of much more than mere friendly. It was impossible for players not to be caught up in the atmosphere.
That, then, is why Diogo Jota’s injury-time double to snatch victory was so celebrated by Klopp’s side and the few thousand Liverpool fans in the away end. After ending the previous campaign with an 11-game unbeaten run, this was a small sign such forward momentum has continued.
The elephant in the room, of course, was the defensive midfield situation.
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