Amid changing perceptions and expectations, Jurgen Klopp faces fresh new challenges at Liverpool

Klopp’s squad is deeper than it has been at any point during his time at Anfield – and arguably stronger heading into a season than any of those fashioned by his post-1990 predecessors

Approach Liverpool’s city centre from the north and an electronic advertising board shines in your face. Wait long enough in the traffic just before the Royal Liver Buildings and the following words are communicated: “We are Liverpool. This means more.”

On the limey corridors of the nearby train stations at Moorfields and Central, it appears again. The message is beginning to feel unavoidable because it is present on a giant banner behind the Kop, it is emblazoned across the team’s luxurious red coach wherever that travels, and at Melwood on Friday morning it was there on the top of newly-branded screening behind Jürgen Klopp.

Klopp had transmitted this belief, of course, in a promotional video released by the club in springtime. It had later been his rallying call in front of the press before the Champions League final. He continues to attempt to create a sense of place by appealing to the soul at a time when the questions being directed at him relate to what could be another description of the way things really are. That message would be: “We are Liverpool. This costs more.”

Perceptions about Klopp’s approach at Liverpool as well as expectations have shifted because of the new records set in successive windows by his recruitment of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker. Klopp would lay boxing gloves on the notion that Liverpool’s spending means they are now on the same ring as their rivals. Nestled in a long answer about what Liverpool must do to displace Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League was this nugget: “We are still Rocky Balboa and not Ivan Drago,” he swore.

The claim from the highest spending manager in England that his club remains an underdog will not convince many. In Klopp’s favour remain two indisputable relevant and very current facts. One is that Alisson was the world’s most expensive goalkeeper for merely three weeks and that nobody is really talking about Chelsea – the club that changed that detail – as a potential Premier League champion. Meanwhile, despite Liverpool’s unprecedented level of investment, none of their players feature inside the league’s top ten when it comes to wages. Four of those are from Manchester United, two are from City and Chelsea and the others, Arsenal and Tottenham.

“Now we have the best tools of all?” Klopp would ask. “It’s not true,” he would answer without waiting around for a response, pointing out that City will be better than they were because they also now have Riyad Mahrez available to them.

“Tottenham are not weaker than last year, just more experienced,” he continued. “Arsenal is a fantastic team also. So why should we now be the favourites?”

He views Liverpool’s position like this: “Our potential is good, what we do with it we will see. I only want from us that we fight…I don’t see us an underdog, I see us as a team that challenges...the ones who have to do more, who have to run more, who have to jump more...”

Klopp is approaching his third full season at Anfield. In the Rocky series, Balboa doesn’t face Drago until his fourth film outing. Based on what happened last season, Liverpool’s challenge appears to be enormous. If there is a belief they need only to turn all of those frustrating draws into victories to secure their first league title in 29 years, it is worth remembering that even if the twelve draws in 2017/18 were replaced by three points from each match, Liverpool would still have ultimately finished second behind City.

Liverpool’s campaign was harmed by a slow start, winning only four out of their first nine league games – one of those a 5-0 thrashing at City. The fixture list has been kinder this time around, though they face an unpredictable opponent in West Ham United on Sunday because their new manager Manuel Pellegrini could field an entirely new team of players if he wanted to instead of the ones that contributed towards an unfavourable 8-2 aggregate scoreline against Liverpool last season. “People expect that we win, we expect the same but we also know there are 95 brutal minutes,” Klopp would warn.

Jurgen Klopp has admitted Manchester City will be difficult to overhaul (Getty Images)

Though Klopp ruled Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan out of West Ham’s visit, James Milner is expected to play despite wearing a headband in training to cover a wound sustained in last Saturday’s friendly win over Napoli. Captain Jordan Henderson was described as being “full of power” despite only a week’s training.

Considering the fee, there is a feeling that Alisson’s arrival could make the most difference. Klopp confirmed that the Brazilian was his only goalkeeping target this summer and had he not been available, Loris Karius would have been first choice in the position. He was just as excited, however, about Xherdan Shaqiri’s potential impact on his options – someone he believes can play in three positions for Liverpool, including as a number 8 in central midfield.

The flow of the discussion, indeed, would remind that Klopp’s squad is deeper than it has been at any point in his two-and-a-half years at Anfield – and arguably stronger heading into a season than any of those fashioned by his post-1990 predecessors.

“It’s all part of the business but it doesn’t decide anything,” Klopp stressed on transfers. Ultimately, the team that finishes top will be proven as the one that has delivered the wisest window.