Jurgen Klopp calls on Liverpool players to improve fitness as squad mock Dejan Lovren on World Cup return

Jurgen Klopp is unhappy with the varying levels of fitness in his team as the squad welcome back Dejan Lovren after World Cup final

Liverpool’s attacking, fast paced and dynamic style of play may be catching up with them as manager Jurgen Klopp laments the fitness of his front three with their opening Premier League match against West Ham on Sunday drawing nearer.

Liverpool had eight players at the World Cup – six English sides had more players in Russia – and Klopp says he has been left with a squad that has varying levels of fitness.

“They boys who trained from the beginning could go 90 [minutes], Millie [James Milner], Gini [Georginio Wijnaldum],” said the manager, who was less hopeful of his front three’s fitness, especially Roberto Firmino. “But Sadio, Mo… Bobby was not allowed to go more than 45, that was already the edge. He needs training now.”

Xherdan Shaqiri arrived for £13m to ease the pressure on Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Firmino as Klopp plans to continue his high velocity football.

"We need to get back the freshness, for one thing, and the other thing we still need to work on is endurance,” he told the club’s website. “The boys are not all on the same level, you can see that.”

Liverpool beat Napoli 5-0 in Dublin on Sunday and play Torino at Anfield on Tuesday evening. The Reds have had a largely positive pre-season, with Klopp getting all the players he wanted while maintaining his good relationship with the club’s board. What has not pleased the German manager is the quality he is seeing on the pitch.

Klopp says Firmino is struggling for fitness after reaching the World Cup quarter finals with Brazil (Getty Images)

“I saw a lot of things we were good in. I saw a lot of things we have to improve – not we should, we have to improve. There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Liverpool welcomed back World Cup finalist Dejan Lovren on Monday and the squad, spearheaded by Salah, have been mocking him for his ‘greatest defender in the world’ claim.

After dumping England out in the World Cup semi-final, the Croatian defender asked people to start respecting his ability. “People should recognise that I’m one of the best defenders in the world,” he said.

Lovren says he is "one of the best defenders in the world (AFP/Getty Images)

Salah uploaded a video on his Instagram story where he sarcastically shouts ‘best defender in the world’ as Lovren met with teammates for the first time since Croatia lost 4-2 against France in the World Cup final.

The Egyptian winger also shared a screenshot of a video group call of himself, Lovren and Virgil van Dijk with the caption “with one of the best defenders in the world.”

The 29-year-old returned to Melwood with a short buzz cut, and was previously mocked by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who asked him to “explain this trim” when sporting a short style in March.

Lovren is often criticised for his lack of concentration in defence and making mistakes which lead to goals, but he is likely to start Liverpool’s season, with Joel Matip (hip) and Ragnar Klavan (hamstring) missing through injury.