Jurgen Klopp on "the next step" Liverpool must take before the season starts

Jurgen Klopp admits that Liverpool must "take another step" in pre-season by reiterating his criticisms of an increasingly demanding program for the main players.

The Reds have been involved last week in an American tour that saw an exhausted team lose to Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla before drawing with Sporting Lisbon.

Liverpool will again be deprived of six key men in its penultimate friendly against Napoli at Murrayfield, Edinburgh on Sunday.

Alison Becker, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah will be back for the Evian training camp next week. Klopp hopes that Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita will be available after their injury.

Liverpool's final pre-season match will take place Wednesday in Geneva against Lyon in Geneva before the start of their campaign with the Community Shield against Manchester City in Wembley on 4 August.

Sadio Mane is the last Liverpool player to return the next day and could be vying for the opening game of the Premier League at home against Norwich City on August 9th.

And with the ongoing disruption, Klopp recognizes that currently available players need to increase their performance with the new campaign looming on the horizon.

"Our pre-season is difficult and obviously our circumstances are difficult," he told ECHO.

"We do not have the longest pre-season in history and we have to take turns.

"We train longer before games than we normally would. That's how it's done in pre-season.

"You see that in the games. To have new legs, you have to be tired at some point, and that's when we're at it. We are also facing powerful opponents.

"I agree with the situation in which we find ourselves and I hope I can continue to say it. Players have to move on to the next stage and we play in Naples in Edinburgh, everything is coming.

"The boys are coming back and all these things, we know that Sadio will be back on August 5th and that makes sense, we can also prepare for the Norwich match. Players are getting in shape at the moment. "

Klopp has long joined the critics group focused on the demands of the best players, both for the club and for the country.

Alisson, Firmino and Salah will only have three weeks between seasons while Mane will have even fewer vacation days before returning to Melwood after helping Senegal get to the African Cup final Nations earlier this month.

"It's just not fair," Klopp said. "I know that nobody really thinks about it, but these boys work physically and should work at the highest level to train.

"It's an easy sport science. To get in shape, you need a real intensity and then a break. Then you need a re-intensity that increases your level.

"It's easy science of sport. It has never changed in 100 years, we know it. The only problem is that we give no more respite to boys, so how can their level increase? That's the problem.

"For all teams, it's the same. But we can not change that, there are a lot of games coming up, but these boys are now on vacation, so it does not matter.

Klopp added, "When I was a player, we sometimes had six or seven weeks of summer vacation. It's good to rest, but it's not so good because you lose a lot more than a three- or four-week break because of your stamina.

"But to be honest, having more time for training would not be a bad idea."