Jürgen Klopp has again underlined the importance of the contributions of the ‘team behind the team’ at Melwood to Liverpool’s on-field success.

The manager believes the collective input of those working behind the scenes at the Reds’ training ground has an invaluable influence on the players' performance as they assist in the preparation and recovery processes around matches.

Klopp explained to JOE: “I’m a team player 100 per cent. I prefer football to tennis because I want to have my friends around me, I want to be a member of something bigger.

“I think everybody at Melwood at the moment has the right feeling when they come to work. They are all really important to us - really, really important.

“In the end, there’s always that one person that makes the decisions and that’s very often me, but we’ve created a situation where I can have all the best information from the best people before I reach it.

“I would say one of my biggest strengths is common sense to be honest, because I’m not too smart, but I understand life in a specific way to realise I don’t have to know everything.

“There are people who know much more in specific parts so we brought them in. And I’m naturally confident, because I know that I’m not perfect, so I don’t think that anybody else should think I’m perfect - I have no problem asking questions.

“I brought a few fantastic people together for the benefit of the club and the project, because, as I said when I came in I didn’t want to change things immediately.

“I wanted to understand why English football teams, especially Liverpool, do things the way they did. And so we changed it little by little and we brought quality in for sure. That is something I’m very proud of.

“One of the things that I love most about my job is that I’ve met some really good, good people, which has made my life much more enjoyable.”