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| Jurgen Klopp with assistant manager Zeljko Buvac and first team coach Peter Krawietz |
PAUL LAMBERT has identified three aspects of Jurgen Klopp's philosophy which he will aim to bring to Liverpool.
The German is getting ready to take charge of his first match for the Reds tomorrow against Spurs.
The fixture at White Hart Lane is the first of a gruelling schedule for Liverpool, with games against Southampton, Chelsea and Manchester City in the next month.
Lambert, who has known Klopp since they completed a Uefa Pro Licence course in 2004, says one of the initial things the new manager will look to bring is a pressing game but admits it could be tough.
He told the Telegraph: "You have got to train that pressing. You cannot do it for 90 minutes, it is an impossibility. But he will probably break it down into stages: say, the first 20 minutes. And then for the next 10 minutes you wait. To sustain it is a really difficult thing.
"He might incur one or two injuries. He said that himself. I did that at Norwich when I first went in. But we had to get them up to speed really quickly, and train at a really high intensity.
"If you train slow and try to raise it on a Saturday, you will never hit the intensity. The problem is the Europa League, because you are going to be playing Saturday-Thursday-Sunday. That is going to be difficult."
The former Aston Villa manager then made reference to Klopp's use of full backs.
He said: "One of the interesting things Klopp did at Dortmund was with the full-backs. I remember noticing this watching them – one full-back would go, and the other one would tuck right in, so they had more bodies.
"Say the left-back goes forward – Marcel Schmelzer at Dortmund, probably Alberto Moreno at Liverpool – and he is on a run, trying to help his inside-midfielder.
"You might find the right-back Nathaniel Clyne coming in a little bit, covering the opposite midfield player. He won’t stay wide in a right-back role. He’ll be tucking in, helping his central midfielder.
"At the same time, they would be playing the really high press, trying to win the ball back as quickly as they could."
And Klopp's willingness to bring through young players was the last aspect which Lambert feels the German will adopt at Anfield.
He added: "Young players tend to follow your lead.
"He bought Mats Hummels from Bayern Munich B, Neven Subotic from Mainz. Schmelzer was coming through the ranks, as were Marco Reus and Mario Götze. People have to believe in what you’re doing, and all those guys bought into it.
"I think they will buy into Klopp at Liverpool. There are a lot of young players there, and I know from my own experience that when you are a young player, you play without any fear. You just go and go and go.
"Emre Can is only 21, and will know Jürgen from the Bundesliga. Adam Lallana, Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson will all be able to do it too.
Christian Benteke, who I know from his Aston Villa days, is different, but he’ll work at it."
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