Having achieved the target of a return to Champions League football, winning a trophy is Liverpool’s main objective this forthcoming season, according to Brendan Rodgers.
The Reds secured a place in this campaign’s European competition with a second-place finish in 2013-14, narrowly missing out on the title to Manchester City.
With the goal of booking their ticket back into the Champions League achieved in style, now Rodgers insists silverware is the target.
Speaking at Chicago’s Soldier Field stadium at a press conference ahead of Sunday’s International Champions Cup opener against Olympiacos, the manager said: “Our expectancy this season is to win a trophy. That is what we’ll be looking to achieve this year.
“My focus when I signed my first contract was purely to get us into the Champions League because we felt that’d put the club back where it belonged at that level and give us greater resources as a football club. We’ve achieved that goal.
“Now, as the philosophy is starting to become defined in the team, the next goal is for us to win a trophy.
“The most important thing for me as a coach is continuous improvement. It’s very important that on the back of a good season where we arrived in the top four and just missed out on the title, we can go and push on again.
“Success for us is a moving target – we’ve got to keep moving, keep stretching ourselves and the expectancy of Liverpool is to win. That’s what we’ll look to do this season.”
Rodgers has moved quickly to bolster Liverpool’s ranks as they look to achieve those targets, adding four new faces to the squad over the course of the summer so far.
Journalists at the media briefing were keen to quiz the boss on the possibility of any further additions to the ranks.
“There has been an awful lot of work that has gone on into finding players that are suitable and are going to come in and help the club progress,” said Rodgers.
“But like I’ve always said, I’ll never comment on players until they’re signed and sealed – I can talk all day about them then.”
Liverpool touched down in Chicago on Saturday afternoon, departing from their Boston training base after six days in the United States.
The Reds will kick off their International Champions Cup tournament against Olympiacos on Sunday before tackling Manchester City in New York and travelling to Charlotte to face AC Milan.
Earlier this week, Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat to AS Roma in a friendly at Fenway Park, but Rodgers was eager to stress that ensuring the players kick off the new season in prime condition is all that matters at this stage of their preparations.
He said: “Our game the other night against Roma was a wonderful exercise for us. The objective at this moment in time is fitness – you don’t win any trophies in pre-season.
“The key factor for us is trying to get the players through the games injury free, to give them as many minutes as we possibly can and then arrive into the first game of the season in real good condition in every facet of our work.
“The principal objective is fitness, but obviously we concentrate a lot on our football fitness and that’s key for us.”
Liverpool have been joined in Chicago by returning World Cup participants Simon Mignolet and Mamadou Sakho.
With a busy domestic and European campaign ahead, Rodgers was asked how the Reds would manage the fitness of the players who were involved in Brazil.
“It’s our job as the staff to taper their programme,” he explained. “All of the players are on an individual programme for their physical fitness and condition.
“Some of the players have been back now near on three weeks and are at a real good level. The World Cup players came back for this tour and look in good condition. The difference with modern players is they come back in good condition – but what is going to be key is managing that process over the course of the season.
“There are a lot of games and coming in off the back of a World Cup year, you normally find for players sometimes coming into the Christmas period, it can become tiresome because they’ve been away for a long time. It’s the job to manage that and keep the players fresh for as long as we possibly can.”
Since touching down in the States last Sunday, Liverpool’s players have been the hottest ticket in town on their travels – and Rodgers admits he isn’t surprised given the club’s global appeal and the ever-increasing appetite for football in America.
The boss said: “We were all probably taken aback by the reception we received when we arrived at the hotel – the number of supporters outside was incredible. Having been at the club for two years, it doesn’t surprise me. The scale of the club worldwide and the support base it has is phenomenal – and that’s something that makes you very proud and privileged to be the manager of Liverpool.
“Football in America has very much caught on, especially on the back of the World Cup. Over the years, the quality of the football the USA team are providing has been improving, as you saw in the World Cup.
“There is a great coaching programme that is going on here in the country. They’ve made big progress in the last 15 years – and I think in the next 15 years they can make a similar progress. The notion of football has definitely changed in America and is getting much more popular.”
LFC vs Olympiakos – Live Monday morning 28.7.2014 at the following times across Aus/NZ:
WA: 6am
SA/NT: 7:30am
TAS/VIC/ACT/NSW/QLD: 8am
NZ: 10am
The game will be televised on Fox Sports in Australia and available online via LFCTV Go: http://www.liverpoolfc.com/video
source:lfctour.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 