Heskey identifies two key Klopp improvements ahead of Europa League campaign
Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey believes Jurgen Klopp's side are better prepared for the Europa League than the team which won the UEFA Cup in 2001.
England international Heskey was part of Liverpool's starting line-up for the 2001 final in Dortmund, as a golden goal during extra-time gave them a dramatic 5-4 victory over Alaves. The ex-Leicester man also started at the Millennium Stadium as Gerard Houllier's side won both domestic cups before rounding off their treble in May.
A fifth-place finish in last season's Premier League saw Liverpool miss out on Champions League football for just the second time in Jurgen Klopp's tenure as manager. Their Europa League group stage campaign begins away at LASK on Thursday, with Union SG and Toulouse completing their group
Heskey still expects supporters to get behind the team, despite the lack of Champions League football, He also believes the current crop is in solid shape, 22 years after he and many of his own team-mates were forced into playing 55 games or more over the course of the campaign.
"When you're talking about Liverpool fans, they'll get behind them regardless of what trophy they're in," Heskey told Mirror Football courtesy of Betting Sites. "Yes, you want to be in the Champions League, but being in the Europa League - or the UEFA Cup as it was back then - if you go to the final are they going to be that bothered?
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"This is one of the things I think, as Liverpool Football Club, you've got to be looking at getting to the final. For me, they're fantastic fans, they will always get behind the team, and especially in Europe. Europe is weird, it's a different atmosphere and it's very electric.
"[It was] amazing to see all those fans, a sea of red, to see all those fans supporting us. We did it for them at the end of the day, so it was great to go on that open-top bus and see the fans and see the joy we'd given them."
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Liverpool begin their European campaign after an unbeaten start to the season (PA)Liverpool have plenty of competition for places under Klopp, particularly in attack. Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo have all joined since the start of 2022, joining the likes of Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota in a stacked front line.
"I think they're better equipped with the squad depth and squad size [now]," Heskey added. "I'm not saying we didn't have the squad depth, but I think they're probably more equipped and more understanding of that now.
Heskey also addressed the need for rotation. admitting the heavy 2000-01 schedule meant he was "running on adrenaline in those last few games and I can't remember half the games". Diaz, Gakpo, Jota, Nunez and Salah have all started at least one league game this season, and Heskey acknowledges there will always be occasions when at least one is the odd man out.
Emile Heskey was part of Liverpool's last UEFA Cup winning side in 2001 (Alain Gadoffre / Onze / Icon Sport)"They're going to play a lot of games," he said.. They're young lads anyway, bar Salah, who's probably like Bruce Lee - if you did all the tests they'd probably say his body's [like] a 23-year-old anyway. They've just got to understand that they're going to play the games, and I think it's horses for courses as well because you've got so many different players.
"You could play Nunez on the wing but then you could play him as a 9 or on the other wing if you need to. You could play them all in several different positions so I think they'll all get game time, and it'll all depend on different aspects of who you're playing."
Liverpool have made the Europa League final once in the interim, losing to Sevilla during Klopp's first season in charge. Klopp took over midway through that season's group stage but oversaw a run to the final which involved knockout victories over Man Utd and Borussia Dortmund, and recognises how big every match can be
"Wherever we will go that will be a massive game for the teams," the German told TNT Sports. "Everybody [who] comes to Anfield, it will be a massive game for them. It's also in the Champions League the same.
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"But it will be here as well, and we have to be 100 per cent ready for that. That's the most important stuff. And what do you say? Don't praise the day before the night? So why should we talk about anything before we even play the first game?
"We want to go as far as somehow possible. I would love to go to the final, obviously, but I have no clue if you can reach that because there will be a lot of fantastic football teams in between us and that target. So we have to make sure we perform."
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