Jurgen Klopp has warned Liverpool’s Premier League rivals that there is plenty more to come from his squad after a strong start to the season.
But the German is keen for his players to keep working in order to find the “stability” they have occasionally lacked so far this term.
The Reds head into the crucial festive period sitting top of the Premier League, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final to look forward to and their place in the Europa League last 16 secured.
However, when asked if his team have been at their best yet, Klopp insisted they have only reached those heights sporadically.
He replied: “In moments, definitely. What is the real capability? Is it what you can do in the moment, or what you can do after working together two, three years?
“I think what we can do in the moment, we saw it moments, but we also saw the problems as well.
“When you have a new group together – and it is a new group – it’s always clear that it needs time to find some stability. That’s what we lacked in moments, that’s the truth.
“But in the end, so far, it worked out somehow, and we have to make sure we keep improving even in the most difficult moments.
“This group, we never had a December together and the December in English football is the toughest month ever. That’s why we have to show now how far we are [along] with that.
“I know it’s early December and you are top of the table and people start thinking of different things, we obviously don’t. I am too long in the business that that would mean anything to me, it’s better than being 18th or 20th but it’s still just a position for the moment.
“We have to keep working extremely hard, that is so difficult when you don’t have real time for recovery but you have to do it anyway.”
Liverpool’s promising position owes much to a number of late, game-changing goals in games where they haven’t performed convincingly.
And, according to Klopp, that strong mentality was forged during a testing start to the season that saw his team receive four red cards across the opening nine games.
He continued: “What I knew at the beginning was that we had a really good football team, a few boys in and the boys that were here we all knew how good they can be.
“That was obvious from pretty early, but what is that? Tell me one Premier League squad that is not good, especially if you fight for top four, they are all outstanding, so that’s what you have to be.
“These experiences, we said it when it happened early in the season…we had a good pre-season, a long pre-season, but didn’t train once 10 vs. 11 and had to play it pretty much for the first five games all the time, and we did that really well.
“That brings the group together, that helps the process definitely if you get through it.
“If you don’t get through it, it’s the opposite actually, but we got through this and that was extremely helpful.
“It’s now a while ago but we know each other much better and, the steps we make, I like. Will they always be big enough? I don’t know yet, we have to see.
“But so far I can see development and that’s what I need to understand where it could end up.”
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