Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp led his team to the Emirates FA Cup title last season
At the end of every campaign, particularly one like we had at Liverpool last season, you look ahead to the next one and your natural instinct is to hope that the break doesn’t end any time soon.
Then, before you know it, football comes back and you can’t wait to get going, which is why days like today are so special. This might just be the start, but it is the start and that’s reason enough to be excited.
And what better way to kick it all off than Liverpool versus Manchester City? For those of us who are lucky enough to be involved in some way, this is a fixture that is only ever unbelievably intense and of an incredibly high standard.
The three games we enjoyed last season highlighted everything that this fixture is about, and while it might be too much to expect those levels to be reached in early August, I have no doubt that the talent on display will get the juices flowing.
As manager, I’m delighted that we’re in the FA Community Shield and I’m sure it’s the same for Pep.
This is an occasion that you have to earn the right to be involved in, and both of our teams did that last season.
Our respect for this City team could not be higher. They arrive here as champions and, though we can be incredibly proud for pushing them all the way, they deserved their title and now our job is to start the race all over again.
This can wait for one more week, though. Today is about something different. It’s about enjoying what we achieved last season and continuing our preparations to be as ready as we can for the new one. It’s also about looking to win a trophy that I know Liverpool has not won for quite a few years.
We cannot guarantee anything – especially against a team like City – but I can promise that we will be giving it a try, a very good try.
