For the third successive summer, the picturesque views of the Austrian Alps are providing the backdrop to part of Liverpool's pre-season.
Jurgen Klopp, his staff and a 31-man contingent arrived in the region on Thursday evening after continuing their pre-season workout with a 5-0 hammering of RB Leipzig in Saxony.
In the first of two friendlies with clubs from the Red Bull stable - the Reds meet Salzburg on Wednesday - Darwin Nunez added four as a second-half substitute to Mohamed Salah's opener as the Uruguay striker swatted aside laughable early criticism of his cameos in Singapore and Thailand against Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
So far, Liverpool's pre-season work has taken them from Merseyside to the Far East before the trip to Germany, but it is the next week that will provide the main base for the coming campaign as double sessions become the order of the day.
“I don’t think anybody is looking forward to Austria!” joked Andy Robertson after the win against Leipzig. Or at least, it was assumed he was joking. “It’s always where it gets ramped up a little bit, that wee bit harder. But it’s so important. That’s where the foundations are laid.
“Tough sessions, trying to get as close to where we need to be for the first game of the season. By the end of the week we will be in a much better position. It will be good for team bonding, pushing each other and getting fitter together.”
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After visiting the region in 2020 due to an 11th-hour destination change following a change in COVID regulations in France, Liverpool spent the best part of a month in Saalfelden ahead of last season's 63-game marathon 12 months ago. The work undertaken there was viewed as an integral reason for why the squad were able to go closer than any team before them to a quadruple.
As a thank you for everyone's efforts last year, Klopp organised a party in a mountain cabin away from the team's hotel in Seefeld. The open-bar event was put on as a token of gratitude from the manager, but it was also designed to further foster the strong bond that exists within the clubs itself across all departments.
Given the tight turnaround ahead of their Merseyside return next week, it's unlikely something similar will be allowed, particularly, from the players' perspective, with Manchester City to come in the Community Shield on July 30.
Day one of the 2022 tour started with a collective bike ride down to the pitches before a yoga session was put on by Dr Conall Murtagh. After limbering up under the watchful eye of the first-team fitness coach, it was time for some ball work as the rondos were set up.
"Oh my days!" remarked Jordan Henderson as the keep-ball session clocked up towards the tally of 30, while a nutmegging of Dr Murtagh from Thiago Alcantara brought about a suitable level of ribbing.
Another one of Liverpool's training exercises involves a game of competitive keepy-ups where each players tries to keep the ball in the air while attempting to catch another of their colleagues out with tricky returns that are difficult to control.
"Eh Lucho! Lucho!" roared Thiago as he sent Luis Diaz for a particularly troublesome return high and wide. The Spain international clearly felt he'd done enough to outwit his team-mate, but Diaz made light of the ball, controlling it effortlessly with a first touch before sending it back into the mix before it was fumbled by Fabio Carvalho.
The mistake meant the teenager was made to face the forfeit of a number of gentle slaps. The former Fulham youngster has been taken under the wing of Harvey Elliott since moving from London, but he has been made to feel welcome by the more senior members of the squad. "Everyone has been fantastic to me, which I'm so grateful for," he said earlier this month. "It sounds cliche but it feels like one big family."
Another youngster momentarily stumbled during the exercise as Stefan Bajcetic overhits a pass to bring it to an end. It's been something of a breakout summer for the 17-year-old who has impressed staff with his performances so far.
“It’s important," Fabinho says of Bajcetic's inclusion on the tour. "He has trained with us, he will get better, he will have more confidence to take the ball, to turn, to do some stuff that the No. 6 does. It’s nice to have not just him but the other young lads as well playing really good football."
The session ended when Ibrahima Konate was unable to keep alive an outrageous pass off his back from Thiago, who was clearly enjoying his time at work. Joel Matip, in particular, revelling in dishing out the penalty for his centre-back colleague.
There is a serious element to the training sessions, of course, and the hard-running fitness work is vital to keeping the players steady when the campaign gets tough further down the line.
Alisson Becker was pictured back on the pitches on Saturday as day two of the trip got underway. The Brazil goalkeeper missed the friendly with Crystal Palace in Singapore and also sat out the win against Leipzig, but is getting closer to full fitness.
The Reds' No.1 was not cleared to get back between the sticks for the session, however, and instead was given some light ball work to undertake with the goalkeeping coaches for the session.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Trent Alexander-Arnold was pictured wearing brain sensors while practicing free-kicks as Liverpool continue their partnership with German neuroscience team neuro11.
The cutting edge technology is the brainchild of Dr Niklas Hausler and his business partner Patrick Hantschke. Electrodes that are attached to the headpieces are said to deliver specific data for individual players and help the club tweak their training sessions for each person.
Klopp credited neuro11 with the successes of both penalty shootouts victories in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals last term and their use in Austria is just the latest example of the marginal gains that Liverpool feel can make all the difference at elite level.
"We need this time now," Klopp said after the Leipzig game. "We are not close to where we want to be physically and with the weather and everything, it is difficult. A little bit of Austria is good, we have to work to get through this, we have to work extremely hard and then it will be fine.
"I'm not sure if against Salzburg we will be really fine because we properly go for it, but we will give it a try and the most important part of pre-season starts now."
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