The phoney war is over and Jurgen Klopp might just be heading into the new Premier League season with mixed emotions from his busy summer.
On the one hand, Klopp has been able to see the bulk of his charges get some vital pre-season work under their belts ahead of another sapping campaign, particularly during the long days and double sessions in Austria prior to their return to Merseyside on Friday.
From the largely commercial-driven jaunts of Thailand and Singapore across to the stamina-building opportunities near the Austrian mountains, it's been a few weeks much more in-keeping with a traditional pre-season schedule of a club the size of Liverpool after a couple of improvised, pandemic-impacted itineraries over the last two years.
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Klopp has finally added the Community Shield to his Anfield haul to complete the set in English football while also striking a psychological blow of sorts against the side who will once more rival his team for the league title this coming campaign in Manchester City.
Big-money signing Darwin Nunez is up and running in front of goal, Mohamed Salah's long-term future is resolved and the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara, to name just three, will enjoy the full benefit of the summer.
So there is much to be positive about heading into another season where Liverpool will again contest for the biggest prizes in football.
On the flip side, the Reds boss has been made to juggle options in certain positions. Injuries to Alisson Becker and Caoimhin Kelleher have not been ideal in the goalkeeping department, while Diogo Jota faces an uphill battle to get up to speed having not been able to feature at all. That is far from ideal.
An issue with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - a hamstring problem that Klopp labelled "serious" - leaves them with a man down in the engine room for the first month or so too. That Klopp also feels the need to have a behind-closed-doors friendly with Aston Villa the day after the season starts at Fulham on August 6, gives the indication that he believes his players are not quite yet up to full speed. Not all of them, anyway.
But overall, the glass is likely to still be half full for the manager, despite signing off ahead of the new term with a 3-0 defeat against Strasbourg on Sunday night. For the second summer in a row, Klopp gave the green light to back-to-back fixtures in successive days having arranged for the Ligue 1 side to visit barely 24 hours after kicking off the Community Shield with City at the King Power.
As expected, Klopp made a raft of alterations to his team as the likes of Ibrahima Konate, James Milner and Joe Gomez added a level of seniority to a side that also contained Stefan Bajcetic, Tyler Morton and Melkamu Frauendorf.
Strasbourg took an early lead when Isaac Mabaya failed to deal with a ball across the face of the penalty area which allowed Adrien Thomasson to nip in and finish past Harvey Davies. And the Ligue 1 side punished another rookie mistake inside 15 minutes when Habib Diallo fired home after Luke Chambers had given it to Ludovic Ajorque inside his own area.
The French outfit's third arrived shortly after on the counter as Thomasson grabbed his second after Milner's attempt at a professional foul near the halfway line fell flat and the attack continued.
As the third was slammed home, it was difficult to assess just what Klopp felt he and his squad were getting out of this game given there were only three or four players within the XI who might reasonably expect to play regularly this season. Injuries to as many as five players who would have otherwise have featured was one mitigating factor at least.
If at times it looked like men against boys then it was because that's very much what it was. Much of Strasbourg's approach centred around their physicality, particularly up top, while the home team had eight teenagers in it. The sight of goalscorer Diallo comfortably holding both Chambers and Frauendorf at bay near the touchline at point in the first half summed it all up.
Given the exertions at the King Power on Saturday, Klopp chose not to include Naby Keita and Curtis Jones in the squad, meaning a lack of real support from the substitutes' bench only made matters more difficult for what was largely a side from the academy ranks.
Nat Phillips was summoned for Mabaya as Gomez moved out to the right side of the back four. That Phillips was, by some distance, the most senior member of the five-man bench told you all about the profile of those waiting in the wings.
After going down twice in quick succession Konate was replaced by Sepp van den Berg as Bobby Clark came on for Bajcetic at the same time. With Gomez fit again to provide competition to Van Dijk and Joel Matip, an injury at centre-back is not the crisis it once was, but the Reds will be hopeful Konate's issue is not a serious one.
The second half was played out largely without incident as the youngsters tried to little avail to break down a side who were challenging for a European spot in Ligue 1 last term. It was no slight on the hopefuls that they couldn't alter the direction of the game.
So another summer schedule is complete for Klopp and his players. Now onto the real stuff at Fulham on Saturday lunchtime. Only time will tell if enough has been done over the last few weeks, but if this weekend's results are to be any sort of barometer, it is the 3-1 win against City on Saturday that provides the evidence for hope. Even if Sunday's defeat will only be remembered by the scores of young fans for whom it was their first game.
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