With a return to pre-season now barely a week away, Jurgen Klopp heads into his summer schedule with much still to do at Liverpool. The club's non-international contingent will report for duty at the AXA Centre on July 8 before those involved for their nations head back to the Kirkby base a few days later.
After a few days of infamously hard graft on Merseyside, Klopp and his players will then fly out for an even more taxing training camp in the Black Forest with the Reds set to play two friendlies in Germany against Karlsruhe and Greuther Furth, on July 19 and 24, respectively.
From there, the Reds visit Singapore for friendlies with Leicester City (July 30) and Bayern Munich (August 2) ahead of a 'home' match, which is expected to be at Preston's Deepdale stadium due to the ongoing development work of the Anfield Road.
Before the Premier League gets underway at Chelsea on August 13, there is plenty to resolve for Klopp, his coaching staff and recruitment department. Here, the ECHO analyses what needs to be done...
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The Trent Alexander-Arnold question
For close to 300 senior Liverpool games, Trent Alexander-Arnold has had a question mark next to his name. Despite a wildly successful period that has seen him become one of the most influential full-backs in European football while also winning every major club trophy, some have always wondered if the No.66 would be better suited to being in midfield.
For the last two months of the campaign, those who have long championed that tactical tweak had their wish granted and the results were spectacular. Alexander-Arnold, while still technically operating as a full-back on the team sheet, was outstanding from central areas for the final 11 games as Liverpool went unbeaten to secure a fifth-place finish in the Premier League.
Alexander-Arnold's bewitching range of passes was a big part of the reason the Reds ended the season in such good form and the question now is - does Klopp stick with that tactical adjustment for good or not?
Would the West Derby-born defender be less effective as an orthodox midfielder? Can Liverpool continue to operate without a recongised right-back for lengthy spells of the campaign? Will criticism of Alexander-Arnold be tempered by the fact he is being asked to essentially play two positions at the same time? And how will that impact plans to recruit more midfielders?
When it comes to the Alexander-Arnold issue, it seems there are more questions than answers at present, but Liverpool at least know they have one of the most gifted players in the Premier League within their ranks, wherever he is deployed. Despite that, there is a real conundrum here for Klopp to wrestle with.
Wanted: Midfielders
The addition of Alexis Mac Allister at the start of June was an early statement of intent from Liverpool as they go about fixing the midfield issues that bit down hard last season.
After triggering the £35m release clause in the Argentina World Cup winner's contract at Brighton, however, it has seemingly gone quiet on the recruitment front.
A number of midfield options are still being assessed with Khephren Thuram, Ryan Gravenberch, Gabri Veiga, Manu Kone and Romeo Lavia all having the rule run over them as agents are sounded out behind the scenes.
Links to Nicolo Barella of Inter, Brighton's Moises Caicedo and, perhaps most startlingly of all, Fede Valverde at Real Madrid have all been reported in recent days too. But as things stands, Mac Allister remains the sole arrival as the pre-season schedule drifts onto the horizon.
The timescale won't be a major issue for Klopp, if he snares the players he believes are right for the next phase of his team's development, but an aggressive and proactive start to June has simmered down considerably in the last fortnight.
Talks with the representatives of RB Leipzig's Dominik Szoboszlai have taken place, it is understood, but it is unclear whether that will turn into an official approach to the Bundesliga side at this stage.
Valverde and Barella would be sensational additions but the profile of Lavia, Thuram, Gravenberch, Kone and Veiga suggests the club are looking at a younger, less experienced and more malleable type of player for the long haul at Anfield. With more still needed in the transfer window, there is still plenty of work to be undertaken away from the training pitches for sporting director Jorg Schmadtke and the rest of the recruitment department.
A case for the defence
A by-product of the Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment is Liverpool reverting to a back three when in possession. At times last season that trio was Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson, whose career-long exploits as a marauding, assist-making left-back was stunted for the final months of the Premier League term.
The Scotland captain looked uneasy at times at having to remain as part of a back three while Alexander-Arnold tried to wreak havoc from more central areas.
As a result, the Reds have been keeping an eye on developments in the centre-back market with Micky van den Ven, of Wolfsburg, linked with a move. The Netherlands international is capable of playing on the left side of the defence, as is Levi Colwill, who made 16 appearances for Brighton while on loan from Chelsea last term.
The fluidity of the system means any incoming defender would likely have to be as adept as a full-back in a back four as they would be playing in a three-man defence when Alexander-Arnold is permitted to galivant.
Robertson is perhaps not perfectly suited to that way of operating and while a horses-for-courses approach will mean the left-back is still a vitally important member of the squad, the change in the system means another defender must be targeted this window, regardless of the futures of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, who are both used to being on the right side of a two-man pairing.
Fitness of key trio is vital
For all the struggles of those who were fit and available for Liverpool last season, there can be little denial of the fact Klopp's options were stretched to breaking point by the absence of key men at vital periods.
Luis Diaz's campaign was virtually written off by a serious knee injury that was first picked up in a defeat to Arsenal in early October and later needed surgery on it after he broke down in a Dubai training session.
In total, Diaz was sidelined for six months, while Diogo Jota's hamstring and calf problems also limited his availability. The Portugal international was laid low for around six months himself collectively, between July and September and then October to February.
Jota came back into the fold in February, while Diaz's comeback arrived in April. The pair missed huge chunks of the campaign and would have been a huge help to Klopp had they not been so unlucky with their respective injuries.
The same goes for Thiago Alcantara, whose year was riddled with issues before the decision was taken to end the term prematurely in favour of undergoing surgery early enough to be considered fit for pre-season.
Keep all three available for longer periods next season and the Reds' fortunes will inevitably improve. Getting them up to speed in the coming weeks is an absolute must for Klopp.
