Liverpool star reveals why Jurgen Klopp Anfield exit was NEEDED

This time last year, Liverpool supporters were still completely unaware that Jurgen Klopp's managerial reign was about to run its course.

The German's seismic announcement that he would leave the club at the end of the season was more than three months away, and his side had opened the 2023/24 with five wins, one draw and only one defeat - that farcical, VAR-inflicted loss at Tottenham Hotspur - in their opening seven Premier League fixtures.

Liverpool had also won their first games in the Carabao Cup, against Leicester City at Anfield, and Europa League, away to LASK. It was therefore a very similar start to the one that new head coach Arne Slot has enjoyed since succeeding Klopp in the summer.

Read more: Pundit surprised by what Slot has done to Klopp's chaotic Liverpool

Beneath the surface, however, all was not well. In the next month, November, Klopp would tell the Anfield hierarchy of his decision to depart, many weeks before this was finally communicated to the fans in late January.

The supporters were heartbroken of course, having formed such a powerful connection with Klopp, even before he started to bring in the first of his eight trophies as Liverpool manager.

But fresh insight, emerging this week from an interview with Alisson Becker, suggests a change of personnel at the wheel was exactly what the players required, in order to produce their best performances on a more consistent basis.

WE NEEDED THIS EXTRA PUSH

Speaking to former England goalkeeper Joe Hart for the BBC's Football Daily podcast, Alisson admitted that Liverpool were lacking something in their final season under Klopp, which ultimately landed only the least-coveted trophy - the Carabao Cup - of the four on offer.

"We were good before and we were great sometimes, but we got to a point that we needed to have this extra push," said Alisson, who went on to explain how the squad is benefiting from the new boss.

"I'm finding Arne fantastic because we see that he wants to improve the players and by doing that, he's improving the team. So he's trying to take the best out of everyone, every individual and making us better.

"Arne is bringing to us his new energy and his knowledge on football. He's a really smart head coach and he's helping us a lot.

"You can see that from the way we are playing now, I think everybody is seeing that. His staff also like to work hard and they are showing us that their way to do things is the best way.

"We as players are seeing that it's a good plan and we're committed to that. We're really, really happy about the direction. It's early in the season, I think we have a big gap to reach our best, but we are doing well so far and we will keep working on things that we can improve."