Lovren: Improving Liverpool must keep team together
The quality at Liverpool is "already quite high" and the squad will only get better, according to experienced defender Dejan Lovren.
Dejan Lovren believes Liverpool can "do something great" next season provided there are no major alterations to a squad preparing for its second successive Champions League final. Liverpool have the chance to win their first trophy under Jürgen Klopp when they meet Tottenham at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid on 1 June.
Liverpool need to maintain the core of the squad
Making amends for last year's defeat to Real Madrid would help to ease the agony of finishing a point shy of Manchester City in a remarkable Premier League title race. The arrivals of key players Alisson and Fabinho along with Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri enabled the Reds to compete on two fronts this season but defender Lovren thinks the priority for the upcoming close-season is to protect the existing squad.
Year-on-year improvement
"When you look back on the last three years, it was every season improvement," the Croatia international told Liverpool's official website. "When Klopp came, every year we did better and better. Last season we did quite well, we had quite a lot of injuries and reached the final of the Champions League. This year, with the new players, we reached second place with 97 points, it's incredible, and again the final of the Champions League, so definitely we are again one of the contenders for next year to do something great. With this team, we can only improve. We are still young so we learn every day something new and this is what matters: to keep this team all together in one place and of course, if there are new improvements to come, I mean new players, they are always welcomed. But when you look at the quality, it's really already quite high."
One defeat, 97 points
Liverpool concluded their domestic campaign with a 2-0 win over Wolves - their 30th Premier League victory - but City's come-from-behind triumph at Brighton and Hove Albion on the final day extended the Merseyside club's 29-year wait for a top-flight title.
Though "disappointed" by ultimately being resigned to runners-up status, Lovren expects to find comfort in the Champions League. "We gave everything this season, it was a brilliant season - especially [at] Anfield and I think the fans really enjoyed it, especially the game against [Barcelona]," he said. "So, at the end we have another final and I'm sure we will come back with big smiles."