Jurgen Klopp makes addition to Liverpool backroom staff ahead of new season

Jurgen Klopp has added Frigyes Vanden Auweele to his backroom staff as as the club's new head of osteopathy, with Liverpool ready to kick-on this season.

The Belgian has previously worked with elite athletes across a range of professional sports, including football, volleyball and cycling. It is understood Vanden Auweele has been brought in to help reduce the number of potential injuries with Liverpool set for another action-packed season.

He studied osteopathy in Antwerp after getting his Masters in physical therapy and specialised in the treatment and prevention of sports injuries. Klopp and his Liverpool players will hope his expertise can help them this season, especially as Diogo Jota and Alisson have succumbed to fitness issues in recent days.

Meanwhile, Andreas Schlumberger has been given more responsibilities at the club. The German initially joined Liverpool as head of recovery and performance in December 2020 after making the move from Schalke - re-joining Klopp after spending four years with his at Borussia Dortmund.

Schlumberger has worked closely with head of physiotherapy Lee Nobes and head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer over the past 18 months to ensure players recover from injuries as quickly as possible in order to be available for selection. This has helped Liverpool suffer from fewer injuries than in previous years.

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Having been brought in midway through the 2020/21 campaign, Schlumberger was dealt a difficult task to manage the injury crisis Liverpool were enduring after Virgil van Djik and Joe Gomez were sidelined for the long term, while Joel Matip continued to struggle with fitness problems.

However, last season, the number of days lost to injuries was cut by a third. Thiago was the perfect example of a player enjoying a sustained run in the side after struggling with fitness issues; the Spaniard was in and out of the starting XI with a number of different injuries and illness problems during his first season at the club, before managing to stay fit for most of the subsequent campaign, as he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.

As a result, Schlumberger has been rewarded with a higher status within Liverpool's medical department. The Reds played in every possible game last season (62) and an unprecedented quadruple was within their grasp before they fell short in the Premier League and Champions League.