Didi Hamann has spoke out on the eve of the season, and believes that the memories of Istanbul can help Liverpool start the season full of confidence as they aim to close the gap on the Title.

"We don't really talk about what happened in Istanbul anymore because we are looking forward and not back. But every now and again you see photos from the night and you can't help but reflect on it.

"We're European champions and so of course we have to go into the new season full of confidence. We have proved we can compete with anybody in Europe over a couple of games but now we have to find consistency in the league.

"The Premiership season is 38 games long and so it's no good being able to string a couple of good results together if they're followed by a couple of bad ones. We need to learn how to string unbeaten runs of six, eight or even ten games together.

"That's the next step for us now. In one off games we can beat anybody in Europe and we have proved that. Now we need to improve against teams from our own league."

Hamann isn't promising a title success this season, but he does feel it will be harder for Chelsea to once again run away with the crown.

He said: "Chelsea deserve credit for what they did last season. They may have a lot of money but Mourinho spent it well and they got their rewards.

"I'm not worried when I see how much money they're spending because it's a fact of football life now and we have to deal with it. We knocked them out of the Champions League last season so of course we can compete with them. It's just that we need to learn to win more games against the teams people expect us to beat.

"I think it will be harder for Chelsea this season and hopefully we can be one of the teams to make it more difficult for them.

"The expectations at this club are always high but perhaps more so now that we are champions of Europe. People are looking to see how we are going to do in the Premiership and I am sure we won't disappoint them.

"We have a good squad, a stronger squad than last season and so there's no reason why we can't do well. We need to make a good start though. The first few weeks of August are going to be very important with the Champions League qualifier, the first games of the Premiership and also the Super Cup final. If we can come through August with some good results behind us then it will set us up nicely for the coming months."

 

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