Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants tension inside his squad.

Klopp is eager for his European champions to maintain his competitive edge.

He said, "The spirit in the team could not be better at the moment – they won the Champions League last year together and won 32 games, I don't know exactly. So if they would not be close then that would be really funny.

"They're very close, but what you need is a competitive team spirit as well. You have to kick the butts of your teammates in the right moment. It's a very competitive team spirit what you need to be really difficult to beat and all that stuff.

"It's not about wanting to have a drink every night together, it's about doing the right things and knowing much better than others for who you are doing it for – for your mates, for your best friend.

"I like what Hendo said in pre-season when he got asked about that, he said, 'Yes, we will stay friends forever'. That's how it is, but in the moment we have to be friends, not best friends, because best friends means that everything what you do is what the other guy likes.

"We have to push each other, we have to be really as a team. I use the word too often probably, but we have to be as a team very angry about everything else around.

"We have to really stay greedy in all these things – and we are, I'm not in doubt about that – but that's what I mean in a different kind of team spirit.

"The best team spirit in the world is not helpful if it's only about being together and stuff like this. We need this kind of team spirit where everybody pushes each other.

"That's what we had, what we have, but we need to have it as well in the future. That's not guaranteed, you have to work on that every day and that's what we try to do."