Liverpool chairman Tom Werner confident Reds can enjoy sustained success

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner believes the club’s hunger for success will not diminish in the wake of their maiden Premier League title win and is hopeful of “another period of sustained success”.

The Reds ended a 30-year wait to become top-flight champions after second-placed Manchester City suffered defeat at Chelsea on Thursday evening.

American Werner hailed the contribution of Reds manager Jurgen Klopp in creating a winning mentality at Anfield.

The 70-year-old accepts it will be difficult to be maintain this season’s “extraordinary level” but is confident the good times can continue.

“We want to undersell and overdeliver. We hopefully would be ensuring another period of sustained success,” Werner told liverpoolfc.com when asked about the club’s next steps.

“The competition is fierce and I know our rivals are working tirelessly to upend us. But we’ve got such talent in place as Jurgen, as Michael (Edwards, sporting director) and the team on the pitch.

“One of the things that stuck with me this year was their hunger for winning. I don’t think that will be diminished. They’re such a good group of players.

“I have such fondness for them as individuals off the pitch. They’re humble, they’re kind, they enjoy each other’s company. You could see that in the videos when they were all celebrating.

“It’s a lot to ask them to stay at this extraordinary level but it is our goal to continue to play with this quality.”

City’s loss at Stamford Bridge left Liverpool with an unassailable 23-point lead with seven fixtures to spare.

This season’s runaway title success comes a year after Klopp guided the Reds to Champions League glory.

Werner heaped praise on the German coach but stopped short of judging him alongside the great managers of Liverpool’s history.

“I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing or watching the great football of (Bill) Shankly and (Bob) Paisley, so I don’t really want to compare Jurgen to previous managers,” said Werner, who has been chairman of the Merseyside club since 2010.

“I just know that the league is extremely competitive and when we first became involved in Liverpool over 10 years ago, we were not even thinking about winning the league.

“Our dream was to just become top four and make it to the Champions League.

“He has just created such an atmosphere at Liverpool that there’s no alternative except to win. He has created such an atmosphere.

“One of the things that I’m just joyful about whenever I watch the team is how many players contribute.

“I also enjoy their joy because I saw a video of them celebrating together and you could just feel the camaraderie that this club has. We celebrated this as a club.”

On a slightly sour note for the new champions, they had to issue a statement on Saturday morning – in unison with Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council – asking fans to celebrate safely.

With the long-awaited moment coming in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic, many revellers ignored social distancing rules to celebrate.

“Several thousand people turned up at the Pier Head on Friday June 26 and some chose to ignore the social distancing guidance and risk public safety,” the statement read.

“Our city is still in a public health crisis and this behaviour is wholly unacceptable.

“The potential danger of a second peak of COVID-19 still exists and we need to work together to make sure we don’t undo everything that has been achieved as a region during lockdown.

“When it is safe to do so, we will all work together to arrange a victory parade when everyone can come together to celebrate. Until that time, the safety of our city and our people continues to be our number one priority.”