In fullJürgen Klopp's AFC Ajax programme notes

The events that surround tonight’s game means the occasion will be different to what we have become used to on European nights at Anfield. The loss of Queen Elizabeth II is a significant moment for the country and an incredibly sad moment for her family and all who cherished her, so playing football against this backdrop gives everyone involved a different kind of responsibility.

As a club, we always take these responsibilities very seriously because it is the right thing to do. At the time of writing these notes it is too early to say what the gestures of respect will be, but whatever they are we will observe them as we always have.

I can say this from my own first-hand knowledge: whenever anyone suffers a personal loss, the support you receive makes such a difference, so if it feels this way when you need it, it makes sense that we should provide it when someone else has the same need.

One of the most memorable examples of this came last season when our supporters found their own way to support Cristiano Ronaldo after he suffered a personal tragedy. I think this surprised some people because Cristiano is a Manchester United player but it shouldn’t have done. Football supporters in general are good people who know what is important.

The respect ours showed that night was impressive, of course, but it should not have been a surprise. Anyone who expected anything different made a mistake by thinking the worst of people and in my experience that is never a good place to start.

On an occasion like this one, how we conduct ourselves matters and so do the words that we say, so I would like to take this opportunity to pass on our condolences to everyone who has been affected by the death of the Queen, particularly her own family who clearly had an incredible amount of love for her as a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother.

Like any family, they will be suffering right now but I hope they have been able to take some comfort from the affection and support that has come their way.

As well as paying our respects, we also have another job to do tonight and that is to play football to the best of our ability. At times like this I always say that football is the most important of the least important things, but if we are playing it makes sense that we do it as well as we possibly can.

This hasn’t happened as much as any of us would like so far this season, so it is time that we put that right.

When I first arrived at Liverpool almost seven years ago, I set an ambition for us to become the hardest team in the world to play against. This hasn’t always been possible of course – although there have definitely been times when we have been pretty close, I would say. But in Naples last week we were as far away from this target as I can recall us being and this cannot carry on.

After the game I used the word ‘compact’ a lot. I actually said it more times than I could count. This was because the gaps were too big with and without the ball and this makes no sense, not if we want to be the best that we can be anyway.

I know everyone focuses on the goals, the stories and the big moments, but being hard to play against and hard to beat has been at the heart of everything we have done over the last few seasons, so it would make sense if we could get back to being this way.

The basics of football are a big part of this. Defending together, attacking together, winning challenges, competing, stopping your opponent from doing what they want to do. A lot of these qualities would not get their own showreel but they are absolutely vital if you want to win football matches.

The boys have been absolutely brilliant at this and that should not be forgotten, but at the same time we have to acknowledge that right now there is room for improvement.

It may be that there are moments when we need a bit of extra help from our supporters right now because in the current situation it makes a lot of sense that we stick together. I think we have a crowd that is better than most at knowing when that is needed, though, so I will not say any more on this issue.

I welcome Alfred Schreuder, his staff and players to Anfield for today’s game in the knowledge that Ajax will be a proper opponent. Alfred has not been in the job for too long but his team has won every game they have played so far this season and their performance against Rangers last week was outstanding, so we are expecting a big contest because that is exactly what we will get.

So hopefully today we can show the good side of the face once again. Not because we think if we do that everything will suddenly be OK, but because we know that by doing the right things we can start to put things right.

Let’s give it a try.

• Order your Liverpool v Ajax matchday programme here