The manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp believes the issue of Liverpool’s defense rest solely within the team. He stressed that signing a new player this summer wouldn’t be the solution.
Note that Liverpool’s midfielder, Thiago Alcantara has been ruled out for about 6 weeks due to a hamstring injury that he sustained in the season opener against Fulham which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Other Liverpool’s midfielders like Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could not be of assistance because they’ve been confined to the bench due to their injuries. Keira on the other hand would be available for the match against Crystal Palace on Monday.
When Klopp was asked about the condition of his team, he had this to say:
“I’m happy with the strength, size, and quality of my squad but we have injuries. There are plenty of solutions for it. One of them is the transfer market, but that only makes sense if you can bring in the right player.
“All the other solutions are inside the squad. We have too many injuries, that’s clear. Naby will be back for Monday and Kostas (Tsimikas) will train today for the first time so he might be back as well.”
Liverpool which were second on the table last season had a not-so-great start this season. The teams were known and feared for their dreadful attack. Setting the pace of the game was their specialty. But in their first match against Fulham, a newly promised side, they had to come back from behind to equalize just to earn their first match point of the season.
Klopp had this to say: “We addressed it after the game. We had a slow start and I didn’t like it. I saw an attitude to fight back but it’s better to have an intense and concentrated start. It took too long to switch on. We had to fight back and momentum was with Fulham.
“After 55 games [last season] you tell me we start slow!? You cannot play 63 games and be always superior, you fight through it somehow. We need to be awake before it starts. I don’t like you find one thing in the stats and tell me it as though it’s the truth, it’s not.”
Liverpool’s first home match would be on Monday against a familiar opponent Crystal Palace. Despite being at the Anfield, Klopp expects the match to be a rather tough one for his team.
“It’s the same for Crystal Palace but much better of course to play at night-time,” he added. “It shouldn’t be a comfortable game at all.”
The Liverpool vs Crystal Palace clash will kick off at Anfield Stadium on Monday, August 15, 2022 at 20:00.
