NO RUSH FOR KOP CROCKS
Klopp happy to wait for injured Reds
JURGEN Klopp is playing the waiting game with his injured stars.
Liverpool have a long list of first- teamers on the sidelines at the moment.
Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez are the longest term crocks. But there are also the likes of Joel Matip, Naby Keita and Diogo Jota on the easy list.
Klopp would love to have those players back and fit but he is not willing to rush.
That could only store up problems for the future with stars getting crocked again just after returning.
Keita in particular will be given all the time he needs to get his minor issue right.
He has been in and out of the Liverpool side ever since arriving from Red Bull Leipzig in 2018. He has been out since the 7- 0 win against Crystal Palace on December 19 with a muscle strain.
Klopp said: “Naby is not ready for involvement.
“It’s not a big thing — it’s a little bit like with other players in the past when they came back from injuries and then because of the amount of games and situation in the squad they had to play.
“Then a little injury happened again. Now we just had to put on the brake and say ‘ let’s settle it properly’.
“In the moment we have alternatives in midfield, so we really try to give him all the time he needs to get 100% fit.”
Klopp has been caught up in a row over how many penalties Liverpool are awarded compared to rival clubs like Manchester United.
Former referee Mark Clattenburg has admitted that the Red Devils might have been favoured by whistleblowers who were scared of Sir Alex Ferguson.
But he also thinks that Klopp is trying to play the mind games that Fergie was so famous for.
He said: “He is clearly getting edgy, though, because not since Fergie have we seen such a blatant attempt to influence a referee ahead of a big game.
“Klopp wasn’t doing this last season when Liverpool were winning every week.
“He does not like losing, he never has. He gets prickly.
“But he is wrong to suggest there is an aura around United that sees them given favourable decisions. There used to be when Fergie was there, but that has eased massively since he left.
The Liverpool gaffer is having none of that.
He barked: “When people like Clattenburg speak now, it says much more about them than it does about me. I have no skills for playing mind games, that is my problem.
Nice
“I 100% never mention something like trying to win penalties.
“It has never happened. Am I really surprised someone is talking about what I have said?
“Clattenburg? No. It’s nice we can talk about him. I am not Sir Alex for different reasons.”