Jurgen Klopp has praised Joe Gomez and insisted the No. 2 will probably be given loads of probabilities this season, notably after a “massive blow” for Ibrahima Konate.
Given the shortage of minutes for Gomez final time period it got here as a shock when the 25-year-old signed a brand new five-year contract with Liverpool this summer time.
However the Englishman has accepted the problem in entrance of him as he appears to compete with Konate and Joel Matip as first-choice companion to Virgil van Dijk at centre-back.
It’s ironic, then, that Gomez’s first alternative may come resulting from an damage to one in every of his team-mates, with Konate “out for a while” after choosing up an damage towards Strasbourg.
Although no timeframe has been given for the Frenchman’s layoff, it appears that evidently it will likely be longer than a matter of weeks, with Klopp suggesting Nat Phillips will now stay put as cowl.
Both manner, Gomez has an opportunity to keep away from the “stop-and-go” marketing campaign he endured final trip, as Klopp instructed reporters on Friday.
“For Joe, it’s most important that he stays fit, so that’s what we try to help him with all we can,” the supervisor stated.
“That was the stop-and-go state of affairs, it isn’t that he was match from first day and I did not choose him only for high quality causes.
“That was by no means the case. When he was consistently match he performed an terrible lot of video games.
“Everyone knows that final 12 months we may rotate like loopy between the three of them, and to start with it was Joey not match and when he grew to become match it labored rather well [with the others]. There are all the time causes.
“If he stays match, then all the pieces will probably be high-quality for him. Excellent participant.
“Yes, he needs rhythm like we all need rhythm, and we try to give him that, that’s clear.”
Konate’s damage comes at an unlucky time for Liverpool, who’ve seven extra gamers on the therapy desk heading into the primary sport of the Premier League marketing campaign.
Caoimhin Kelleher, Calvin Ramsay, Diogo Jota and Kaide Gordon all arrived for pre-season with health points, whereas Kostas Tsimikas, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones subsequently picked up accidents.
“The good news is that when you have a massive blow, like it is with Ibou, you need to have solutions,” Klopp added of Gomez.
“Our resolution is, within the second, the state of affairs that now we have. We’re nonetheless there.
“However how I stated, it’s all the time the identical: you might want to be fortunate with accidents. As a result of we’re very self-critical and take into consideration what can now we have completed in a different way.
“However other than the contact accidents, which may all the time occur, there have been good causes for [injuries] which we could not affect. That is the case for now.
“It is all OK for the second, however Joey dedicated his future to this membership, so I am unable to see why the subsequent 12 months needs to be so necessary for him to show.
“I wanted him to stay here, he’s a top player and he will play football games for Liverpool, definitely.”
