Jurgen Klopp: Trent and co.’s ailments are not related to early returns, and Salah is back in the running.
Jurgen Klopp, has denied reports that he has rushed back players in recent weeks following the aggravation of injuries by Dominik Szoboszlai, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Thiago Alcantara.
Thiago’s nine-month comeback lasted only ten minutes, Alexander-Arnold’s knee problem returned in last week’s victory over Burnley, and Szoboszlai played just over an hour over two matches before giving up due to a hamstring issue that kept him out of action for the majority of January.
After missing a month of action due to a hamstring injury suffered while representing Egypt in the African Nations Cup, Mohamed Salah returned to training this week, and Klopp is optimistic that he will be able to play once more.
The manager of the month, Klopp, who recently won his tenth title, stated, “Mo is back in full training, that brings him automatically in contention of course,” prior to the midday kickoff at Brentford.
To be clear, I was not really aware of it until I heard that there had been a debate about perhaps forcing Trent back. It is quite regrettable that he suffered two setbacks; nobody wants that.
“I am here, and we have never made anyone return and we never will. However, since we operate in a high-performance environment, if you sustain the same injury, you recover in three days, whereas another guy needs four weeks.
We constantly want to seize the first opportunity, but when we do, nobody ever talks about it, as was the case lately with Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) and Diogo (Jota). That’s the task at hand.
“The player always has the final say, but if you just listen to them, the player will play after two weeks, which is a serious issue.
From our perspective, we must get the lads back as quickly as possible, but never before they are ready. “The boys were fit when they played, but the circumstances surrounding the (match) told us otherwise because it happened again,” the statement reads.
“We’ll never know if it was anything that happened earlier or if it would have happened regardless. incredibly unfortunate and unlucky.
“It’s not perfect, but it doesn’t address anyone’s character. In the world we live in, people always ask, “Medical department? That has nothing to do with anything, but I’m not sure about that.
“From our perspective, we have to bring the boys back as soon as possible, but never before they are ready.”
Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai suffered “serious” injuries, according to Klopp, and only the latter has a chance to play in Sunday’s cup final one week from now.
“This is a really intense time. People are thinking about the championship game right now, but Brentford and Luton came before the game, so I hadn’t given the final any thought yet,” he remarked.
He isn’t saying, “Oh, he can’t play in the final. That is just one game; unfortunately, they are unable to participate in the other two.
“I believe it will be around that time for Dominik and a week or two longer for Trent. Although I’m not sure if Dom will make it to the final, Trent will most likely follow.
Together with Salah’s comeback, Joe Gomez and goalie Alisson Becker are back to full strength, Conor Bradley has returned from compassionate leave following the death of his father, and Ibrahima Konate has served out his punishment.