Jürgen Klopp had a request to the football world. “Send me a message,” said the Liverpool coach on Thursday evening after his team’s 3-1 win in the English Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur. “If you have a central defender for a reasonable price with the quality that we need, send me a message,” said the German at BT Sport. Klopp was relieved to win the top game, but the constant rain in London at Liverpool Football Club did not wash away his greatest sporting concern. Rather the opposite.
Tobias Rabe
Responsible editor for Sport Online.
Because the master has unbelievable bad luck with injuries on the central defensive. Virgil van Dijk, the key to success, has been sidelined with a cruciate ligament rupture since October. When the Dutchman will be able to play again is uncertain, it will probably not be before April. Joe Gomez is also out of action for a long time after a knee tendon injury. Klopp pulled Fabinho back from midfield, but he too had to pass with a muscle injury; after all, it shouldn’t be out for that long. And that’s why Klopp put captain Jordan Henderson, who is actually in midfield, at the side of Joel Matip.
But for the former Schalke Matip, who is a trained central defender, the game did not last long. He had to stay in the dressing room at halftime. After the game, Klopp reported an ankle injury that looked “like something serious”. Nathaniel Philipps came in for Matip. It was awarded to Stuttgart last season and helped VfB to get promoted to the Bundesliga. In addition to the 23-year-old defender, the other option would have been the 19-year-old Rhys Williams. The options Klopps in the tough winter program are becoming fewer and fewer.
Transfers are still possible in England until early Monday evening. “We always thought of new signings and are doing it now,” said Klopp after the sobering inventory. “It’s about doing the right thing, we have to find the right players. It’s unbelievable what happens to us in defense. The situation is incredibly strange. We’ll see what we can do, but that didn’t help us tonight. ”The team played a strong game for Liverpool being so decimated. And the defense did not appear to be a major weak point.
However, that may also have been due to the fact that opponents Tottenham also have problems. The tightly packed Corona game plan takes its toll. And then there is also bad luck. Harry Kane, Heung-min Son’s strike partner, sustained injuries to both ankles. First on the right after a duel with Liverpool’s Thiago, the former Bayern player, later on the left after an unfortunate landing in a duel with Henderson. Each time he sat on the lawn, then nothing worked. Coach José Mourinho expects a failure of “several weeks”. Erik Lamela came into play in the second half for the eminently important Kane.
It was 1-0 for Liverpool because Roberto Firmino had broken the spell. The “Reds” hadn’t scored in the Premier League since December 27, when the former Hoffenheim player was there in stoppage time in the first half after 482 minutes without a goal from his club. It got even better. After a weak defense by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, Trent Alexander-Arnold slammed the ball into the goal to make it 2-0. But the Spurs countered. Emil Höjbjerg scored with a remarkable shot. It went back and forth before Sadio Mané scored the reassuring 3-1 for Liverpool after a defensive mistake.
“I’m very happy, it was a great game. Tonight we tore down a wall – that’s good, ”said Klopp, relieved by the first win in the league since mid-December. “It’s easy to lose confidence, but you can also regain it. However, it’s not like a light that you can simply turn on and off. We scored the goals at the right moment. I’ve seen a lot of things that I wanted to see. ”Matip’s injury is not one of them. And so it will be exciting to see what is going on in terms of personnel in the days up to Monday.
There are hardly any breaks to breathe. Only at the end of March, when international matches are due again, will there be a slightly longer break for Liverpool. Until then, numerous games have to be played, not only in the Premier League, in whose table Klopp’s team is now fourth. Four points are up to leader Manchester City, who has one game less in the account. After leaving the FA Cup at Manchester United, Liverpool is also in the Champions League. There is an exciting duel in the round of 16: It’s against RB Leipzig and Julian Nagelsmann.
.
