Liverpool FC Thread #142:- 2017 Pre-Season

[NI KI]

Jürgen Klopp expects to give most of his Liverpool squad a runout at Tranmere Rovers tomorrow evening, but he has yet to decide on his line-up for their first pre-season friendly of the summer.

The Reds will make the short journey through the Mersey tunnel to contest their opening fixture of their 2017-18 preparations.

Asked whether he’d finalised his starting XI, Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com: “No, not in detail because I didn’t think about it – why should I? We had a running session on Tuesday and that’s good because we needed to do this because every day we’ve trained twice.

“On Wednesday morning I will make the line-up, but everyone who can run, if you like, will play! So that’s what we will try to do, we have a nice and big group at the moment. Little problems here, little problems there, but not too much so far.”

He added: “We have more than 20 players at the moment and even more goalkeepers, but I don’t know who will start tomorrow. It’s not that important for me so much, but whoever comes to Tranmere we will see pretty much all of them that are available.”

Two players who won’t be involved are Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho, who returned to Melwood on Tuesday morning to begin pre-season training.
The duo have an outside chance of figuring against Wigan Athletic on Friday night, but will certainly take part in the Premier League Asia Trophy fixtures in Hong Kong next week.

Klopp said: “It was good to see them – they looked well recovered, I would say! Adam’s hair has grown a little bit again… I hadn’t seen him for six or seven weeks. Phil looks good also, so it’s always good – an outstanding player and having him not around feels a little bit strange, but having him around feels much better!

“Pretty much all of the players will play at Tranmere. Of course, not Adam and Phil – they only arrived on Tuesday and they have to train now, then we will see how far they are before the game at Wigan. It is not even sure we will try this, so then for sure in Asia they will be a part of the line-up.”

Tuesday marked the seventh day of Liverpool’s pre-season programme, which began last Wednesday and has involved mainly double sessions as Klopp and his backroom team look to get the squad into peak condition.

“It’s been good,” the manager said of his side’s preparations so far. “You saw since today we’ve had a nice and big training group, and of course that’s not the final squad – that’s clear – but all good so far.

“The testing was good and the boys came back really fit, they did what they had to do and I like this. I know in this world I had to say this even if it was not like this because everything else would create big stories, but the nice thing is it is the truth. They really came back in good shape, so we started from a good point.

“Adapting to this intensity again is always a challenge for all of us, but it’s worked out well so far. Now we have the first game and that’s a nice thing because it’s why we all do it – to play the games at some point. I thought one week without a game made sense and now we can go to Tranmere and play there.”

[NI KI]

Jürgen Klopp has confirmed Mohamed Salah will not be available for Wednesday evening's pre-season friendly with Tranmere Rovers due to a short-term delay.

The summer signing from AS Roma needs to leave the United Kingdom and return again before he can begin his Reds career on the pitch, as is standard immigration procedure.

Salah should be in contention for selection again soon after, with his availability only temporarily impacted.

Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com: “Mo Salah is here in training but cannot play because of the rules, so that’s what we have to accept.

“We will try to get the working permission or the visa, I’m not sure what it is we need to get but we have to go to Paris and leave him there for a day or two and then he’ll come back.

“We are hopeful he can play soon.”

[NI KI]

The stats certainly make for interesting reading.

Liverpool full-backs Nathaniel Clyne and James Milner led the way in overlapping in the Premier League last season, according to figures collated by Colin Trainor at Statsbomb.com.

Top of the pile Milner received 304 passes in an overlapping position while Clyne grabbed second place with 299.

The rest of the top 10 suggests, perhaps not unsurprisingly, that it’s primarily the top teams who have the most overlapping attackers with Spurs and Man United the notable absentees. Cause or effect is another question altogether.

Hector Bellerin (261), Raheem Sterling (243), Marcos Alonso (219), Victor Moses (219), Kevin De Bruyne (213), Leroy Sane (209), Nacho Monreal (205) and Eden Hazard (204) round off the top 10.

Like the Liverpool pair, it’s full-backs and wing-backs who dominate except at Man City where it’s De Bruyne and Sane leading the way in Pep Guardiola’s system.

Regardless of their efforts last season though Clyne and Milner will both find themselves under the spotlight in their respective positions at Anfield this season.

Milner, despite a season of model consistency after being asked to switch roles by Jurgen Klopp, is still not seen as “the answer” to Liverpool’s long-running left-back saga by most.

A signing in that position is coveted by many but it is only likely to arrive if Alberto Moreno accepts that his Liverpool career is over.

That’s a sign that the most important opinion of all - that of Jurgen Klopp - does come down heavily in Milner’s favour and the Reds boss is a strong advocate of the vice-captain’s influence on the pitch.

Much of the frustration among supporters was that when Milner did get into strong positions out wide his tendency was to cut back inside on his right foot and deliver his cross from there, a narrowing of the pitch seen as unhelpful given the opposition’s tendency to sit deep against Klopp’s men especially at Anfield.

Milner’s situation may be considerably improved though with the expectation of Sadio Mane switching to play in front of him to make way for Mohamed Salah’s arrival.

Mane’s pace and ability to open up the outside will surely combine better with Milner than Philippe Coutinho, who himself has a tendency to cut inside, albeit often to devastating effect.

The hope would certainly be that Milner could improve on the three assists he chalked up last season.

On the other side, Nathaniel Clyne already has competition in the shape of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

It is the England international’s lack of final ball which caused consternation at times and he ended the season with just two assists, one of those achieved on the opening day at the Emirates.

Newly rewarded for his progress with an improved five-year deal on Friday, Alexander-Arnold has shown he can provide goals and threat from full-back at U23 level and few would bet against him translating that to the Premier League on a regular basis.

Defensively though there remains much for the 18-year-old to work on, a point Klopp has made more than once, suggesting the England man’s position as first choice remains relatively safe for now.

It would probably be a surprise though if Milner and Clyne were to top that overlapping table in 12 months’ time.

[NI KI]

Someone on /r/soccer made an algorithm that tracks the 3 most popular words associated with each team on there. Results are humorous.

[NI KI]

Former Liverpool captain Jamie Redknapp believes “colossal” Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk will still move to Anfield this summer.

The Reds have so far been frustrated in their attempts to sign the £60million-rated Dutch defender.

Liverpool issued a public apology last month after being accused of tapping up Van Dijk with Saints adamant that the player is not for sale.

However, with Van Dijk’s heart set on joining Liverpool, Redknapp retains hope that a compromise can be reached.

“Going forward Liverpool have lots of different options,” he told Sky Sports.

“I still worry about them defensively though, and now they’ve got the Champions League to contend with.

“I’m not sure the Virgil van Dijk story is finished. I still think there’s a little bit left to go with that one.

“Liverpool have obviously pulled back at the moment but I still see Van Dijk moving. He wants to play for Jurgen Klopp and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Liverpool signing him.

“That could be one of the signing of the summer because he would make such a difference. He’s colossal. He’s fantastic defensively, good great forward, he scores goals and I think he’s exactly what Liverpool need.

“If they can find a way of getting him in a red shirt next season that would be a great signing for them.”

[NI KI]

[NI KI]

Jordan Henderson makes his first appearance since February as Liverpool face Tranmere Rovers in a pre-season friendly tonight.

The Reds captain returns in a strong starting line-up at Prenton Park, which also includes Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Daniel Sturridge and Georginio Wijnaldum.

Liverpool team in first half:

Karius

Alexander-Arnold Matip Lucas Milner
Henderson
Grujic Wijnaldum

Ojo Firmino Sturridge

Jürgen Klopp will make 10 changes at half-time, introducing the likes of Nathaniel Clyne, Jon Flanagan, Joe Gomez, Ragnar Klavan and Ben Woodburn for the second period.

Liverpool team in second half:

Karius

Clyne Gomez Klavan Flanagan

Stewart
Chirivella Woodburn

Markovic Solanke Kent

Kamil Grabara and Connor Randall are available as additional substitutes.

Dejan Lovren, Alberto Moreno and Divock Origi are not involved due to minor muscle strains.

[NI KI]

Jürgen Klopp has revealed Sadio Mane took another step towards full fitness by running with his teammates on Tuesday – but confirmed the forward will remain at Melwood when Liverpool depart for Hong Kong this weekend.

The Senegal international is continuing his rehabilitation programme from the knee injury that ended his 2016-17 season prematurely back in April and subsequently required surgery.

The Reds said last week Mane is expected to resume full training in the near future, and he reached the latest milestone in that recovery schedule by joining the rest of the players in a cardiovascular exercise yesterday.

However, Klopp explained Mane will not be part of the squad that jets out for the Premier League Asia Trophy on Sunday and will instead remain on Merseyside to continue to work on his fitness.

The boss told Liverpoolfc.com: “He is really, really good. He is close; he is closing on coming back to team training.

“In this moment, we think it will be when we are in Asia, so then it makes no sense to take him to Asia because he needs to then do the first steps in kind of team training. We will see how we can do it; maybe [some of] the U23s will be here, so when he can start this [training] then we can use this opportunity, but we have to wait.

“On Tuesday morning he was part of the running, so he is first-team training if you want and that looked really good. I think he is getting better, but it is how it is after a long time – you need to build a little bit of muscle again in the quad and thigh, which is important.

“There is no risk with him because he is a naturally fit boy and in the moment when he can start to be a real part of the sessions, he will then immediately be fit again. We have not all the time in the world, but we have time and we will use it.”

[NI KI]

Liverpool's potential Champions League opponents could change – depending on a court hearing today.

The Courts of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday heard a case that could alter the champions of last season's Romanian league.

Viitorul Constanta won the title from Steaua Bucharest after the two teams finished level on points in the final championship round, which was played between the top six teams from the regular season.

However, despite Steaua having a better goal difference, the rules dictated Viitorul won the league on the basis of having a better head-to-head record in their two matches in the championship round.

Steaua, however, believe the two meetings from the regular season – which they won – should also be included, which would make them champions.

At present, as runners-up Steaua are in the third qualifying round of the Champions League in the 'League route', and as such could be drawn against Liverpool in the play-off round should they progress.

However, if they are successful in their appeal to CAS, it would be Viitorul – managed by Romania football legend Gheorghe Hagi – who would become the Reds' possible opponents.

It is expected CAS will reveal the outcome to the relevant parties on Thursday.

[NI KI]

Liverpool are hopeful that Mohamed Salah will be given the green light to make his debut in Friday night's friendly against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.

The club's £37million record signing is currently in Paris as he waits for his work visa.

Under immigration rules, Salah had to leave the UK for 24 hours and then re-enter the country.

As a result he isn't eligible to take his bow against Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park tonight.

However, as long as the paperwork comes through as expected then Salah will be available to line up against Paul Cook's Wigan on Friday.

The Egypt international reported to Melwood last weekend to start pre-season training with Jurgen Klopp's squad.

Liverpool broke their transfer record to buy the former Chelsea winger from Serie A outfit Roma last month. The fee could rise to £44million with add-ons.