Jurgen Klopp reflects on 'tricky' Liverpool win and 'brilliant' opportunity for Naby Keita

Keita made his first appearance since sustaining a hamstring injury
REUTERS
David Lynch11 November 2018

Jurgen Klopp expects Naby Keita to benefit should he get minutes under his belt with Guinea during the upcoming international break.

However, the Liverpool boss has suggested that Joe Gomez could be withdrawn from the England squad as he manages a long-standing Achilles issue.

Keita made his first appearance since sustaining a hamstring injury when last representing his national team as the Reds earned a 2-0 win over Fulham on Sunday.

And Klopp is pleased his No.8 will be able to build on that brief outing as a substitute when he heads out for a Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ivory Coast.

In Pictures | Liverpool vs Fulham | 11/11/2018

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Klopp said: “If you ask me, I always want them to stay here but in this case, it is good for him. Guinea play one game against Ivory Coast I think and that will be tough for him, but good for him.

“He is fit, he is now four or five days in training and so now he will have another four or five days in training and then play a game. That’s brilliant for him. In this case I am happy.

“Most of the players only have one game, England and Brazil have two games and the latest games as well on Tuesday night.

“It is good that the Brazilians are at least in England so the travel stress will not be too much. It is like it is, we don’t have to think about it. If a player is fit and is called up then they go.”

Klopp expressed similar sentiment over Jordan Henderson, who is also on his way back from a hamstring issue picked up late last month.

AFP/Getty Images

But the German suggested he could consider pulling Gomez out of the Three Lions squad as a result of his recent workload.

He added: “Joe had all the games. With Joe we are not sure, we are in talks about that.

“Hendo is 100 per cent fit, he needs games as well and that’s cool.

“I cannot make the decisions for the managers of the different countries, so if they call them up then they go there.”

Reflecting on his team’s final outing before the third international break of the season, Klopp was largely pleased with the performance he had witnessed.

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri sealed another three points for the Reds, but the boss acknowledged that Fulham made life far from easy for the hosts.

REUTERS

He said: “In a few moments it was tougher, in a few moments it was not tough. That’s how it is.

“When we saw the line-up we were obviously a bit surprised - how could we prepare for that line-up?

“It was the first time in the season I think that they played like this, with four or five centre-halves. It was clear then what would be their approach.

“So far, Fulham have always had a football-playing idea and today you saw it – after winning the second ball they were on their toes, they played football but with a lot of long build-up, a lot of long situations and Mitrovic did outstandingly well in these situations.

AFP/Getty Images

“So that was a bit tricky but apart from that I thought the boys did really well from the beginning. We created, we passed, we accelerated in the right moments.

“We had big chances early with Sadio, Shaq, Mo in the box where they blocked it in the last second, where the goalie could make a save.

“I don’t know how exactly many chances there were today, it’s not too important.

Action Images via Reuters

"We scored twice, maybe it’s a bit strange that one was after a quick restart and one after a set-piece, the second ball phase, but that’s very important as well that you have these situations and you can use it. So I’m completely happy.”

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