Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp held his usual pre-game press conference on Friday afternoon. He met with the media ahead of Liverpool's first Premier League match since September 3rd. The Reds face upstarts from the south coast, Brighton at 3 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
The boss started his press conference defending Trent Alexander-Arnold's place in the side. He was visibly agitated by the English journalist's question in regard to TAA being left out of the English national team's games.
Klopp said he believed that whatever happens with TAA in the England team is very different from what happens with him at Liverpool. Citing Alexander-Arnold's youth, “He's a young player, 23, and there is room for improvement… Whichever team I would coach in the moment I would sign him, definitely.”
Injury Update
One of the most valuable reasons to pay attention to these press conferences is to keep abreast of the Reds' injury situation. Klopp gave an extensive update on the fitness of his squad. He ruled out Andy Robertson, Naby Keïta, Curtis Jones, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The news was mostly positive, however. Even if those 4 players aren't available, Klopp said that Ibrahima Konaté could be available this weekend. “Ibou needs training as well. Back for the weekend? Depends on training today,” Klopp teased the French defender's potential return.
He also said that all the South American players who missed training yesterday were only held out for precautionary reasons. That stands to reason that Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota, and Darwin Núñez will all be available for tomorrow's match.
The boss summed it up by promising better days ahead in terms of his team's fitness, “In the moment, it looks like the situation is better. Even the four players I mentioned before are on the way back. Mid to end of October, the squad would be complete if nobody else is out.”
Praise for Brighton
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Klopp had some positive things to say about this weekend's opponent. He included an assessment of Brighton's new manager, Roberto de Zerbi. “He's a brave coach, very influential… His football idea suits Brighton.”
In that praise, he piggybacked his praise of the Seagulls by saying that this weekend's match is a great opportunity for the Reds. “In our situation, we have to focus 100 thousand percent on us. We have to be really spot on. We have to show consistency, we have to defend on a really high level…”
LFC Globe Verdict
Overall there is a lot of really good news at this press conference. Players are regaining fitness and there appear to be no problems with the many Liverpool players who were out on international duty.
It looks like the Reds are going to have a strong team tomorrow as their stalled Premier League campaign finally gets back underway. Keep it locked to LFC Globe for our preview and updates leading up to the 3 PM BST kick-off tomorrow.