Jurgen Klopp appeared to aim a little dig at Liverpool’s medical staff after being left frustrated that he can’t call upon Naby Keita or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the Champions League group stages.
Liverpool have travelled to Amsterdam to play Ajax on Wednesday night, knowing a draw will be enough to secure their passage to the last-16. Klopp has been handed a double injury boost, with Ibrahima Konate and Darwin Nunez back fit.
But he still has problems in other areas, with Thiago Alcantara unavailable because he is still recovering from the ear infection that ruled him out of the 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Thiago’s absence is amplified by the fact that Klopp will not be able to call on fellow midfielders Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Keita returned to training last week after a long time on the sidelines with a thigh injury, while Oxlade-Chamberlain featured for the first time this season against Forest following a serious hamstring problem. But neither will play in the Group A clash against Ajax because they were not named in Liverpool’s 24-man squad for the Champions League group stages.
Klopp submitted his squad back on September 4, and with both out injured, he chose to pick loan signing Arthur Melo and youngster Stefan Bajcetic instead. That decision has now backfired, with Arthur injured and Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain fit. Although he emphasised that he is loath to rush the midfielders back, Klopp also sounded irritated with the situation in his pre-match press conference.
“Naby and Ox, they need to train,” Klopp told reporters. “They both aren’t in the Champions League squad anyway because everybody told me they would be out for longer, which is good – not back to play but back to be around and play a few minutes.”
Speaking last month, Klopp explained the call in more detail. “The expected return date was somewhere in October and that is why we had to make the decision,” he said when asked about Keita.
“Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the same. That is why the two boys were not in the squad because the expected return date, which always can differ a little bit, is why we had to make the decision now or last week and that is why we made the decision."
Liverpool have been plagued by injuries this season and while they can’t play against Ajax on Wednesday, or in their final group game against Napoli on November 1, the returns of Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain are important boosts for Klopp.
“There are a lot of football games to play and I can't wait to have him back properly,” he said about Oxlade-Chamberlain before the Forest game. "[He'll be back] Before [the World Cup]. It's not a pre-season like five or six weeks. What we can do in rehab with these tough muscle injuries, they do everything apart from team training. You cannot replace team training.”
