Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits it is a ‘tough blow’ to play without Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah after Arsenal draw
As per the club’s official website, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted that he misses star forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in his line-up, with the duo on national duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Reds boss was addressing reporters in his post-match conference after his side were held to a goalless draw at Anfield against 10-man Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.
When asked if it was a ‘tough blow’ to potentially be without Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah for the whole of January, Klopp said that any team would miss the duo, but his team could not have been better prepared for the situation.
“Of course we miss them. We have known that already for years that it could happen. So, could we have been better prepared for it? I don’t think so because all the things we did in the past were because we had the team we had, so that’s the situation.”
The Merseyside club started a front three of Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, and Takumi Minamino in the absence of the African stars, but Klopp’s attacking trident failed to find a way past 10-man Arsenal, after Granit Xhaka was sent off in the first half for a high-boot tackle on Jota.
Klopp losing the plot?
However, the German refused to attribute Salah and Mane’s absence from the squad to his side’s inability to score against Arsenal, claiming that the North London side put in a very passionate performance which made the Reds’ job harder.
Klopp was not amused when pressed about the constant questions about the impact of losing his African forwards, claiming it had nothing to do with the game and that such questions only made fans worry about the situation.
“What I don’t like too much is when journalists ask me questions about what our fans worry about, I don’t understand it. Are you that close with our supporters that you can ask these questions [and] worry about contract situations and stuff like this? That has nothing to do with the game tonight, absolutely nothing.”
It is no secret that as a side, we have been overly reliant on Salah and Mane for coming up with goals over the past few seasons, and that impact was felt against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup tie.
However, this was a situation that we saw coming beforehand, and the best thing to do is to adapt to the situation and find other solutions. It would be rude to dismiss the abilities of our other forwards and criticise them, as they are all fine players who have contributed to our club’s success.
But we had the whole of summer to bring in an attacker to increase our depth for these very moments. Instead, we let Xherdan Shaqiri, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Harry Wilson leave without bringing anyone in.
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Nevertheless, with a second leg against Arsenal to be played soon, we can hope that our players can shake off this draw and turn up against the Gunners in our next clash. There is silverware to be won early in the season with the Carabao Cup, and our attackers would be looking to silence the critics after their outing last night.
