Jurgen Klopp revealed some heartbreaking news for Diogo Jota, the latest on his potential touchline ban and an extensive Liverpool injury update in his pre-West Ham press conference on Tuesday.
Here are five key points from Jurgen ahead of a midweek clash with David Moyes’ side:
Jota out for “months” – will miss World Cup
It’s the news everyone feared when Jota was stretchered off in injury time against City.
Klopp has confirmed the Portugal forward will miss the World Cup after sustaining a calf injury that will keep him out for “months.”
He was reluctant to place a timescale on his return.
“Really not good news for Diogo. Yes, he will miss the World Cup. A pretty serious injury in the calf muscle, and now the recovery process starts,” Klopp told reporters.
“That’s the first diagnosis which was pretty clear and all the rest will follow in the next few days. Very sad news for the boy, for us and for Portugal.
“We talk about months. We will see, I don’t want to put a number on it because I always hope that in the middle of the rehab there’s a very positive development and we can cut days off. It will be long.”
No touchline ban… yet?
As things stand, Klopp is expecting to take his place in the dugout as normal on Wednesday night.
It’s still possible he will be charged and face a ban of some description in the coming days or weeks, but as of yet, the boss says there’s been nothing through from the FA.
He also revealed how he spoke “calmly” to Anthony Taylor in the aftermath of Sunday’s clash with City.
“I think I will be there tomorrow because nothing really happened yet,” said the boss.
“I don’t think something will happen tomorrow, to be honest, a few hours before the game.
“I’m not happy with my reaction but that’s the way it was. I was sitting after the game in Anthony Taylor’s office and spoke completely calmly about all the situations, how he saw the game and how I saw the game. It was a completely calm discussion.”
“I don’t think anybody wants to be best friends with us!”
As you’d expect, Klopp’s comments before the City game on their financial backing were blown completely out of proportion.
A lot of the fallout from Sunday’s victory has centred around the relationship between the two clubs, amid some claims from City’s side that the Liverpool boss overstepped the mark with his comments.
In this press conference, Klopp acknowledged how the good things he said about City and Pep Guardiola “obviously didn’t arrive.”
“I’m not sure we have to be best friends with other clubs, to be honest, I don’t think anybody wants to be best friends with us,” he said.
“It started here with a question and an answer and then all the rest was made of it.
“I know what I thought when I said it and I thought I put it all in perspective and said how much I respect everything that they are doing, but it was still not right for some.”
Nunez is “a machine”
If there are any worries about Darwin Nunez‘s start to life at Anfield, they certainly don’t seem to be shared by Klopp.
The boss believes Nunez has now “really arrived” at the club and sounds certain that the Uruguayan will go on to prove his worth with the Reds.
“I like his impact. He’s a machine. Physically extremely strong, and he gets there and training gets better every day.
“You can really see how he settles. He’s in the team now mind wise 100 percent, he’s really arrived completely, but of course he wants to score and set up more goals.
“That all will happen but it always took time.”
Extensive injury update
Aside from the bad news on Jota, most of the other injury news the boss provided us with was positive.
Ibrahima Konate could be back in training this weekend, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Calvin Ramsay are no longer injured, but need time to improve their fitness.
Curtis Jones “could be a step closer now but didn’t train yesterday so maybe half a step!”
Oxlade-Chamberlain “is getting closer. Yesterday he was in full team training but that needs time.”
Keita “was now in parts of team training.”
Joel Matip is “still a little bit away.”
Ramsay “is ready to play for the under-21s at the weekend.”
