Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw in gameweek one of the Premier League by Fulham but perhaps even a bigger cause of concern for the manager will be the injury to Thiago.
The midfielder limped off the pitch in the 51st minute and he joins the likes of Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Oxlade-Chamberlain on the treatment table.
With so many midfielders out injured many pundits have suggested that the Liverpool boss needs to sign one or two midfielders before the end of the window but Jurgen Klopp is very clear with his thoughts.
“I know what will now come up, it’s clear. We said we don’t need a midfielder because we have enough – and we actually have enough, but the problem now is we get punished for something that is not our responsibility really because things like this can happen,” Klopp said(h/t Fotmob).
“Nobody could imagine that Curtis gets the thing he gets; it is nothing serious but he is a young boy and it is a kind of stress reaction. Bodies are like this.
“Naby is only ill and he will now be back definitely next week again. Oxlade happened early and now with Thiago that is, of course, not good and we will see.
Thiago subs off with an injury in Liverpool’s league opener pic.twitter.com/vj7TjokU55
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“We have midfielders, we have still enough midfielders. It is not that we lack midfielders, but it’s just some of them are injured. This is not a good situation, I don’t like it at all, but we have to see how we react on that – but for sure not panicking.”
Is the injury to Thiago a major headache for Jurgen Klopp?
Firstly, Klopp is right not to panic just yet because we still don’t know the extent of the midfielder’s injury. Maybe Thiago will be up and running in a week or two and if that is the case then the manager has no reason to worry.
Also, Naby Keita is likely to come back into action this week so he can slot straight into midfield, in place of Thiago. Keita did a very good job last season and Klopp has full faith in him.
Also, James Milner did wonderfully well as the replacement for Thiago and the experienced pro has what it takes to be an impact sub.
This, in no sense, is a crisis situation so there’s absolutely no need for the manager to many any sort of panic buys right now. Barring the Man United game, Liverpool’s every other match in the next one month is very much winnable and by that time, most of the midfielders will be back to full fitness.
