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Conventional wisdom says Liverpool need to make a couple of signings in this window just to keep running. However, Jurgen Klopp believes that he may be ahead of the game having made one of these recruits in January.
Takumi Minamino’s introduction to Anfield has been largely unannounced since his £ 7.25 million trade.
His arrival from RB Salzburg came a few months before the lockdown and a handful of less-than-impressive starts have hardly been buttressed by any kind of shock when he came off the bench.
It was Liverpool and David Fairclough who invented the concept of the supersub, but Saturday’s Community Shield not only scored Minamino’s first goal for the club, it was also the first time since their debut that Liverpool’s result improved at all afterwards. of your presentation.
At Wembley, however, he brought much-needed energy to the occasion and proved that he could still be the answer to concerns about where Liverpool turn to on the rare occasions when their world-shaking three forwards are not shooting. correctly.
“Make an impact? Yes, that’s why we signed him, ”Klopp said after the penalty shootout loss to Arsenal, in which Minamino nullified Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s effort to take the game to the points, where he scored again from 12 yards .
“It came in during the most difficult period of our lives, I would say.
“He has had to adapt to different things being alone in England in the running. That is something that is not pleasant.
“But he did very well, as he is a super professional, so I am very happy that he was able to score and that is another big step for him.”
The Japanese international is clearly already a popular figure in the Liverpool dressing room.
“I think Taki has been very good,” Virgil van Dijk said.
“After the lockout, he was the Taki we all saw when we played him in Salzburg.
“He is very, very energetic and he is a fantastic player. It’s good for him to come out of his shell and also for us. “
However, with the intensity of the focus on the Japanese Premier League, Klopp is determined not to let Minamino ruin himself in the spotlight.
“I don’t want to put, after one or two really good performances in the preseason, a huge pressure on him. There is absolutely no need for it.
“We have a good team and it is difficult to get into the team anyway, but he can be a real player for us, that was always clear.
“He is a player that is really useful to us, let me put it that way. It wasn’t just today’s goal. He’s in the middle, he’s really good in small spaces, his first touch is exceptional, then his decision making between the lines is really quick.
“He entered the most difficult period of all of our lives, I would say, and had to adjust to different things, being alone in England in the confinement and all that.
“That’s not pleasant at all. But he handled it very well because he is a super professional.
“So I’m very happy for him that he was able to score the goal today and that’s another big step for him.”
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