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Jurgen Klopp has opened up about how his team selection is influenced by discussions with Liverpool’s medical staff.
Jordan Henderson was only deemed fit enough to play 45 minutes into Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over Ajax when the Reds began their Champions League campaign with a positive start in Amsterdam.
Klopp suggested after the game that information from the physical therapists restricted him to what he could do at the John Cruyff Arena, saying: “The medical department practically did the lineup.”
And the Reds boss has detailed how and why decisions are made about players who are not necessarily classified as injured and unavailable, while continuing to negotiate a packed schedule with up to six potentially senior players on the shelf.
“Professional football, at the level that we play, is a bit like Formula 1 compared to driving a normal car,” Klopp said.
“So all the problems guys have during the week, none of you would even mention because they don’t sprint in the next moment or 50 in the next 90 minutes.
“For us, this is constantly where we have to judge what is normal in those moments and what the boys feel with their muscles, what is too much where we have to be careful [and can’t] ignore it and all this kind of stuff.
“It is really challenging and we have had a lot of discussions with that department.
“Sports science compared to when I started or in the late 90s, no one knew much about recovery and how long we needed. It just fit into it.
“And now with the number of games we play with the schedule, I said it before the Everton game, it is a huge challenge for us to play on Wednesday night.
“When we play at 12.30 pm on a Saturday and the difference between that and 8 pm on Saturday as we do now (against Sheffield United) is huge, it’s huge these few hours, because the body needs a lot specific time to recover.
“Nobody can do that faster or increase that. We can do it, obviously, with some things, but you can’t do it in 20 hours.
“We always have these problems in the Christmas period when no one is interested in listening to us when we play on Boxing Day and then two days later.
“It is challenging and we deal with human beings. We ask a lot but we cannot do miracles, it is simply not possible.
“So they have to play again and no one cares the last time they played. That is the situation and the medical department and the coaches are very often in conversations about it and it is difficult to judge.”
Liverpool host Sheffield United at Anfield on Saturday night with questions about the fitness of Joel Matip, Naby Keita and Alisson Becker.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kostas Tsimikas and long-term absentee Virgil van Dijk are also ruled out for Chris Wilder’s Blades game.
Klopp believes that the condensed nature of the soccer calendar will only see managers having to operate without their best XI for much of the season.
“Most of the time, I would say, we are right and we find the right solutions,” Klopp added. “Sometimes we have no idea what will happen and we pray for the perfect result.
“That’s what makes it so difficult, but for the team involved in international football, it’s the same. We play against teams like last Saturday and it makes a big difference.”
“This year, with the triple headers and international breaks, it’s really new like never before.
“We have discussions with the medical department and of course we take their advice, but when they come to me and say ‘this player can’t play’, I can’t say ‘yes, he can.’
“I have to wait until the last minute to make my final decisions. So I’m used to that and I try to find the best solutions.
“We have a lot of discussions with the medical department and we do what makes sense.”
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