Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold begrudgingly accepted Jurgen Klopp’s decision to bench them for Tuesday’s draw with Chelsea.
The pair were unusually left out by Klopp, along with left-back Andy Robertson. But according to The Athletic, all three Reds player took the manager’s decision ‘on the chin.’
The trio are said to ‘hate’ not being picked, but reportedly did not challenge Klopp’s call. Justifying Jurgen’s his choices, it’s claimed that the boss felt an ‘injection of energy’ was needed at Stamford Bridge. Cody Gakpo was another left out with that in mind, but it’s suggested that the Dutchman was merely being rested.
Klopp hands Reds stars food for thought
Of this jilted threesome, Salah is perhaps the only one who could have any kind of legitimate argument that he should have been picked.
With so many poor performances on show at the Etihad last week, Mo tried his very best. The Egyptian has certainly been one of Liverpool’s better players over recent months.
Still, it’s unwise for him to feature quite so relentlessly. We’ve seen what can happen when Mo is run into the ground. Supreme athlete though he is, he’s struggled badly with burnout over the past 18 months or so.
With Arsenal coming to Anfield on Sunday, Klopp will need his talisman at his freshest. It made sense to give him part of the night off here.
For Robertson and Trent in particular though, their omission from the line-up should be seen as very much form related.
After something of renaissance during parts of March, Alexander-Arnold has been pretty dreadful in recent games. For all his lack of technical ability, you could see the difference that Joe Gomez can make in terms of defensive solidity. Gabriel Martinelli is due at Anfield this weekend and Gomez has surely put himself in the frame to start against the Brazilian.
Robertson meanwhile hasn’t suffered quite to the extent that his full-back partner has. But nevertheless, his levels have dropped too.
Although Kostas Tsimikas wasn’t brilliant on Tuesday, he still helped the Reds to an overdue clean sheet. He probably didn’t do enough to keep Robbo out of the team for Sunday, but hopefully it’ll be enough to give the Scotland captain the little push he sometimes needs. Use it to come back stronger this weekend, lads!
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