After last summer’s overhaul, few expected Jurgen Klopp to still have all of his midfield options available at the same time. New Liverpool signings Alexis McAllister, Dominic Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo have all played key roles in the first half of the season, while Ryan Gravenberch has shown his undeniable talent.
As Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott progress from youth to senior players, we’re still waiting to see how Klopp will make it all happen. Stefan Baicetic has struggled with fitness since injury, while Thiago Alcantara is ruled out for the season after undergoing hip surgery before last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal.
The Spanish midfielder had been back in training for nearly a week when he played at the Emirates at the last minute. It was a bright spark on a disappointing day for Klopp, but the positive vibes around Thiago lasted for days. Thiago picked up a muscle problem during his Arsenal cameo and will now spend more time on the sidelines, according to the Liverpool ECHO.
It is the latest in a string of injuries for the 32-year-old, who is out of contract at Anfield this summer. If he can, he will surely offer something that no other Liverpool player can. His passivity and technique are second to none and Klopp will want him to get more minutes against Burnley.
Those plans have now been thrown out the window.He joined Szoboszlai in the treatment room, who missed the Arsenal defeat with a hamstring problem he picked up last month. The Hungarian will not play this weekend and appears to be in real contention for the Carabao Cup final with Chelsea after traveling to his native country for further assessment.
However, despite the injury, Klopp’s selection of the midfielder against Burnley means Endo will have some decisions to make when he returns to action. The former Stuttgart man played every minute of Japan’s Asian Cup quarter-final defeat to Iran and is now back on Merseyside.Alexis McAllister has impressed in the number six role in his absence and has won praise from Klopp for his performances in recent weeks.
The Argentine started the season before Endo’s arrival and it seemed inevitable that he would soon move into a more advanced role. However, this was not always the case and after the win with Bournemouth, Klopp offered to stay in his place. “He’s not a regular top-six player at Brighton, but he’s an incredibly intelligent player,” said the Liverpool manager.
If you can form a compact formation, you will have a perfect 6. You can say what you want, but he’s a big no. 6 on the ball and better than any no. 6 that you can think of. And he’s very strong against the ball.”
