Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has said that he has no doubts about the quality of midfielder Naby Keita who cost the club £52mil to sign from Redbull Leipzig.
Klopp conceded that he was expecting a whole lot more from Keita in the future and admitted that the midfield dynamo had yet to match his best Bundesliga form on English soil.
The coach rejected the notion that Keita had been axed for poor form though suggesting he was left out because of positioning and system tweaks.
When asked, at a pre-match media briefing at Melwood, if there was a reson Keita had missed the last three games, Klopp said: No, that's how it sometimes is. With Naby, and I spoke to him, everything is fine and I am completely happy. Could he be a bit more confident in the games? Yes. Is he exactly the player [he was] in his best time at Leipzig? No, but he's still adapting, that's how it is. But everybody saw it how brilliant he played in the first part [of the season].
Tottenham was a fantastic game of him without thinking too much, and then we made a change I think around the PSG game and the boys have to deal with it. Then a little injury here, a little injury there and it was kind of a little setback.
But he is a fantastic player and I'm really happy to have him here. It's so good and I am really looking forward to our common future because see if you see it every day, wow, there is so much to come and so much influence he can have on each game, so that's all good. No, there was no reason [for him not playing recently], just because other boys were in good shape as well. It was a bit about positioning, a bit about system and all that stuff. That's how football decisions are. There is really, really no doubt about the boy, he is an outstanding player.
Liverpool lost their clash with Manchester City on Thursday throwing the Premier League race wide open again but with the club set to compete on multiple fronts in the second half of the season, Klopp will be tempted to ring the changes for the FA Cup tie with Wolves on Monday night.
The coach would not let slip whether Keita would turn out against Wolves, having already revealed that Simon Mignolet and Alberto Moreno were definite starters.
Klopp said when asked if Monday was a good opportunity for Keita to make his case: I can tell you it is a good opportunity for all the players. We can talk about all the players then Wolves know my complete line-up! I said already two [Simon Mignolet and Alberto Moreno], so you can make of it what you want. It's pretty clear if we make changes who will come in.
The German manager hinted that Adam Lallana may be close to returning from another injury lay-off but that the club were keen not to rush him back into service.
Klopp said: Adam is actually in outstanding shape I said it a few times maybe, but it's unbelievable in training. So we have to say it was close in the last game: Do we start him or not?' and stuff like this. It's really, really good and it's like always in life, if you learn from your experiences you cannot learn too much from being injured and stuff like that, but how is your mood?
Adam is a player who always wants to play. He would play four games a day if possible just from his desire to play football. He is really, I would say in the moment, in the best moment since I know him, just like as a person he is fantastic. He will have a big part of our season I am really sure and that's cool. But in training everything is good, when he came on everything was good so far, so now he is ready to take these little steps.
That was probably in the past not exactly the same, just not because he always accepts my decisions but it's what you make of it. If you are in or out or whatever, do you want to change something and do more?
My players, if I am in doubt about somebody then I speak immediately, if something is wrong I speak immediately. But for players when I am not in doubt they don't know it and think they have to do something differently, that was in the past when we didn't know each other good enough maybe a bit more difficult. But now, everything is fine. It's good to have him, he's an important part of the squad.
"He is really, I would say, at the moment in his best moment, his really best moment since I know him."
Jurgen Klopp says Adam Lallana is in outstanding shape and believes the midfielder is in his best moment at @LFC: https://t.co/vzYOt97KID pic.twitter.com/8enQzSOpr6
Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 7, 2019
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Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has said that he has no doubts about the quality of midfielder Naby Keita who cost the club £52mil to sign from Redbull Leipzig.
