Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp said that newly acquired winger Mohamed Salah was clueless in regards to how their side plays defense during the Reds 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic. It was the Liverpool debut for the man who broke the club record for most expensive transfer fee just last month.
Obviously, there’s going to be an adjustment period for Salah, who comes over from AS Roma, but that’s exactly what preseason is for. This is exactly what Klopp was talking about a couple weeks ago when he stressed the importance of the preseason friendly matches this summer.
“He had absolutely no idea how we defend usually, so he was not really involved in this and was like ‘oh my god.’ He was two days with us, then had to go to Paris to get the papers, then he came back and we thought ‘let’s play,’ But you could tell he is used to a completely different way of defending,” Klopp said.
“Of course, first situation, nice sprint and then the goal was maybe the most easiest thing in the game, but they played wonderful football,” the German continued.
Defense was certainly an issue for Liverpool last season, so this kind of narrative is probably the last thing supporters want to hear right now. However, they still have plenty of time to figure it out. Liverpool’s next friendly is Wednesday versus Crystal Palace. They open the regular season August 12th against Watford.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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