Klopp ‘excited’ to unleash fearsome attacking quartet

Joe Williams

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has no qualms about unleashing his fearsome attacking quartet now all are at his disposal.

With Sadio Mane free from domestic suspension and Philippe Coutinho match fit after a back injury forced him to miss the start of the season the Reds boss can now combine them with six-goal Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino in a fearsome front four from the off.

The difficulty he may have is fitting them all in as Coutinho has mainly operated wide on the left, which is now Mane’s domain with Salah on the other flank, but the Brazil international can also operate from a slightly deeper role.

That would leave midfield a little light in terms of work-rate perhaps and Klopp admits he has to work out whether he can knit them altogether.

“Now I am excited. We have all of the boys here. We trained this morning, only a little bit, and hopefully we can train tomorrow,” he said on his arrival in Russia for the Champions League Group E clash with Spartak Moscow.

“It is good to have them all, it is cool. It feels good, but that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t believe in names. I believe in performances.

“They all have to fit together and that is what we have to try. It should be possible of course.

“The balance has to be right. We are an offensive-orientated team, but this is about Champions League football. We need results.

“In the right moments, you need to be able to do the right things. It is not about being spectacular, it is about being good, and being clinical and having perfect timing and perfect protection.

“We cannot just bring all the artists, but if it fits together we will do it.”

All four started in the 3-0 pre-season Audi Cup victory over Bayern Munich – with Mane and Salah both on the scoresheet – and that showed a glimpse of what could be in store for defences over the next few months.

They briefly featured for seven minutes together in their opening group match with Sevilla but this will be the first time since then he has had all at his disposal from the start.

“That was quite a good game, but it was too long ago. There have been other good games meanwhile,” he added.

“The Bayern game was only one game and until you told me I didn’t know that was the only game they had played together from that start and I didn’t think about it. It is eight weeks ago.”

Klopp arrived in Russia looking forward to his first visit to Moscow but his first evening in the capital left him agitated and frustrated.

The Reds boss labelled his pre-match press conference at a hotel five minutes’ drive from where the team landed at Sheremetyevo Airport a “waste of time” and cut short his appearance after a bizarre line of questioning.

His mood was not helped by the constant clicking of photographers’ cameras and the Russian translator who then began translating his questions before he had finished them.