#PremierLeagueStories – #JurgenKlopp explains his team selection strategy ahead of the international break #LFC
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Jurgen Klopp Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp has explained that the upcoming international break will have “no influence” on his plan for Aston Villa. Liverpool travel to Villa Park on Sunday for a match in which they will look to maintain their perfect Premier League start and continue defending the top flight crown with all their might. Domestic football takes a two week break upon the conclusion of the Reds’ game against Dean Smith’s side and Klopp was asked whether he can afford to allow his players to go full throttle for 90 minutes with no consequences, leaving them on the pitch for longer since they won’t be playing for Liverpool until the Merseyside derby with Everton on Saturday, October 17.
Jurgen Klopp said “I don’t plan subs before the game. We react normally to the situation of the game. It has no influence (the international break). If we were all to have a holiday afterwards, then it would be slightly different but the boys don’t have, they go I think four days later, they have to play pretty much all over the world. And in between they have quite interesting trips. 30 hours on a flight from one point to another and then to another. No, I make the decisions that suit the needs in the game. I know what you mean with Virgil being the centre of the defence and I am happy nothing happened, but the situation was that we don’t make the fixtures. We get the fixtures and we play them. Sometimes we have the choice of six or seven players for two positions and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes there are no perfect solutions. For the Arsenal game we thought that was the best solution. Most of the boys want to play each game. Virgil had no problem. The specific situation gave us a need to have all our big guns, as it were. Can you imagine my image with ignoring cups if I would have played two kids in the last line? This press conference would have been completely different but it was just the need for 45 mins or 60 mins last night. The actual plan was 45 minutes and that was no problem. It is if it gets to say 80 minutes and that is when it gets really intense, until then it is not a problem at all. So we made the decision and that is how it is, but with Joel injured and Fabinho wasn’t really planned to play. What Rhys Williams did last night looked really good. Billy could have played as well but he was slightly injured.”
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