Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool “got lucky” with the severity of Andy Robertson’s injury. And the Reds boss has not ruled out a return for the Scotland captain immediately after the international break in early September.
Jurgen Klopp said: “Timeframe? Not really, but I think we got lucky with that. It could have been much worse. You saw the footage and it didn’t look well but I think we got lucky. I am not sure [if he will return] before the international break or after, it is difficult in this situation, but [it won’t be] too long. But yes, we have Kostas Tsimikas at the back, which is nice as well.”
Klopp was speaking after the Reds ended their pre-season schedule with a 3-1 win over Osasuna at Anfield. Roberto Firmino scored twice to add to Takumi Minamino’s opener as Liverpool signed off in style from a busy pre-season that has taken them from two venues in Austria to Evian-les-Bains and back to Merseyside.
Jurgen Klopp added: “How Leighton Clarkson showed up when he came on! He is not the tallest, but he has a big heart and played super football, so when he plays as a No.6 he can win challenges. He may not get up in the air, but he can play along the ground. I really liked it tonight. It was really good and how it should be. The last line defended well together, and the goals we scored were outstanding. We could have scored earlier, it was a super pass from Ibou (Ibrahima Konate) to Taki (Minamino) which he couldn’t finish off but then the next one he finished off. The second half was harder. I asked the boys to control it more, mix the rhythm and obviously it wasn’t too easy to do. They tried and with all the changes, it got to rhythm, but it was good. Kostas showed up in pre-season and was good tonight and on top of that was needed anyway. So having a long pre-season together obviously helps and we can spend time on the training ground and we can work out some good ideas and I saw that tonight.”
