Klopp makes Salah and Messi comparison as Alisson identifies new playmaker

Klopp makes Salah and Messi comparison as Alisson identifies new playmaker

Liverpool Echo Sports·2021-09-15 18:00

Jürgen Klopp and Alisson Becker both addressed the media on Tuesday afternoon ahead of Liverpool's first Champions League group game, with Italian Serie A side AC Milan coming to Merseyside.These are the key sections Liverpool.com picked out from the open section of the press conference as Klopp and his Brazilian goalkeeper were asked about a variety of topics ahead of the clash.Alisson Becker's responses are also below.Klopp on Harvey Elliott's injury..."I spoke to him the night after the game. He was in the best possible place. He accepted it and he will be out for a while. Today he is in London and will probably have the surgery and that is the next step on the way back."Klopp could not offer much more of an update than this, with Liverpool, like everyone else, still hoping for the best. More news and possibly a timescale too can be expected in the coming weeks.On AC Milan coming to Anfield..."2005 I have more in my mind than 2007! Liverpool vs AC Milan is a must-watch. They are doing really well for two years and they started this season really good as well. It will be a very tough game for both sides. There are a few nice games in this first match of the Champions League and Liverpool vs AC Milan is for sure one of them.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated Articles"It will be difficult [to progress]. When we saw the draw, it was a tough group. Atletico, Porto, AC Milan. Top teams. That is proper Champions League and we worked hard to be a part of that. It is all about getting enough points to get through and we should start with that tomorrow night. We spoke a lot about European nights at Anfield and I can't wait to experience that."Liverpool are under no illusions about the scale of their task in this season's group, but they should be able to progress. AC Milan will be a tough test, but are beatable and come to Anfield first, which offers a good chance to get off to a good start. FC Porto are a team the Reds have had joy against in the past, while Atletico Madrid, at least, are a team you would rather face in the group stages than the knock-outs.On Zlatan Ibrahimovi..."What a player. I saw a few videos of him when he got injured and then on the spinning bike and getting back. He is back now after a long time and scored immediately. Olivier Giroud, Ante Rebid all good players. Ibrahimovi squeezes everything from his body and he is capable of playing in each league in the world. Absolutely exceptional."Ibrahimovi is not well-liked by everyone, but Klopp is clearly a fan. The Swede's goalscoring record is excellent and Liverpool will have been preparing to face him, though he has now been ruled out of the game through injury.On Emma Raducanu winning the US Open..."It was absolutely impressive. It was long ago that I watched a tennis game and women's tennis is in a brilliant moment. What these two girls showed was absolutely impressive. When they got the trophies as well, when they spoke in the trophy ceremony, that was inspiring. I was overwhelmed by how they presented themselves.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated Articles"It was a great show of sportsmanship and elite sport. It was really nice and that is what you can take. When you are 18 and win the US Open, there is a lot of hard work. Without the hardest work, it is not possible to be there in that moment."Quite simply the best sports story of the year, Emma Raducanu was exceptional on Saturday night. Liverpool have plenty of their own young superstars in the making, of course, but it's hard not to be inspired by what Raducanu achieved.On Mohamed Salah's future..."I never spoke to him about how long he wants to play but physically he is similar to Lionel Messi similar height and weight. These guys need to be lucky with injuries but Mo has all the things and he loves football and wants to be part of the game as long as possible. It is about attitude and some players finished their career because they were not motivated, but I think Mo wants to squeeze each day out of his career."Salah could easily stay at his current level for the next four years or more, and even when he tails off a little physically, like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, he can adapt and tailor his game to match that. The Egyptian clearly has the desire to continue long into his 30s and that only makes tying him to a new contract even more important.-----Alisson Becker was up next...Alisson on Liverpool's start to the season..."We are having good performances so far and having good consistency, which is important for a team to fight for a title. But this season will be the hardest. We need to be focused on ourselves and not look to the others. If you do that, you lose the focus. I really believe we can fight for the title again."Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated ArticlesThere is no reason that Liverpool cannot compete on both Premier League and Champions League fronts this season, and it is good to see that Alisson is not shying away from that. The Reds might have been flying under the radar so far with many pundits and observers, but their quality and mentality is clear. Going unnoticed for a while is not a bad thing though if they continue playing as well as they have been, that won't last too long.On his goal against West Brom..."It was good, yeah? Everyone had a good feeling even who is not a Liverpool supporter and I made a lot of people happy. It was a really important goal for the team. I'm really sure that what helped more was the team, not just that goal, to achieve the victory and three points. What we did in a season that was really difficult [was a really big achievement]."Alisson's goal will go down in history, and even more so if Liverpool can go close to winning the Champions League this season. He was modestly speaking about the goal which was a perfectly-placed header but his role in last season's top-four finish was enormous.On having Virgil van Dijk back..."It is really good to have Van Dijk and Joël Matip back in the team. And Joe Gomez, they give you a feeling of safety and a feeling of consistency. To win titles, you need a team that is consistent defensively. Joël showed in the last match as well that he is a playmaker!"Having proper central defenders in front of him can clearly only be a good thing for Alisson and Liverpool. More interesting, though, was his comments on Matip, whose mazy dribbling and perfect decision-making in the final third at Leeds was excellent to see. The goal was scored by Salah and laid on by Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Matip was the real instigator.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated Articles

……

Read full article on Liverpool Echo Sports

Sports Football