The Times - UK (2022-05-27)

the times | Friday May 27 2022 67

Sport

hat-trick in the 5-0 demolition of Manchester
United at Old Trafford, Lijnders remarked that
the attacking triumvirate looked “like raptors in
Jurassic Park. They go for it, they are lethal”.
If Salah’s productivity has dipped in the
second half of the season, then the fallout from
his experiences with Egypt in the Africa Cup of
Nations (Afcon) final, and the World Cup play-
off, perhaps act as mitigation. Egypt lost both
matches on penalties to Senegal. Salah missed a
penalty in the World Cup play-off and on both
occasions Mané struck the winning spot kick.
There were obvious sensitivities to handle
regarding the outcome of those matches, but it
says much about the mood at Liverpool that
there has been no disruption.
Mané’s performances in the second half of the
season have been central to everything
Liverpool have achieved and are still striving for.
He is a contender for the Ballon d’Or having
combined versatility with a ruthless streak.
He has scored 13 goals since returning from
the Afcon to take his club tally for the season to

23. Having started his Liverpool career on the
    right, he had settled on the left but is, more
    often than not, now deployed through the

middle after the signing of Luis Díaz from Porto

in January.

a mid-season masterstroke

Liverpool were already tracking Díaz and had

the chance to study him close up against Porto

in their Champions League group. The

Portuguese lost 5-1 in the Estádio do Dragão

and 2-0 at Anfield, with the Colombian starting

both games. His signing has proved another

masterstroke and bodes well for the future, both

on and off the pitch. The deal was led by Julian

Ward, the assistant sporting director, who will

replace Michael Edwards as sporting director at

the end of the season.

Klopp pushed for Díaz but the plan was to

sign him in the summer. When Tottenham

negotiated a £37.5 million deal, with £12.5 million

in add-ons, the threat of missing out on the

player meant Liverpool acted swiftly and

decisively, with Mike Gordon, president of club

owner Fenway Sports Group, pivotal.

Potency had hardly been an issue but the

transfer gave everyone a lift. Díaz has been “a

smiling ball of energy” from the moment he

arrived at the club’s training facility in Kirkby.

He is low maintenance, likely to sit alongside

the Brazilians, including the goalkeeping coach,

Cláudio Taffarel, and the Spaniards, Thiago

Alcântara and Adrián, in the club canteen.

Klopp already had four centre forwards he had

to fit into three places and now there are five,

but if Díaz doesn’t start his demeanour doesn’t

change. Konaté is the same.

Liverpool’s productivity has also benefited

from the work done in pre-season by the

German company, Neuro11, who targeted

improving set pieces. By using headsets with

electrodes that measure the electrical activity of

the brain, Neuro11 can identify whether a player

is in the zone. This means a sportsperson

running on automatic rather than having to

think about what they are attempting to do.

Liverpool have scored 18 goals from set pieces

in the Premier League and eight in the

Champions League, while the Carabao Cup and

FA Cup final victories came by virtue of

penalties, which Neuro11 also helped with.

re-energising bodies and minds

There have been 20 different goalscorers — 21

including own goals — and 37 different players

used across a season of what will be 63 games.

“Whatever happened this year, happened

because of this group,” Klopp said.

In August, he promised to rotate and has been

true to his word. There is clearly a pecking order

but the mentality that has been infused through

the squad underpins everything. That was

shown in both domestic cup competitions, with

a mix of youth, experience and quality allowing

Liverpool to tick off the games in a way that had

previously been beyond them.

Takumi Minamino epitomises that humility.

The Japan international was the top scorer in

both domestic cups, did not play in either final

and then scored the equalising goal against

Southampton on the night Klopp rolled out the

“Ferraris” he usually must keep in the garage.

They went on to win 2-1 at St Mary’s to take the

title race to the final game.

Klopp has rotated more than ever because of

the options he has and also the unrelenting

schedule that led to Liverpool bringing back the

physio Christopher Rohrbeck, who had left in

2020, for the final fortnight of the campaign.

Their dedication is clear. Jordan Henderson,

the captain from whom everyone takes their

lead, undertook a recovery session at 3am in a

swimming pool at the training ground

immediately after arriving back from the pivotal

2-0 win over Arsenal in March.

Elsewhere, Salah spoke to Henderson about

bringing training forward to help with

Ramadan, the period when Muslims fast during

the hours of daylight. The other players were

also keen on the idea as it was felt that switching

to more morning sessions would benefit the

team in general for energy levels and have a

positive effect on their personal lives.

Previously, Liverpool might have had four or

five training sessions starting at 4pm and one or

two starting at 12. That was flipped around.

Towards the end of the season 4pm starts were

limited to the day before games.

It feels like the schedule is catching up with

Liverpool. In the past three weeks, there have

been injuries to Salah, Van Dijk, Fabinho,

Thiago, Gomez and Divock Origi of differing

degrees of severity and fitness is again shaping

their ambitions. But of all the bodies — and

minds — that have been re-energised, Klopp’s

has been the most important. Last season had

taken its toll because of the injuries, while his

mother, Elisabeth, also died and a travel ban

meant he was unable to attend her funeral. He

admitted to feeling “caged” and “drained” and

put away his phone for ten days at the start of

his summer holiday. With his mojo restored,

Klopp, who signed a new contract in April until

2026, has been the driving force behind a season

that can end on one more high.

In the semi-final success over Villarreal,

Liverpool won the first leg 2-0 at Anfield with

the visiting midfielder Étienne Capoue

describing the experience as like being a “sheep

among wolves”.

A week later in Spain the opposite was true,

with that advantage wiped out in the opening

half. Klopp calmly addressed his players during

the interval, reminding them to play football,

and the ensuing fightback brought Liverpool a

3-2 win on the night and their place in the final.

“He is the key figure in our squad. He is the

foundation of our team. He is the one who

started it all,” Alisson, the goalkeeper, said.

several sources in the Champions League, including (clockwise from left) Fabinho against Villarreal, Díaz against Benfica and Salah against Inter Milan

Sport

Liverpool’s long road to Paris

30

Goals scored in

the Champions

League by

Liverpool this

season, second

only to Bayern

Munich (31)

6

Liverpool became

the first English

club to win all six

of their group

matches

50

Jordan

Henderson is set

to make his 50th

European Cup

appearance for

Liverpool. Jamie

Carragher (80),

Steven Gerrard

(73) and Phil Neal

(57) are the only

English players to

appear more

times for the club

23

Aged 23 years

and 233 days on

the day of the

final, Trent

Alexander-Arnold

can become the

youngest player

to have started in

three Champions

League finals

ANDREW POWELL; JOHN POWELL; GIUSEPPE COTTINI/GETTY IMAGES