Jurgen Klopp gave his thoughts on talk of Liverpool winning a quadruple ahead of the FA Cup clash with Norwich, while he also discussed Thiago, Harvey Elliott and Luis Diaz.
Liverpool vs. Norwich City
FA Cup Fifth Round | Anfield
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 | 8.15pm (GMT)
Here are five key things as Klopp previewed Wednesday’s tie…
Mixed news on Thiago
Before kickoff at Wembley on Sunday, there was disappointment as Thiago pulled up with a hamstring problem during the warmup, which forced him out as Naby Keita took his place.
Klopp has now provided an update on his fitness, ruling the Spaniard out of the upcoming clashes with Norwich and West Ham – as well as, perhaps, the visit of Inter Milan.
“He’s fine again, but not fit again,” he explained.
“Always, we don’t know that exactly. Weekend, not sure. Maybe Milan. After that, definitely.”
No quadruple talk!
With one trophy down and Liverpool in with a chance of winning three more in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, anticipation has mounted over a possible quadruple.
It would be a first-time feat for an English side, and though Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah have both referenced it, Klopp is rightly eager to play down the possibility.
“Even City, with all the quality they have in the last few years, couldn’t win the quadruple,” he began.
“That says pretty much everything.
“There are so many teams, starting with Norwich which is already the biggest problem we have, then talking about West Ham and all these kinds of things and who is coming up.
“It’s really difficult, and that’s why nobody has to dump any kind of excitement down. It’s just the reality.
“The reality to win something is that you have to be focused on the next step and not on the one after that, otherwise you will struggle.
“That’s what we do.”
A reminder to Harvey
One of the defining images of the final was Harvey Elliott holding a red smoke flare as he celebrated after the shootout, but it didn’t taken long for the FA to rebuke the teenager.
Elliott has been contacted for his observations over the incident, and Klopp has explained that he will remind the midfielder of his responsibilities.
“Will I speak to him? Yes,” he said.
“Harvey is a very young man on the pitch, and outside he is still a little bit more a boy. But that’s not a problem – he made a mistake.
“Because of the ‘role model’ role we have, as people working in public, I understand 100 percent.
“I will tell him, I can promise he will not do it again.
“Do I think it was the worst thing that ever happened in the world of football? No.”
Was there a League Cup party?
The scenes at full-time on Sunday showed the importance of winning trophies to this Liverpool side, but the party did not go long into the night.
Klopp detailed how the squad arrived back on Merseyside just after midnight, before departing for home and a well-deserved day off on Monday.
“The party was in the dressing room, then we were all in the bus waiting for Caoimhin [to finish his doping test],” he said.
“Then we had loud music in the bus, no music in the plane, maybe some music in the cars, then we were home at 12.30am.
“Then you cannot sleep – or at least I can’t – but we gave the boys the day off yesterday.
“Here we are again, train again, and the celebrations were not too much!”
No injury for Diaz
There had been some minor concern late into the final that Luis Diaz had been substituted due to a fitness problem, but Klopp has allayed those fears.
“Just fatigued, but fatigued enough!” he revealed.
Diaz was a man-of-the-match contender at Wembley, and Klopp is hopeful he can keep up this form after an “incredible” start to life at Liverpool.
“He did really well. We need this kind of quality, obviously,” he added.
“And how we said before, we didn’t confuse him too much with too much information. He knows how we want to play and how he has to play, and he’s doing really well.
“You are right, for a start, incredibly well.
“We don’t think too much about it, just hope that it will stay like this as long as possible – or forever, in the best case.”
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