Reds’ mentality & Fabinho’s injury – 3 key things from Klopp’s post-Villa press conference

May 10, 2022
Joanna Durkan

Jurgen Klopp had words to say on the referee at Aston Villa, the injury to Fabinho and the mentality of his squad after a comeback 2-1 victory on Tuesday night.

Here are three key points from the manager after the win at Villa Park:

Fingers crossed for Fabinho!

The clear sour note from the night was the injury to Fabinho, and while the Brazilian is said to be in a positive mindset a scan will reveal all.

“He felt a muscle, not too much. It was not the thigh, but the other side [hamstring]. He is quite positive but I’m not sure what I can take of that, to be honest. We will see,” Klopp said.

“I can’t say when he’ll be ready. Nobody has an answer for that. He has a good feeling and that gives me a better feeling than I had when I took him off.

“If you ask me now, I’d say leave Fabinho out [for this game] but I can’t turn that back. He was completely fine before the game.”

Hindsight, it’s a wonderful thing!

No other issues

It was a physical contest at Villa Park and the good news was there were no further issues to report, although Naby Keita did provide a scare or two for fans late on.

“The rest came through without too many problems,” Klopp said.

And we don’t have to worry about Andy Robertson after he was left out of the matchday squad.

“Robbo wasn’t in the squad because I wanted to give him a rest at home and brought another striker into the squad if we needed. That’s it. Apart from that, we should be fine.”

Now, onto the FA Cup final!

What will be, will be

Liverpool remains second in the Premier League table on goal difference, three behind Man City, but Klopp does not have the energy to waste on the results of Pep Guardiola’s side.

Before the Reds are back in league action, City will have played twice but Klopp’s men have the FA Cup final to think about.

“We don’t waste energy thinking hopefully they [Man City] lose,” Klopp said.

“Now we have to really recover and to play the FA Cup final because there is no mercy. The situation, qualifying for the finals, is massive.

“Their quality and mentality and character is the reason why we are where we are. I’m not surprised they can do something like this but I don’t take it for granted.”