A total of 20 senior players were called up for international duty after the conclusion of the domestic season, with injuries and plenty of minutes coming their way.
While the Reds’ remarkable, yet taxing, season came to a close after 63 games, 2021/22 was not over yet thanks to a long list of international fixtures.
A ridiculous situation that was laid bare by the scheduling of four Nations League fixtures for the majority of European nations, a competition Klopp regards as “one of the most ridiculous ideas in football.”
And yet off went a plethora of Liverpool players, adding minutes to their already exhausted legs and flirting with the possibility of injury as a result.
Thankfully, some international managers assisted with the load to either omit or limit the number of games, which directly benefited Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz and Virgil van Dijk.
But here’s a breakdown of what went down during the international period in June.
Injuries
The Reds did not come through unscathed, unsurprisingly, with Thiago, Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Andy Robertson and Neco Williams all sustaining injuries.
Thiago‘s came before he made an appearance for Spain after waiting nearly a year for his call-up.
Salah, Jota, Robertson and Williams were all readily turned to by their managers before succumbing, with the hope that none have sustained a serious setback in the lead-up to pre-season.
It has not been confirmed, but Salah and Thiago look to have a reoccurrence of the issues that came to the fore at the end of the season.
The Reds kickstart their preparations for the new campaign on July 4, and while they may be handed a later date by which to make their return, rehab during the summer was not on the wishlist.
Minutes
There was a wide range of minutes accumulated, from a couple of Reds playing all four games from start to finish to one who amassed just 24 minutes of action:
Kostas Tsimikas – 360
Caoimhin Kelleher – 360
Andy Robertson – 256
Curtis Jones – 253
Neco Williams – 208
Ibrahima Konate – 180
Naby Keita – 180
Sadio Mane – 177
Diogo Jota – 175
Takumi Minamino – 154
Darwin Nunez – 108
Harvey Elliott – 101
Alisson – 90
Mohamed Salah – 90
Virgil van Dijk – 90
Conor Bradley – 87
Fabio Carvalho – 76
Fabinho – 24
Goals and Assists
There was also a handful of players who contributed on the scoresheet:
Sadio Mane – 4 goals
Fabio Carvalho – 1 goal, 1 assist
Naby Keita – 1 goal
Harvey Elliott – 2 assists
Diogo Jota – 2 assists
Curtis Jones – 1 assist
Who was left out?
And there were nine players who did not represent their country or receive a call-up, and instead started their summer break in swift fashion after the trophy parade, they were:
Henderson, Diaz, Joel Matip (retired), Roberto Firmino, James Milner (retired), Joe Gomez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adrian and Rhys Williams.
Fan Comments