Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, has reflected on the injury to Luis Diaz and explained why the Colombian winger was sorely missed.
As the winger gets ready to speed up his recovery from a serious injury, Jurgen Klopp has outlined exactly what Liverpool had missed from him.
Diaz missed 31 games after injuring his knee in October. The injury eventually required surgery when it worsened upon Diaz’s return to training at the mid-season training camp in Dubai two months later.
The Colombian international has played in every game of Liverpool’s current six-game winning streak since making his comeback from injury a month ago. This includes starts against Tottenham Hotspur, where he scored a beautiful improvised volley, and Fulham.
As he prepares for his first 90-minute outing since the home Champions League triumph over Rangers more than six months ago, Diaz will be hoping for another in Monday’s Premier League trip to Leicester City.
And Klopp has provided an explanation for why the Reds felt the absence of the 26-year-old so keenly during a trying season that has left them with only a remote chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
The Reds manager described the player as “natural”. “I adore him, completely adore him. It is unbelievable. He plays such smart football; he moves in the appropriate spots, defends naturally from his position, is a goal threat, is quick, and is cheeky. I have to say, he’s a very, very special player. He was terribly missed.
“We all realized how good Diogo Jota is when he returned, and we missed him as well. Darwin (Nunez) is new, Bobby (Firmino) has sporadic injuries, and both players are new, so it is obviously very challenging to fit in with a team, particularly if you are the situation finisher. The other boys need to create in many different situations because we didn’t create enough, didn’t create enough clearly, or both.
“There are a few reasons for our predicament, but you have to accept reality and make the best of it, just like you do in football.”
In an interview with Premier League Productions, Klopp reflected on Diaz’s comeback and said: “Fantastic. We are so excited about it, we were always excited about it.
“The problem is that he was sidelined following his injury in the Arsenal game—a very odd game, by the way—and returned while we were in a World Cup training camp in Dubai, so we all thought, ‘Finally back.’
“He trained exceptional, absolutely exceptional, and he slipped only a little bit on the grass, felt something, kept going on, everything is fine. After training, ‘Yeah, I feel a little bit. Let’s see.’ Another scan, out for another three months or whatever. Horrible, absolutely horrible.”
