Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that his half-time double substitution in their loss against Royal Union Saint-Gilloise was already planned.
The Reds were defeated 2-1 by the Belgian side, having already moved into the Europa League knockout stage before the game.
Klopp fielded a youthful side who struggled to find rhythm although the result mattered little. Jarell Quansah bagged his first goal for the club in the first period.
Liverpool are top of the Premier League and have huge games against Manchester United and Arsenal approaching. As a result, Ibrahima Konate and Wataru Endo were both withdrawn at the break against Union and replaced by Joe Gomez and Ryan Gravenberch respectively.
When asked what his thinking behind starting Konate was at his post-match press conference, Klopp said: “We just wanted to share the intensity.
“Do I want to play Joe Gomez 90 or Ibou 90 if we had the chance to do that? [I decided] 45 and 45, the same in midfield. These changes were planned before the game, independent of the result. We just tried to give it a go. It was clear that Jarell if he could play through then he would play through. That was the thinking behind it.”
