Jurgen Klopp finally talks about Mamadou Sakho

Jurgen Klopp has finally talked about the incident regarding Mamadou Sakho’s place at Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp shocked many when it was revealed he planned to loan out Mamadou Sakho this summer. Despite being on of our strongest defenders last season, a spell on the sidelines has seen Sakho fall out of favour.

It’s understandable from Jurgen Klopp if I’m honest. Mamadou Sakho had so much time out, and now the season is underway. He’ll struggle for match fitness here, because when would we risk dropping him backing into the team after so much time out?

Klopp’s quotes

Jurgen Klopp finally addressed the Mamadou Sakho situation properly. He spoke in his pre-match press conference, saying –

“We have to make Mama fit now. In the situation in the open transfer phase, you have to prepare decisions – you have to make decisions and you have to prepare [for] the situation after the window closes.”

“You have to think about a few things and when you do this, you have to tell the players the truth, because after the closing of the window the situation is like it is and you cannot change the squad situation anymore.”

“Not only with Mama, but that’s what I did with the players – with all of them. I told them what I thought what would be the best. Now the squad is like it is and at this moment, it’s about making Mama fit, which he isn’t – that’s how it is after this long time with suspension and injury.”

“Then we will see what happens and I have no idea what will happen when because it is about who plays how, who performs how, how good are our results – all that stuff. At the end, Mama knows and I know from my side [so] that’s enough.”

“He couldn’t play football for a long time and that’s how it is. Then it makes sense after the long break if you think about how can you get match time? It’s difficult here – I have to say hopefully difficult because the other players are fit and hopefully stay fit. It’s not ‘hopefully’ for Mama of course, but for the squad and for results and all that stuff.”[related-category]

“You have to speak about this before the window closes because that’s the moment you can make decisions and that’s what I did. I’m not silly enough to forget good performances or things like this, but in the end we will see – we will see what happens.”

“That’s all [there is] to say because the rest would be too much, not too much about what we spoke [about], [it was] only about the situation. It’s normal now, now the squad is clear, you cannot change it anymore, now it’s all good, now we have one more good centre-half – good, all good. But for him, it needs time – that’s how it is.”

“I can’t change [it] because I don’t make the rules of this kind, it is part of the game – it is your body. That’s what we have to do now with him and we will see what happens.”

Thoughts

It’s hard to find a reason to still be fussy with Jurgen Klopp here. He explains why he thought Sakho would benefit, and he doesn’t mention disciplinary issues. Maybe they don’t want to air dirty laundry, but I still hope Mamadou Sakho gets fit soon.

Check out our predicted eleven for the Leicester City game this Saturday by clicking here.