JK: We'll find solutions without Sadio
Jürgen Klopp is confident that his Liverpool squad is talented and versatile enough to cope with the upcoming absence of Sadio Mane.
Mane will go away on international duty following the Reds’ match at Sunderland on January 2 and the forward could miss the entirety of their schedule next month, depending on Senegal’s performance in the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 24-year-old has impressed hugely since his summer move to Anfield from Southampton and is Liverpool’s top scorer this season, with eight goals in 16 Premier League appearances.
Klopp was asked this afternoon whether he has come up with a plan to compensate for Mane’s temporary departure, and the Reds boss backed the rest of his players to fill the void left by the No.19.
“Yes. Hopefully you are not surprised! Of course,” Klopp replied.
“In this moment, what kind of player is Sadio? He’s a winger, so a very offensive player, outstanding player, very good, can play in the half-space, can do everything, so nice.
“We don’t have five other wingers, but if we would have had five other wingers to replace him already, then we cannot have the team we have in this moment, with the atmosphere we have in this moment where everybody feels he is really important.
“That’s good. How I said, you cannot have everything so we decided to do this.
“It was a little bit unlucky with injuries in the wrong moments but we still can play different systems and a lot of our players are really versatile and that’s what we have to use. For this the players need to be open and I’m sure they are open for this.
“It’s another sign for a kind of confidence, if you think the only system we can play is this system, that’s not like it is. But we need to really show this, but we cannot change the football world in this moment.
“So Sadio’s away and we have to find solutions. They can be under circumstances, very specific circumstances, in the transfer market, but if not then they are in the squad.”
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