Liverpool played Sevilla in a friendly as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made progress on his return to football. But does Jurgen Klopp have a problem now?
The Reds lost 2-1 to the Spanish side but that’s not really the point. The point is getting players up to speed before the Premier League kicks off and helping them understand the system.
Nolito opened the scoring for Sevilla before Divock Origi levelled things up. This can’t be described as a boring game as there was a red card for Joris Gnagnon, but the Reds couldn’t make the most of the disparity of numbers and just before the final whistle Alejandro Pozo grabbed the winner.
Oxlade-Chamberlain missed out on the historic 2018/2019 season because of an ACL injury picked up against AS Roma but is now hungry, lean and back.
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And he’s also playing in midfield.
This is going to cause congestion in the middle of the park, especially with Adam Lallana being retrained to operate as the ‘new Jorginho’.
This will shift Lallana away from attacking areas and back down towards the centre of the field. Another body in the ranks, and with the re-introduction of Oxlade-Chamberlain to the side it’ll make it one more.
But now Klopp has an issue. Alongside regulars Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Naby Keita he needs to add those two names to the mixer.
All of this is good news, clearly. Squad rotation is an important part of all-conquering sides and Liverpool certainly have that now.
Lallana and Oxlade-Chamberlain can also cover more advanced areas if required, which will come in handy as Klopp isn’t planning on making any more first team signings this summer.
Keeping everyone happy will be tricky, especially with only three midfield berths to pick from. But that is the challenge for Klopp going into the new campaign.
The next preseason game is on the 25th of July as Liverpool take on Portugese side Sporting, before two final fixtures against Napoli and Lyon.