Jurgen Klopp has explained why he substituted Naby Keita against West Ham – but has dismissed suggestions the Guinean is in direct competition with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a place in the Liverpool midfield.
Keita was among several Reds players to struggle to find their best form during the home Premier League clash against West Ham United on Monday , and was substituted just before the hour with the European and world champions 2-1 behind.
His replacement, Oxlade-Chamberlain, helped transform Liverpool ’s second-half performance, with the Premier League leaders fighting back to win 3-2 and move 22 points clear at the summit.
Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain are both vying for a start when the Reds aim to secure an English record 19th successive league win at Watford on Saturday evening.
But Klopp believes the duo are sufficiently different to not be fighting for the same role in the Liverpool side.
“They’re not competing against each other and hopefully they don’t see it like this,” he said. “It’s not like this.
“They offer naturally different things. Naby can play better, obviously, and has played better. But that wasn’t the reason the game was like it was.
“Then Oxlade came on, really fresh and with his natural skill, having direction, speed, it’s a different player.
“In different situations we need different players and they all are exceptional.”
“Until the change, we were more fixed in positions. It wasn’t flexible enough or unpredictable enough, we were too easy to defend, we didn’t really come through. In other situations we were too high on the wings and were hit on counter-attacks.”
Liverpool will again be without Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri for the trip to Vicarage Road.
But Klopp believes Milner in particular could have a chance of being available for Tuesday’s FA Cup fifth round clash at Chelsea.
“All coming closer, much closer,” said the Reds boss. “Hendo is running, Milly is running even more.
“Not enough for this game, but we will see, especially with Milly, what we can do for Tuesday.
“Not sure about Hendo, and Shaq not yet, but they are all coming closer.”
