Jurgen Klopp reluctantly divulges names of three new Liverpool ‘captains’

Jurgen Klopp Liverpool training September 2021

Liverpool’s well-respected players’ committee has been extended to six this season, says Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp was asked about his original  committee at his press conference on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Porto in the Champions League.

Jordan Henderson and vice skipper James Milner were joined by Virgil van Dijk and the since departed Gini Wijnaldum.

But Klopp explained that he decided to extend the number of respected figures in his squad because a number of them, if not all, were missing on numerous occasions last season.

Van Dijk and Henderson suffered injuries, while Milner is on the periphery of the first team.

Now though Klopp, who looked reluctant to divulge the news, has revealed that the Reds’ players voted in three more incumbents.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Alisson have all been elevated, alongside the existing trio.

Klopp said: “We had three captains in Hendo, Milly, Virg and the players voted for another three.

“So that was won by Trent, Robbo and Alisson Becker.

“It was just that from time to time last year with the amount of injuries we had, we had no-one available from the players’ committee out on the pitch.

“So that is why I decided to increase the group to six.”

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Klopp has selected a 23-man travelling party for the Group B clash in Portugal.

Naby Keita has travelled with only Harvey Elliott and Thiago missing though injury.

Diogo Jota has flown out to his homeland and will be hoping for a start against his former club.

Jota, 24 has been at Anfield for just over 12 months after Klopp decided to pay Wolves £43m for the forward last year.


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Jota ‘has helped us a lot’

While questions were asked about the fee at the time, Klopp has been proved correct and has said he is delighted with how the player has developed at Anfield.

“He’s an exceptional player. I am really happy we signed him,” said Klopp.

 

“Honestly, he has a strong personality and you cannot know about that before you meet the person. He’s really mature for his young age and he is enjoyable to work with.

“We spoke about it from time to time, it’s not easy to improve us but Diogo definitely did.

“He has scored important goals and he is a player that is made for our style. He’s pretty intense, technical, really fast, good in the air, both feet are really good, so he is an interesting package.

“I am really happy that we saw that and we could realise the transfer, it has helped us a lot.

“The first season was obviously not completely free of any struggles because of the injury he got at Midtjylland. So that was not perfect, but when he was fit he always helped us a lot.”

READ MORE: Klopp lays down gauntlet to Liverpool man with lack of game time