Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool reject Luis Díaz approach with new method to hit $53m

There are many obvious differences between the start of Luis Díaz’s career at Liverpool and the early weeks of Cody Gakpo’s stay at Anfield, but one has been overlooked.

Over the past two years, Liverpool have made great strides in January, signing Luis Díaz last season and Cody Gakpo this season.

The pair, who are both right-footed strikers, came in at similar prices – Diaz could go up to $60m (£50m/€56m) and Gakpo up to $53m dollars (44 million pounds sterling / 49 million euros). different circumstances

Díaz joined a side that went three games on a nine-game winning streak that would unleash an unprecedented quadruple boost, while Gakpo faced a side in the midst of a slump.

The Colombian enjoyed predictable success, assisting on his debut and scoring his first Premier League goal on his second appearance in the competition, while the Dutchman had an understandably difficult start.

His goal in Monday night’s Merseyside Derby victory was his first contribution for the club, in his seventh game. But it’s important that we recognize that Jürgen Klopp has taken a radically different approach with the two players.

His goal in Monday night’s Merseyside Derby victory was his first contribution for the club, in his seventh game. But it’s important that we recognize that Jürgen Klopp has taken a radically different approach with the two players.

In Díaz’s case, it was practically plug and play. The manager revealed after his full debut against Leicester that he opted to “let him play” rather than overload him “without five million pieces of information” on team tactics (via This Is Anfield). Even a few weeks later, when the former Porto player had more time to train with his new teammates, the message was the same. Klopp explained there was no need to “convert it directly to what we think it might be” as Díaz was “by nature” a “very close” match (via LFC)

Ultimately there would need to be “longer and more detailed talks”, but in the first few months of his career at Anfield, Liverpool were quite happy with the version of Díaz arriving from Portugal.

On the other hand, Gakpo had to take on an unfamiliar role after the transfer of him.

Before joining Liverpool, he played 165 club games as a left winger, but only 23 as a centre-forward.

Watching him at the World Cup with the Netherlands, Liverpool fans may have gotten the impression that he was comfortable as a striker, as he scored twice from that position, but in reality he only made four appearances for Louis van’s side Gaal in the general classification. Klopp has a surprise of the use of Gakpo, even when the number of nine Darwin Núñez used centrally. He was far from the left flank, where he prospered with 13 goals and 17 models in 24 appearances before the tournament in Qatar.

And Gakpo was not just invited to work as an attacker, he was used as the bad new.

This means more responsibility than Sky Sports, 23, said after the derby that he should play an important role in the team’s construction game.

In this sense, Klopp asked Gakpo much more than he of Díaz. Maybe it was because he thought the latter was perfect, while the former’s gameplay needed a bit of an overhaul.

Gakpo is already part of a new team, new country, and new league, but adding a new role on top of that only makes the learning curve steeper.

It gives Liverpool and their supporters another reason to be patient with the club’s recent signing.

Above all, Gakpo showed enough promising moments to inspire optimism, most notably in the Merseyside derby when he put in his best performance yet in red.

Also…

I’ve been asked to come’ – Liverpool have quietly enlisted chief doctor to ‘reduce risk of injury’

Liverpool appointed Frigyes Vanden Auweele as head of osteopathy in July to help reduce injuries

Liverpool’s head of osteopathy says the decision to join the club last summer was a no-brainer, describing working for the club as “the best you can get”.

Dr Frigyes Vanden Auweele was brought on board and installed as the club’s head of osteopathy in July, with Liverpool describing his role as someone called upon to ‘enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury’ within Liverpool’s squad. Jurgen Klopp.

The Belgian moved to Anfield due to his work at Oud-Heverlee Leuven football club, Trek-Segafredo cycling team and VHL volleyball club, according to Liverpoolfc.com.

Liverpool say Dr. Vanden Auweele joined “as a specialist in osteopathy, whose aim is to identify, treat and prevent problems in the athlete’s body by focusing on dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system and the peripheral and autonomic nervous systems. The main objective is to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury.”

And the dr. Vanden Auweele, who is part of Andreas Schlumberger’s team in the medical department, told the club’s official website that he hadn’t missed an opportunity to move to Liverpool to help Klopp and his staff at the AXA Training Center in Kirkby. He said: “I was asked to come. At first they didn’t tell me which team. I was busy enough already and didn’t know what team it was, but when I found out what team it was I couldn’t say no.

“Obviously that’s the best you can as a sports therapist, as a sports osteopath. Trek-Segafredo was also a world team, so I was working with very, very tall, world athletes. But it’s different.

“The fact that I can do my job here full time is also new to me, because I’ve worked as a consultant, so I give advice and I can’t follow it all the time. It’s new to me that I can do the trick of sports osteopathy and go further.

“It is also very valuable for me: not only advice, but also treatment and follow-up. I’m very proud to be able to do this because as an athletic therapist it’s of course the best you can do, so I hope to do my thing here and be of help. I’m happy to be here”.

According to Liverpool, the osteopath holds a master’s degree in physiotherapy from the research university KU Leuven before studying at Flanders International College of Osteopathy in Antwerp.

Dr. Hired in 2020, Schlumberger took on more responsibility towards the end of last season as the Reds chased down an unprecedented four-way matchup before Dr. Auweele joined his expanded squad ahead of the start of the season in course.

However, despite their best efforts, Liverpool struggled with fitness issues for much of the campaign. Thiago Alcantara was sidelined for a month following injury on the opening day of the season against Fulham, at a time when Diogo Jota and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were both sidelined with hamstring problems . Thiago recently aggravated a hip problem and could miss next month. Naby Keita had to wait until December before returning to action, while Jota suffered a serious calf injury in a 1-0 defeat by Manchester City in mid-October. Roberto Firmino missed the last 10 games before his return in Monday’s Merseyside derby win against Everton, while Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk have both suffered hamstring strains this term.

Luis Diaz underwent knee surgery in December following a setback in his rehabilitation following an injury sustained at Arsenal in early October. The Colombian fullback, as it stands, is not expected to return until March.