Jurgen Klopp revealed why he had to take off Ibrahima Konate at half-time during Liverpool’s Europa League defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise.
The Reds experienced a disappointing loss in their final group game in Brussels with the German manager fielding the club’s youngest-ever team for a European match, with an average age of 22 years and 156 days.
Jarell Quansah, who partnered Konate in defence for the opening 45 minutes, cancelled Mohamed Amoura’s opener.
But Cameron Puertas struck minutes before half-time to restore the advantage for the home side.
With a goal down, Gomez was introduced which sparked fears of another defensive injury after Joel Matip, who has been ruled out for the season with an ACL injury earlier in December.
Decision
However, Klopp revealed that the substitution was not an injury precaution but a pre-planned change.
He told reporters: “We just wanted to share the intensity.
“Do I want to play Joe Gomez 90 or Ibou 90 if we had the chance to do that?
“[I decided] 45 and 45, the same in midfield.
“These changes were planned before the game, independent of the result.
“We just tried to give it a go.
“It was clear that Jarell if he could play through then he would play through.
“That was the thinking behind it.”
Appraisal
Klopp showered praise on Quansah as the defender is set for a more prominent role in the absence of Matip.
The manager wanted the youngster to share the pitch with both Konate and Gomez to build a chemistry with his senior colleagues going ahead into the season.
“It was important,” Klopp said.
“I think we all know against Crystal Palace that he played not a bad game against Palace.
“But if you are then that involved in kind of the penalty, a strange one.
“But we are involved, that’s not cool.
“And I am really happy that he could see the other side of the metal and score this goal today.
“That’s what I liked the most from all of the boys – that they really gave it a proper go.
“And that’s most important that we don’t think: ‘OK, it’s difficult, they are a really good team and do what they do every week.’
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“We have to find a way to get used to each other.
“And especially Jarell, with either side Ibou and then Joe in the second half, that was really good.
“They had to defend big spaces in the counter-attacks and I thought they did that really.
“So, I am really happy for him.”
