30 Jan 2017

Klopp Confirms: 'Amazing' Liverpool star has 'really painful' injury; he's 'out for a while'

Jurgen Klopp have confirmed that Liverpool have suffered yet another injury blow.

During his pre-match press conference today, Klopp revealed that Ovie Ejaria faces a spell on the sidelines with a 'ruptured syndesmosis'. He explained:

"He [Ejaria] got a knock in the first half [against Wolves]. At half-time he got treatment [and he said] it was good. Now he's out for a while. [The syndesmosis] is a ligament between the shin bone and the [ankle]. It's really painful."

Maybe it's just me, but I find this supremely irritating: if Ejaria got a knock at half-time, why risk further injury by sending him out for second half? Also, why rely on the player to make the decision? The club's medical staff should make the decision, and if that means overruling the player, then so be it.

In this case, Ejaria - ridiculously described as 'amazing' by Neil Mellor - suffered a significant injury, and it's not unreasonable (IMO) to expect the club's highly-trained medical staff to have considered this as a possibility after the first-half 'knock'. Instead, the amateur hour policy seems to be this: ask the player if he's injured; if he says no, then let him play on. Granted, Ejaria is not a first-team regular, but senior players are also falling foul of this policy. Example:

* Jan 11th: Clyne sustains a rib/abdominal injury against Southampton.

* Jan 21st: Clyne returns against Swansea (Liverpool lose 3-2 at home)

* Jan 25th: Clyne misses EFL semi-final second-leg against Southampton.

* Jan 28th: Clyne left out of matchday squad for Wolves game. LFC confirm: "Nathaniel Clyne is absent due to a rib/abdominal injury".

* Jan 29th: Klopp confirms Clyne is out of the vital Chelsea game.

To anyone unafflicted by pro-LFC bias, it's obvious that Klopp rushed Clyne back too soon, which led to a recurrence of the 'rib/abdominal injury'. Plus, it seems very likely that Klopp allowed Clyne - rather than the medical staff - to decide when he returned. Evidence? When asked about Clyne's fitness prior to the Swansea game, Klopp told reporters:

"Clyne made two running sessions to see if he could cope with the pain. I saw him yesterday and the thumb was very up, so that's good".

Great! Clyne says he's fit to play, so let's play him! And it's clear from Klopp's comments that he's willing to risk players if they can 'cope with with the pain'. What kind of policy is this? Now, Liverpool have to go into the most important league game of the season (so far) without the club's senior right back.

As for Ejaria - his development will now be stunted as a result of a potentially lengthy spell on the sidelines, and for a young player, having momentum derailed in this manner can be potentially fatal to their future LFC career (just ask Jordan Rossiter).


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