Liverpool are sadly out of the FA Cup, but that doesn’t mean the players haven’t been nervously waiting to see which names are drawn from a hat…
In what’s perhaps the most ‘Jurgen Klopp’ thing ever, the boss has made his squad stay in shared, twin rooms during their stay at La Manga – allocating pairings by pulling names out of a hat!
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Liverpool skipper explains what’s gone down in La Manga…
So instead of Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana staying together, or Coutinho and Roberto Firmino – there’s been some interesting combinations in a bid to get the squad more in sync.
“We had this little funny gimmick. Bringing the players together by putting them in twin rooms,” Klopp told the ECHO.
“It wasn’t a free choice! I picked the names out of the hat.
“Lallana and Manninger. Henderson is with Ojo, Milner with Sadio. Firmino and Karius – nice room!
“Simon Mignolet is with Conor Masterson, I’m not sure that Simon even knew Conor before this trip. But after four days here he really will.
“The players are learning more about each other. Everything has been perfectly organised.
“We’ve had a few meetings and we’ll have a few more of them. I’m enjoying it and I think the players are too.”
The Mignolet/Masterson combination cracks us up…
Imagine being a 17-year-old kid, essentially away with a group of men you don’t know… (Work trips are awkward enough as an adult!) You’d be dying to stay with one of your pals, but instead, the teenage Irishman is bunking with a 29-year-old Belgian goalkeeper known for his serious side!
Let’s hope they find enough topics to chat about.
In all seriousness though, it’s a great idea from the boss and can only help squad unity in the long run.
We wonder if Masterson and Mignolet will ever appear on the same pitch together… The former better get very good, very quickly, while the latter should probably up his game too!