Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has urged everyone to stay calm when it comes to the handling the futures of some of their biggest stars.
Virgil van Dijk, who along with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold has 18 months left on his contract, has said he was curious to see where the club was heading with Klopp’s departure pending and admitted he did not know whether he would be part of a new era at Anfield.
That has sparked concerns a period of inertia – Liverpool currently do not have a sporting director in place after Jorg Schmadtke’s short-term appointment was ended – until the identity of the new manager is known could lead to the break up of a squad which Klopp believes has been rebuilt sufficiently to continue challenging after he has gone.
Asked whether there was a danger the squad could break up Klopp said: “No, I don’t think so but it is completely normal.
“It was always clear, when I spoke about what I spoke about, the outside world will not give you a second to process it, to think about it. It is ‘what are you doing?’.
“A week ago when no one knew about my decision and there were 18 months on the contracts, nobody asked. So give us a break, give the boys a break.
“Nobody has to worry. This club is stable, 100 per cent, and everything will be fine, I am 100 per cent sure, and the rest we have to get through. I would recommend to stay calm in this department, massively.”
Klopp argued it would have been unfair and disrespectful to players who have played a major part in their success together to tie them down to new contracts when they had no idea he would not be manager next season.
The German informed owners Fenway Sports Group of his decision in November but the players were not told until Friday. However, Klopp said there is plenty of time to sort their futures.
“The club knew about my departure for a while and could have used the time and tied the players down and then I say ‘by the way, I’m not here anymore’, and they they ‘hey, what? No one told us that’,” he added.
“You cannot work like that, especially not with the relationship we have. There is enough time to do everything.
“These players love to be here, I know that for a fact, don’t forget that. It is not that they have one foot out. They want to know a little bit of perspective but that will happen, especially behind the scenes.
“Don’t worry. It is all fine.”
Player contracts is just the first issue to arise since Klopp’s announcement and it shows the desire for there not to be any distractions is misguided.
It comes in a huge week for the Premier League leaders, who host Chelsea on Wednesday before travelling to Arsenal at the weekend.
After a month when he was without a number of players the direction of travel in that respect has changed with Alexis Mac Allister rejoining the squad after missing the weekend as a precaution.
Even fellow midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who has not played since April because of a hip injury, has returned to training but the wait for Mohamed Salah’s recovery from a hamstring injury sustained on African Nations Cup duty with Egypt goes on even though his country have now been eliminated.
“There was no pressure in it besides the fact that you want to get fit as quick as possible anyway. We cannot rush it,” he said.
“If we could rush the healing process believe me Thiago would not have been out for 10 months. It is not possible.”
Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win
Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.
Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.
Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.
With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.
"Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.
"We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."
Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.
Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half.
"The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.
"To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."
World Cup Girlz back in the fold? Gilbert hints at return of experienced players for Brazil friendlies
For the first time in almost nine months, it seems as if Jamaica’s interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert will have members of the World Cup squad at his disposal, when they visit Brazil for a two-match friendly international series in June.
The Girlz, who first locked horns with Brazil, and lost 0-3, at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, went one better at last year’s global showpiece in Australia, as they not only held the South American giants to a goalless stalemate, but also ensured their elimination at the group stage.
By all indications, that performance, and by extension, the fact that the Girlz made an historic appearance in the knockout stages of the World Cup, earned them even more respect from the number 10-ranked Brazilians, who are currently in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The games, scheduled for June 1 and 4, are expected to assist Brazil in their preparation, while the now 42nd-ranked Jamaicans will get a much-needed test to regain their appetite for international competition, having last sported the nationals colours against Canada last September.
Since that Olympic qualifying fixture in Canada, members of the World Cup squad withdrew their services from national representation, citing lack of payment and mistreatment from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), among their reasons.
While it is yet to be confirmed how many, if any, of the World Cup players will make the trip, Gilbert gave the clearest indication yet that there might be a few, as he welcomed the games, after not utilizing the last FIFA window.
“It is always important to secure games during the international window. It not only assists in exposing players, but it also ensures the team is active, which helps our rankings, and also our quality of play. Because as you know, the more we play together, especially against quality opponents, the better the team becomes, and we also get to work on different things both offensively and defensively,” Gilbert told SportsMax.TV.
“The expectation is for us to give a good account of ourselves, it has been a while since these players have played together, but the good thing is that they are actively engaged in their respective leagues in Europe and United States. So, it is not like they were inactive, and obviously, it is not the first time they will be playing together.
“So, we just have to keep things as simple or as close to what we did prior to, and during the World Cup, to make sure we are competitive. It is going to be a little bit different, but it’s not far-fetched that we can get another positive result against Brazil,” he added.
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: Hosts close in on top-four finish
Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone's side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.
Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.
But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute and later came close to scoring again.
With 10 minutes to play, away goalkeeper Unai Simon inadvertently made it 3-1 with an own goal after Samuel Lino’s effort came back off the post, ending any Athletic hopes of a comeback.
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