Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp has been discussing Naby Keita’s fitness as he battles to return from injury.
Keita has been out of action all season, but he was pictured back in first-team training this week, giving many fans hope that he would be able to return to action in the game against Nottingham Forest this weekend.
However, unfortunately for the Reds, Klopp says that Keita isn’t quite there yet as he’s still undergoing what he described as a ‘football pre-season’ as he re-acclimatises to the rigours of the Beautiful Game.
Indeed, while Klopp says Keita is fit enough to run a marathon, he acknowledges that he’s not yet match-fit.
Not ready yet
Klopp says that Keita isn’t ready to play yet.
“We can’t rush it. It’s a tough injury. He is only in parts of training. Ibou will be in full team training next week. It’s pre-season if you like. Ox is 1-2 weeks ahead of Naby,” Klopp said.
“What we can do in rehab with tough muscle injuries is everything but team training. Nothing can replace football sessions, it’s a different intensity. So it’s a football part of ‘pre-season’ for him. Physically, he can probably run a marathon but he needs to do other movements.”
Different types of fitness
We don’t doubt at all that Keita could go out and run a marathon tomorrow – and probably record a decent time for what it’s worth, but the difference between running long distances and playing a game of Premier League football is drastic.
You use so many different muscles playing football; changing direction, kicking the ball with power, making tackles, getting off the ground when you’ve made a tackle. It’s all infinitely more exhausting than the repetitive motion of running.
Luckily, Keita does have a good base level of fitness, but it may be a while before he’s fully back up and running and ready to play a game for Liverpool.
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