Arne Slot has admitted that he’ll be disappointing one Liverpool player in particular throughout the season, but he’s insisted that it’s for the best.
Diogo Jota has started six of our first seven games this term, with last weekend’s win over Bournemouth the only time that he’s been omitted, and the head coach has outlined how managing the 27-year-old’s minutes will be crucial to keeping him fit after so many injury problems in the past.
Speaking after the Portugal forward scored twice in our 5-1 win over West Ham on Wednesday night (via Liverpool Echo), the Dutchman stated: “How do we keep Diogo fit? Rotate!“I think we are trying to manage his minutes in the best possible way, but we also try to prepare him in the week and the months of pre-season to prepare them for so many games in the Premier League
Jota boasts a fine scoring record for Liverpool, with 59 goals in 151 appearances so far, and the manner in which he took his brace last night illustrated his enviable goal-poaching qualities.
However, given the vast strength of depth that the Reds can boast in attack, along with the 27-year-old’s chequered injury history, it makes perfect sense for Slot to manage his game-time carefully so that those unwanted problems don’t resurface.
The ex-Wolves forward was sidelined for no fewer than 25 matches last season, having endured a four-month layoff in the campaign prior due to a calf issue (Transfermarkt), thus depriving LFC of a hugely potent source of goals for far longer than anyone would want.
With three more matches to come in the space of eight days, Jota will likely be omitted from the starting line-up for at least one of them, although he’ll no doubt be gunning to be selected against his former club when he returns to Molineux on Saturday.
So long as Slot has his full range of attacking options available, our number 20 will likely be in and out of the team through no fault of his own, but rather as part of a sensible strategy to prevent a recurrence of his previous injury woes and ultimately get the best out of his prolific qualities.
