Liverpool claims ignore major behind-the-scenes change as Michael Edwards decision pays off

Liverpool claims ignore major behind-the-scenes change as Michael Edwards decision pays off

It's been claimed that Liverpool have been lukcy with injuries this season - but nothing could be further from the truth

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot. (Image: Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images )

For Arne Slot, the idea that Liverpool have been in some way lucky with injuries this season does a huge disservice to the work of him and his staff at the AXA Training Centre.

Asked last month just what it was that he was doing to keep his players fresher and fitter for longer, Slot joked that he hoped it was about more than simple fortune before offering an explanation, without pulling back the curtain too far.

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"I hope there is more to it than luck because we try to work in a certain way," Slot said. "Yeah, it is a bit difficult to tell you how we work and I cannot compare to how it was beforehand.

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"I can only say the staff I have been working with at Feyenoord and now, there is a very good cooperation there and now here. And that has led to the fact that at Feyenoord and now here, we haven't had many injuries.

"We do have clear ideas about how we work and it's about which training session you do and when you do it. And also when you do it if you play two or three games in a week. But we would have to sit down for a few hours to explain all the things we do.

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"Fortunately for me they (the staff) have a lot of knowledge of what to do and when to do it and then they just tell me every single day."

It was back in the summer when Slot brought performance coach Ruben Peeters with him to Anfield to work alongside head physios Lee Nobes and Chris Morgan, head of physical performance Dr Conall Murtagh and director of medicine Jonathan Power, who it is understood heads up that department at the AXA Training Centre.

It is these figures behind the scenes who have proven integral to ensuring the Reds have more often than not been able to field their strongest lineups.

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But while last season's 13-man injury crisis reached comical proportions under Jurgen Klopp, the Reds have still been made to navigate important periods without key men at various points this term.

For example, Sunday's Carabao Cup final saw the club's fourth-choice right-back in Jarell Quansah start as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez all sat out the game, while Alisson Becker missed over two months with a hamstring injury between early October and December.

The absence of a goalkeeper of such repute, for nearly nine weeks, could have been the undoing for many a side but Caoimhin Kelleher deputised with aplomb, making the Brazil international's convalescence less of a story that it might have been. The same goes for Bradley and how he filled in for Alexander-Arnold's absence in November.

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Gomez, who has been out since December in the Premier League, might well have played his last meaningful game of the campaign after a recurrence of that hamstring problem was picked up on his return at Plymouth in the FA Cup last month, while Diogo Jota - the club's first-choice No.9 - went four months between league starts.

Ibrahima Konate was sidelined for over a month and only rushed himself back because of a looming centre-back shortage after Gomez got hurt at West Ham at the end of December.

Harvey Elliott's first season under Slot might have looked much different had a broken foot not been diagnosed on England duty in September, while Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch have both played through the pain barrier to help their team at times.

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The ability to keep major stars like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk fit all season is testament to the work being done in the medical department and a more controlled style from Slot has helped limit the burden on the limbs compared to Klopp's famous high-octane approach.

Those with impeccable injury records this term should also get a pat on the back for their professionalism and dedication too. Post-match recovery is a process that often goes on long into the night and Van Dijk, in particular, has repeatedly emphasised the importance of 'recovery, nutrition and sleeping well' after evening fixtures.

It is about more than fortune and one of the major ticks in the box of Slot when sporting director Richard Hughes and Fenway Sports Group's CEO of football, Michael Edwards, discussed who should succeed Klopp was the Dutchman's history of keeping players off the treatment table on the pitch.

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"Everyone talks about the injuries that everyone has had and it's not luck that Liverpool don't have so many injuries," says 2001 treble-winner Sander Westerveld, who is a friend and former colleague of Slot.

"You can always break your foot or hurt your ankle like Trent but not to have so many muscle injuries, that is the biggest difference with how they train and prepare for games but also how they play games too.

"At Feyenoord, Slot never had injuries either. Everyone talks about Rodri and Pep Guardiola says about how many games [Manchester City play].

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"No, he makes Rodri play every game and that is why he got injured. If you saw early in the season when Trent and Robertson were not fit, he just took them off half an hour before the end. That is smart."

It's almost inarguable that the pile up of problems around February time last year hurt later down the line as the Reds continued to go stride for stride with Manchester City and Arsenal for the title and so many from the squad last year looked way short of 100% as the critical period of the campaign arrived.

This time out, there will be far fewer problems to contend with as the Reds enter the home stretch, closing in on a second title in five years. And if Slot does get over the line in his maiden campaign on Merseyside, they will point to keeping players fit as one of the major reasons why. It's been far from lucky.

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