Jürgen Klopp on Arthur adaptation, Napoli record and Spalletti
Jürgen Klopp previewed Liverpool's Champions League clash with Napoli on Tuesday evening during a pre-match press conference at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
The Reds are in Naples for their opening fixture in Group A of the 2022-23 edition of the European Cup.
Klopp faced questions ahead of the contest, discussing various topics with the media - read on to see what he had to say below…
On Arthur Melo and whether Champions League football will suit his style...
Arthur needs now just football - and training, especially, that's how it is. He wasn't in team training for a while at Juve, so he needs proper team training - and that's what we are doing with him. Can he play minutes? Yes. Should he play a full game? No, because he needs to get used to the intensity in each competition. It's not like in the Champions League you have to work less than in the Premier League. Not at all, especially not here. He is doing well, he is really giving his absolute all in training, we have to be careful with him as well and then we will see whether we can use him.
On what Liverpool need to do to get a better result at Napoli this time around...
Sure, we haven't won here, with Dortmund not, with Liverpool not. But I am not sure, we quite frequently qualified for the Champions League final after Napoli was with us in the group stage. I am not sure if all the time, but maybe twice if I am right, with Dortmund and one year with Liverpool as well. But, who cares? How we say in Germany, I'm a late bloomer; I always need a little bit longer to achieve my stuff and that means sometimes I have to try two times, sometimes three times, sometimes four times - and Napoli [could be] four times, obviously. What do we have to do? Play better than in the previous three games, that would be very helpful because we didn't play particularly well when we came here. One reason is because Napoli are pretty strong.
On Luciano Spalletti wearing a cap to his press conference and his thoughts on him as a manager...
Mr Spalletti, I played years ago when he was in Zenit. If I could look as great as he looks without the cap I would not wear it constantly because it would not be necessary! He is a real great of the game, worked all over the world, very successful, you can always see his stamp on the team. It's always clear who is the coach, I respect that a lot. Looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.
On Napoli 'rebuilding' under Spalletti and the young players they have...
They are not all young, but they're all good… I'm not 100 per cent sure, but I think not too long ago there was like a bit of a nervous situation in Napoli around when players left for different reasons, obviously it has all settled again. I'm really happy for the people here. But one player who always stayed is Zielinski and around him you could build again another team - it's [a] really, really interesting project, I have to say. Good football, intense style, different approaches, so really good, I have to say. Spalletti is a good coach, so nobody should be surprised and he's obviously pretty relaxed about maybe some nervous things around. So, probably a really good fit - that's how it looks.