Liverpool coach John Achterberg has offered an in-depth update on the fitness of the Reds' goalkeeping duo Adrian and Alisson.
Speaking to the club's official website
On Adrian, Achterberg explained: "We did a few extra sessions with them both last week at Melwood. Obviously, Adrian came late in the summer to us and then after that he had an ankle injury, so we thought it would be beneficial to do some more sessions to keep it going, really.
“We did some decent workouts with him. Distribution, crosses, speed and reactions, power – we worked a little bit on everything just to help him and keep him fit and ready.
“He also had a few days off, but not the full week. We kept it ticking over to make sure he is ready to go again.”
On his overall impact since coming in for the injured Brazilian, the Reds' first-team goalkeeping coach declared: “He has done really well. Obviously, he needed to adapt to the way we play, with wanting him to play out, but he’s done good and picked everything up. We couldn’t be any happier with how it’s gone.
“It is really difficult for anyone to replace Ali, especially when you’ve not had a chance to settle and pick everything up. He had to be straight in after maybe four or five sessions. Then we had two more sessions, played the Super Cup final and then he got the injury, so there was not a lot of time to do extra training."
Speaking of Alisson, Achterberg also offered an update on the custodian's continued rehabilitation from the calf injury sustained against Norwich, reiterating Jurgen Klopp's claims that no date will be placed upon his return as of yet.
“Ali has been working with Dave [Rydings] in the gym a lot to improve the strength and try to keep the fitness levels up,” he said. “In the last few days he has been out on the pitch to do some catching and footwork, as well as small passing drills.
No goalkeeper has won the Ballon d'Or in 56 years. Alisson deserves to be the man to end the drought...https://t.co/9IqhxZIrxr
— 90min (@90min_Football) September 8, 2019
“He has made steady progress, but it is difficult to say how long it will take or how it will progress. It needs time and we cannot look too far ahead, so we take each day as it comes, see how he feels, and then make progress from that.”
Source : 90min