Love it or hate it, the international break is a permanent feature of the global footballing calendar, and while some players come back into form, others return worse off than when they left.
In such an extraordinarily busy schedule for players nowadays, injuries are all the more likely and can prove critical in derailing players’ form for clubs. For Liverpool, it has very much been a mixed bag this week.
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Barring Curtis Jones who is happily back from injury and new signing Federico Chiesa who has been getting himself up to speed in training, every Liverpool first-team player was out on international duty this past week.
Many had successes with their teams, others found the transition to the national team challenging; and while some players’ poor performances were insignificant to their teams’ results, others were luckless in their shining individual efforts.
Regardless, there is plenty to unpack and Arne Slot will have different challenges to face when his players return compared to how they left last week.
International break winners
Carrying on from his form for Liverpool in his new deep-lying midfield role, Ryan Gravenberch impressed, with controlled performances against Bosnia and Germany. Creating numerous chances for his team, such as this, as well as working tirelessly to protect the defence, the Dutch international was nothing short of excellent.
Likewise, Mohamed Salah captained his Egyptian side to a 3-0 win over Cape Verde and a 4-0 win over Botswana. After playing as more of a playmaker in the first game, Salah scored on his 100th cap, taking his international tally to 56 goals. Now on four goals and three assists from five games for club and country this season, Salah is in sparkling form.
Trent Alexander-Arnold finally got his chance to make the right-back spot for England his own, leading to many fans calling for him to move up the pecking order and start full-time. Showing off his remarkable passing range to wingers Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka, the England international won two Player of the Match awards.
While out of favour with Arne Slot as Gravenberch now holds Liverpool’s No6 position, Wataru Endo played well in his first minutes this season, scoring 12 minutes into Japan’s 7-0 win over China and keeping the midfield stable in their 5-0 win over Bahrain. In a long season, with plenty of games to play, Endo may prove to be a useful asset when Arne Slot begins to rotate the squad.
Losers of the international break
With two losses and a damning interview about the prospects of his long-term Liverpool career, Caoimhin Kelleher had a difficult week to say the least. While making seven saves in Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 loss to England, he made just two in a loss to Greece with the same scoreline.
Likewise, Dominik Szobozslai was luckless despite the Hungarian captain putting in two enormous shifts in his side’s 5-0 loss to Germany and 0-0 draw to Bosnia. Making 10 key passes across the two games as well as countless long balls and crosses, his desire on the pitch never faded, but the results couldn’t match up with his efforts.
Alexis Mac Allister is now an injury doubt for Liverpool’s Premier League return at home to Nottingham Forest after feeling muscle tightness in the Argentina camp. He made positive appearances in both games against Chile and Colombia but will need to be extensively checked out on his return, with his fitness perhaps not quite up to scratch.
Finally, Harvey Elliott was unable to make it through to either of England’s U-21 matches, following discomfort in the initial training sessions. Having pulled out last week, it was reported this morning that he is likely to be sidelined until late October with a fractured foot, having only played for seven minutes so far this season.
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