It was just after Liverpool fans were still revelling in what was a great moment for the club. Brendan Rodgers had departed after the 1-1 draw in the Merseyside Derby and had been replaced by Jürgen Klopp. The German brought a refreshing change to Anfield and Liverpool fans were hoping their fortunes were about to change.
Unfortunately, the word injury has been one of the most prominently heard words around Anfield and Melwood ever since the new Reds boss came in. Klopp arrived during an international break, so many players were away on international duty.
Summer signing Joe Gomez was one of them, as he had been called up for the England Under 21’s for a game against Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, with 10 minutes remaining the Liverpool man was forced off with an injury which turned out to be an anterior cruciate ligament injury that put an abrupt end to his season.
Danny Ings joined the youngster on the treatment table only a day after, having made his England debut before returning to Liverpool training, he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury which ended his 2015-16 campaign as well.
It was tough to take for Ings who would have been chomping at the bit to impress Klopp but the injury, which happened in his first training session with the new manager, ended his hopes of making that impression on the pitch for the meantime.
Ings had been a stand-out player in what had been a disappointing first portion of the season for Liverpool, with his energy and enthusiasm rewarding him with a couple of goals and he certainly endeared himself towards the Liverpool fans who instantly saw the positives Ings brought to the side. He bagged himself the Liverpool Player of the Month award for September as well as an England call up and a derby goal at Goodison, not too bad in my book.
Gomez could have bright future under Klopp
The summer of 2015 saw Joe Gomez’s career path put on fast forward as the former Charlton youngster was signed by Liverpool in the summer for around £3.5 million and after impressing in pre-season found himself in the starting line-up for the first game of the season against Stoke City.
The summer signing made great strides and put in some very good performances at the beginning of the season but saw his game time become more cup orientated as the season went on and Rodgers began to rotate the team looking for a winning method due to poor form.
His injury came at the worst possible time as, like Ings, he would have been keen to impress the new Liverpool manager and prove to him that he should be in contention for a place in the first-team. However, the positive for Gomez is the comments that Klopp made when addressing the injury back in October:
"What a wonderful young boy – tall and muscles in the right positions. I’m pretty good at waiting for players, young players especially. This is his home and we will do everything so that he can come back as soon as possible," said the boss.
A new manager speaking like that would give anybody hope, and after seeing his recent Instagram video which shows he is definitely on the road to recovery, things are looking up for the Liverpool man. Being a teenager, Gomez is still a young player so you would expect him to be on Merseyside for a long time, especially after the initial impact he made on the pitch.
Pre-season is going to be massive for both players because everybody else in the current squad has been given the chance to impress during this season. Ings and Gomez will be like new signings for Klopp but he will most likely be bringing in his own players as well so it is important for both Ings and Gomez that they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
With Liverpool’s defensive struggles this season, you feel that Gomez will certainly have an opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the back-four with right-back, left-back and centre-back all options, because he has already shown his qualities in those areas. He is calm and cool when on the ball which will endear him to Klopp and boasts both physical and athletic attribtues, which can continue to be developed by the German in the hope of moulding Gomez into a top-class centre half.
A loan may be on the cards for next season with game time probably going to be limited unless he has an extremely impressive pre-season like he did at the beginning of the previous summer. You would expect him to struggle for many minutes next season and with so much football missed this season, he will be keen to get as many games under his belt as possible.
Klopp has recalled a number of loan players since his arrival so he may feel that he wants to work with Gomez at Melwood but if he doesn’t get the opportunities in the first-team set-up, it may become an option even though he has shown he is fully capable of making the step up.
Ings faces fight to prove his worth, but he can do it
In Ings' situation, meanwhile, Liverpool have been lacking in firepower this season and injuries to all of the four Liverpool strikers have been one of the reasons for this. Christian Benteke’s suitability to Klopp’s system has come into question, Daniel Sturridge has once again been plagued by injuries and Divock Origi, also an injury casualty recently, is still young and adjusting to the Premier League.
It excites me when I think about Danny Ings playing in the Klopp system because he seems to be the type of player who Klopp would favour, due to his high-pressing, his work rate and his ability to be clinical in front of goal, though he might not be the German's first-choice forward.
With Klopp operating with just one striker it creates a fight for that one place between the four players and if Sturridge is fit then he will almost definitely play because he is world class on his day. You feel that if Ings had remained fit, he would have featured heavily under Klopp and enjoyed playing under him this term.
I, for one, hope that he gets an opportunity next season because he could flourish in the manager's system and if he can reproduce the sort of form he started this season in, then there is no reason why he can’t force his way into the starting eleven.
The incoming transfers which are likely to occur in the summer window will also probably have a significant effect on the squad. The outgoings will also prove significant but Ings and Gomez will want to make an impression as soon as they are available to return to first-team training to give them the best chance of showing Klopp what they are made of, to then convince him they are ready for his XI.
What’s important right now however is their recovery from their long injury lay-offs. Both players are progressing well and hopefully they will be ready to go for pre-season, if they can get a good summer under their belts, there's no reason they can't be incredibly useful assets to the club next term.