On Thursday, Curtis Jones started his first game for Liverpool in almost two months against Atalanta. It did not go to plan as he was subbed off after the first half.
After the game, Jurgen Klopp admitted that the 23-year-old was not fully match-fit.
He said: "We need them all and we need them all aggressive, fit, going for it, a bit angry, full of desire, stuff like this, and not so much dealing with your own situation, like ‘I’ve no rhythm, I didn’t play for ages’, stuff like this. You have to try to avoid that.
"You saw Curtis, who was for most of the season the fittest player, press for 90 minutes like crazy, [Thursday] after 20 minutes he was 100 percent surprised, I was surprised as well.
"Oh look, he feels the intensity already. That is why we made the change at half-time. We don’t have to force it.
"They all have massive quality, we as a group, all together, didn’t show it and that is why we lost the game."
Liverpool will have to manage other players' fitness as well. Diogo Jota made his comeback against Atalanta as well, while Trent Alexander-Arnold was on the bench.
