Ragnar Klavan Makes Case to Displace Mamadou Sakho in Liverpool Loss to Chelsea

Liverpool continued their pre-season preparations with a clash against Premier League rivals Chelsea in the early hours of Thursday morning, in the first of three games in the money-spinning International Champions Cup at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Falling to a 1-0 defeat to Antonio Conte’s resurgent Blues following a powerful header from Gary Cahill, Jurgen Klopp’s side can feel disappointed at ending their first major challenge of the summer with their first loss.

However, just as previous victories over Tranmere Rovers, Fleetwood Town, Wigan Athletic and Huddersfield Town should have little bearing over Liverpool’s fortunes in 2016/17, the same goes for this high-profile outing against the Stamford Bridge club.

Instead, Klopp and his backroom staff of Zeljko Buvac, Peter Krawietz and Pepijn Lijnders will be picking apart the minute details as they attempt to improve their side’s performance on the pitch when it counts.

A clutch of players produced encouraging displays at the Rose Bowl, with 18-year-old academy midfielder Ovie Ejaria’s technical prowess catching the eye and James Milner’s half-hour display at right-back suggesting a new role for the veteran. But perhaps most promising performance came from debutant Ragnar Klavan.

In the aftermath of a disagreement between Klopp and centre-back Mamadou Sakho that saw the Frenchman sent back to Merseyside due to his manager’s concerns over his attitude while on tour, Klavan’s first appearance for the Reds became more significant.

Acquitting himself well over 90 minutes in Pasadena, Klavan presented Klopp with an intriguing option in Sakho’s absence—with the summer signing, previously considered a comfortable backup, now presenting his case for a regular role.

Sakho had travelled with the Liverpool squad to their training camp in Palo Alto, California, in a state of limbo: liberated following the dismissal of a UEFA anti-doping case looming over him for three months, but sidelined with a troubling Achilles injury that will keep him out until at least the start of the season.

The Frenchman was included alongside fellow absentees Lucas Leiva and Joe Gomez, in a show of solidarity from a manager who had previously told reporters Liverpool were “not going there on holiday,” and he took part in team-building exercises as the Reds adjusted to their surroundings.

This included a trip to San Francisco’s historic Alcatraz Island, with Sakho providing Liverpool’s official YouTube channel with coverage throughout:

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During Sakho’s tour of the former prison, however—when interrupting an LFCTV interview with the manager—Klopp made a troubling remark, saying, “only one of us came late last night for departure in Liverpool; it was not me, it was you.”

What was initially packaged as an example of a lighthearted moment between Klopp and Sakho, it uncovered this as one of the factors behind the German’s decision to dismiss the former Paris Saint-Germain captain from duty in the United States.

Clarifying his decision ahead of Thursday morning’s …

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