Moments you might have missed in Liverpool's 4-4 draw with Greuther Furth, including Diaz's reaction to goal, Tsimikas' smoke and Klopp's commentary
Luis Diaz celebrates Liverpool's first goal in a pre-season friendly
Liverpool continued their preparations for the new Premier League season with a 4-4 draw against Bundesliga 2 team Greuther Furth.
Here are some moments you might have missed.
Reason for closing session explained
Monday's friendly at the MS-Technologie-Arena in Villingen-Schwenningen marked the second and final game of Liverpool's pre-season training camp in Germany.
But the encounter with the Bundesliga 2 team is very different from last week's friendly against Karlsruher SC, when Liverpool played it behind closed doors.
That means, like the low point of the football pandemic in 2020, every word from Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff can be heard by the players. Reserve captain Virgil van Dijk's vocal instructions were also regularly captured by some television cameras, with the Netherlands international claiming there would be a chance of winning the captain's armband if Jordan Henderson's move to Saudi Arabia was completed.
In fact, speaking before the game, Klopp admitted his joy at the rare opportunity to interact with the players during the game and assess their leadership skills.
"Okay, that's not cool, no fans here," said the Liverpool boss. "But I can hear the boys self-coaching and I'm really curious about that because it's super important."
Enjoy it because I'm not sure if the new crowd capacity at Anfield will be the same on 19 August, Jurgen.
Luis Diaz recounts the celebration
No one will be more determined to make up for lost time last season than winger Luis Diaz. After missing seven months of last season due to a recurrence of a serious knee injury he sustained in a 3-2 loss to Arsenal last October, the Colombian will be hoping to start the new season the same way he arrived at Anfield 18 months ago.
Slipping past a group of Greuther Furth defenders, Diaz scored his first goal of the summer and put his side ahead with a beautiful cut into the far corner just before half-time.
Perhaps the most telling was Diaz's celebration, as he let out a scream and then punched the air hard before being embraced by his beaming teammates.
Now, 18 months and two halves of a season after arriving at Merseyside, Diaz is ready to don the Liverpool No. 7 shirt in preparation for what he hopes will be his first uninterrupted season at Anfield.
Explaining Caoimhin Kelleher's absence
The extent of Liverpool's injury problems over the past few years has reached such an extent that supporters now have to scrutinize each squad list with wide eyes. And even the Bundesliga 2 match against Greuther Furth was no different.
Along with the injured Dominik Szoboszlai, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was a notable absence from Liverpool's squad on Monday. That raises concerns that Anfield's goalkeeping force will be thin at the start of this season.
However, ECHO understands that the Republic of Ireland international's removal from the squad is solely due to Liverpool's rotation policy. The decision came after the 24-year-old started in the win over Karlsruher SC last week when Alisson Becker was sent off as a precaution. Therefore, Monday's match was seen as the perfect opportunity to put blood in the legs of Brazilian No. 1 Adrian and young player Marcelo Pitaluga. Don't panic anymore, red.
Kostas Tsimikas is angry
As always with 22 professional players, this is never just a friendly match in name and no