Liverpool’s Diogo Jota has admitted squad rotation is crucial for keeping players fresh and boosting their chances of success this season.
The Portugal international started Liverpool’s first five matches of the season but was rested for Saturday’s win over Bournemouth, only to return to the team to score the first two goals as their Carabao Cup defence began with a 5-1 victory over West Ham.
Jota is currently head coach Arne Slot’s first choice as centre-forward but was deployed as a number 10 against the Hammers to allow Darwin Nunez, who replaced him at the weekend, his second start of the campaign.
Following the summer signing of Federico Chiesa from Juventus, Slot has two players for every position across the front line and five of those six have already found the net, with only Italy international Chiesa, who made his first start on Wednesday, yet to score.
Rotation is not something the Dutch coach made a habit of at former club Feyenoord but with Liverpool likely to be fighting on four fronts, he knows he has to adapt.
“We know the staff work on managing the players and (their) load as we know a lot of things are coming and we want to be in the best place possible,” Jota told LFCTV.
“Some players didn’t play much yet so we know these games can be tricky but we showed we are all prepared.
“Physicality-wise we need to get those minutes and we are ready for a big season with hopefully a lot of games.
“We wanted to progress in the cup; we won it last year and we wanted to do it again.
“Since I’ve been here we’ve won it twice already. Like in a game when you score two you want the third one and that is exactly what we want this season.”
Jota’s quality in front of goal has never been in doubt but he has been denied the chance of a better scoring record because of a succession of injuries.
In the previous two seasons, the 27-year-old has missed 248 days with five separate issues, while over the four whole campaigns he has completed at Anfield his cumulative absences amount to eight days short of a full calendar year.
That was a problem Jurgen Klopp never found an answer to and his successor Slot is already looking at ways to lessen the impact.
“Rotate,” said the Dutchman, who rested the Portuguese for Saturday’s win over Bournemouth, when asked what the solution was.
“I think we are trying to manage his minutes like the others in the best possible way.
“But we also try to prepare them during the week and during the first months of pre-season to prepare them for so many games in the Premier League.
“Sometimes there are small margins, sometimes you can be unlucky as well. If you saw what happened with (Manchester City midfielder) Rodri, that is so unlucky for him.
“In the end, you need a bit of luck as well. What the players can do is be as professional as possible, live in the best possible way for their career and I think that’s what they’ve done until now.
“We, as a staff, try to prepare them in the best possible way to go without injuries through this period.”
