Jurgen Klopp has offered Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius no guarantee of a recall after dropping the error-prone German for his side’s 3-0 win against Middlesbrough.
Reds boss Klopp admitted it was a difficult telling the 23-year-old that he had been benched in favour of Belgium international Simon Mignolet for the comprehensive victory at the Riverside Stadium that pushed the Anfield side up to second in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Karius paid the price for conceding six goals in two games as the Reds dropped five points against Bournemouth and West Ham to dent their title hopes.
They now trail leaders Chelsea by six points after climbing above Arsenal on goals scored, and Klopp said: “Loris is not that fine (about being dropped) but it’s a normal decision in football.
“When you’re not at the best moment you step aside, train hard and see what happens. It’s not the best moment for him at present.”
Asked to put a timescale on the likely first-team absence of the summer signing from Mainz, Klopp added: “That’s not how football works.
“I’m really happy with our goalkeeper situation, but there’s no reason to push one through, we want to develop the players. Loris is still very young, he’s a big talent but there’s no time from for when he will be back.”
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Klopp denied he had bowed to pundit pressure after criticism aimed at Karius from former Manchester United defenders Phil and Gary Neville, who had both criticised the keeper in recent weeks.
“Liverpool FC is a long-term project. We know we have to be as successful as soon as possible and I’m not interested in public pressure but I didn’t want to put Loris through it,” Klopp said.
“I know how strong a character he is. But there was no need to put him through this pressure, especially seeing as we have such a good goalkeeper as Simon Mignolet to call upon.
“It’s all OK and it was the right decision but telling Loris he wasn’t playing against Middlesbrough wasn’t the best moment in life.”
Mignolet can expect to keep his place after a gruelling run of five leagues in 19 days got off to the best possible start with Liverpool’s first win at the Riverside Stadium for more than 14 years.
Klopp added: “The performance was really good and the great thing is that the players listened to what we said, then went out and did exactly what we asked them do.
“We could have scored more but it was a really good display.”
Adam Lallana grabbed most of the plaudits as the England midfielder scored twice and set up the third for Divock Origi to find the net for the fifth consecutive game — the best run by a Liverpool player since Daniel Sturridge enjoyed a prolific eight-match run in 2014.
Middlesbrough are the Premier League’s lowest scorers and their troubles in front of goal left them three points above the relegation zone.
They face a key survival battle at home to third-bottom Swansea at the weekend, and Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka admitted: “We lost against one of the best teams we have played against this season.
“It’s no coincidence they are where they are in the league — they are candidates to be champions.
“When they play the 11 players they fielded against us, with their quality, it is difficult.”
* Agence France-Presse
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Results
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1hr 32mins 03.897sec
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull-Honda) at 0.745s
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 37.383s
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) 46.466s
5.Sergio Perez (Red Bull-Honda) 52.047s
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 59.090s
7. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) 1:06.004
8. Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) 1:07.100
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:25.692
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:26.713,
The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Company%20profile
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