Liverpool throw-in coach: We're not looking to copy Stoke

Cape Town - Throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark, who was recently hired by Liverpool, has insisted he is not looking to take the Reds' throw-in philosophy in the direction of Stoke City.

Stoke turned heads across the Premier League under Tony Pulis with their use of long throws to create chances. Gronnemark sees potential for the Reds to do the same, but wants to take a slightly different approach.

He praised the throw-in ability of Reds defender Joe Gomez, telling Sky Sports: "You can see on Joe Gomez's throw-in that it's very dangerous.

"It's long, it's fast and it's flat, and that will be a very dangerous weapon for Liverpool, even though I'm not expecting Liverpool to make a lot of long throw-ins."

Gronnemark continued: "I don't want Liverpool to be a Stoke number two, so it's not necessary for me to have a lot of long throw-ins goals from Liverpool."

Explaining his philosophy, Gronnemark said: "[The throw-in] is important, because there are normally forty to fifty throw-ins in a game for both teams.

"A lot of people think it's about the long throw-ins and scoring a lot of goals off the long throw-ins, but I'm coaching both the long, the fast, and the clever throw-ins.

"[I want to] improve the players' length [on throw-ins], but the fast throw-ins are about counter-attack throw-ins and the clever throw-ins are about keeping possession."

Manager Jurgen Klopp will be hoping that his new specialist coach can help him improve his already well-oiled machine, as the Reds sit level on points with Chelsea and Watford on top of the Premier League table.