Trent Alexander-Arnold is injury free and back, and he showed that against Fulham where he played a very good game and scored the first goal of the game with a brilliant free kick.
Alexander-Arnold joined Liverpool’s academy as a six-year-old, and turned 17 the day before Jürgen Klopp became the club’s manager. He made his Liverpool debut just over a year later, in a home match against Tottenham, which the Reds won 2-1 in autumn 2016.
– He has grown in every way since I first met him, and he has become a real man. He was a fantastic player from day one, a fantastic talent who has developed into an outstanding world-class player, says Klopp at the press conference before the Merseyside derby.
In senior football, Klopp is the only manager he has had, in addition to Gareth Southgate, who gave him his debut in the national team almost six years ago. Klopp believes the 25-year-old will be able to get even better under a new manager.
– For a manager, it is quite unusual that you get to take part in such a journey over such a long period of time. Trent has never had another manager in professional football so it will be nice for him to have new influences in the future, that’s obvious. I think he can be quite happy with the steps he has taken. If you see him play now, you see what a good player he is, it’s absolutely sick, says Klopp.
– He is one of these stories that not many clubs get to experience, and that people talk about for 20, 30 and 40 years. It’s very nice for a boy from West Derby, and perhaps the best thing you can experience in this world.
Wanted to explain what was behind the headlines
After Alexander-Arnold’s stunning free-kick against Fulham, Klopp spoke about his free-kick and what it was like to have him back.
It appeared in the newspapers and was interpreted as something negative about Conor Bradley, without Klopp’s intention. This is what Klopp was quoted as saying.
– Conor Bradley has played a number of football matches where we have thought “oh, wow, what was that?”, but the truth is that nobody is like Trent, and that’s just the way it is, Klopp is said to have said.
Now he wants to explain what he meant.
– I hope that it was not misunderstood after the last game when I spoke about Conor Bradley who had played a few games, but Trent is Trent. I have to say Conor is Conor. For a period he was our best player, a revelation and incredibly good. I saw the headlines and thought that maybe I had said something like that, but that it wasn’t what I thought I was going to say. I already told Conor that.
– Bradley is also exceptional, and it is very nice to have these players here.
Everton – Liverpool will be played at 21.00 tonight, and will be shown on V Sport PL and Viaplay.
