Jurgen Klopp Pays Tribute to Nathaniel Clyne After Defender Shines in Victory Over Man Utd
Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for Nathaniel Clyne following his first Premier League appearance of the season during Liverpool's 3-1 win over Manchester United.
Clyne, making his 100th appearance for the Reds, put in an excellent shift at right-back after Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Milner were all ruled out with injury.
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Speaking to Liverpool's official website, when asked to comment on Clyne's performance, Klopp simply mimed taking his hat off to illustrate how impressed he was with the 27-year-old.
The Liverpool manager did eventually find some words saying, as per the Liverpool Echo: "Clyney: first game of the season and I was sure he couldn't play 90 minutes but he adapted brilliantly to the style,
“A big squad isn't there to make each member of the squad happy. It's to give everybody the opportunity to show that he should play. If you don't show that, then you don't have an opportunity any more to be honest.
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“The best case is that everybody is 100% fit and performs at the highest level.
“You can train at the highest level, but you have to wait. Is that nice? No. Is it the job? Yes. That's how it is.
“Because Clyney did that and trained at a really high level then he could perform like he did tonight, just amazing."
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With Gomez out injured for the foreseeable future and Alexander-Arnold currently battling to return to full fitness, Clyne may have to play a significant part in Liverpool's busy Christmas fixture list.
