Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DROP TRENT? WOULD YOU DROP MESSI?
stand-out right-back in world football. That is the truth and at an unbelievably young age too. I have no problem if my players get some criticism. They can get it from me, they can get it from other people, but that is the truth. He was the stand-out right-back in football.
“I am a manager myself. We make decisions that other people probably do not understand. I respect that Gareth makes his own decisions, of course, but I didn’t understand it.”
Klopp has reaped the benefit of Alexander-arnold’s shock omission, revealing that the defender “showed a reaction in training when there is no need to do so” ahead of tonight’s visit to Arsenal. But the German is insistent his player should have been in the England squad, and he used the example of Messi (below) to reinforce his argument.
“If you compare Lionel Messi with his best season ever then he is not performing now like he was performing in 2005 and 2006,” Klopp said. “But he is still the world’s best player.”
The Reds boss believes that his young defender is perfectly equipped to prove to Southgate he deserves to be in the England squad by doing his talking on the pitch. And Klopp revealed he is confident Alexander-arnold will bounce back, adding: “Not everything has gone perfectly so far for Trent.
“He has had games where he didn’t perform, and he has had to learn. He has had setbacks together with the team. For instance, missing out on the title by a point. There are people who might have thought that would be the only chance in their life and so they’d missed a once-in-alifetime opportunity. But Trent is not that type of guy, none of us here is. So we tried it again, the same with the Champions League final.”
Klopp has Roberto Firmino back for the visit to Arsenal. Skipper Jordan Henderson is still not ready to return to training, but the manager added: “He will train in the next days and weeks, for sure.”