IT’S TRENT ALEXANDER
Local hero a born leader
JURGEN KLOPP has predicted Trent Alexander-Arnold will be Liverpool’s future captain and “the face” of the club.
The Liverpool-born England star, 22, became the youngest player ever to captain the club when he was made skipper for the Champions League clash with Danish side Midtjylland on Wednesday night.
And Klopp (below) believes once current captains such as Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum have gone, local lad Alexander-Arnold will lead the club.
The German said: “We have four captains in the squad and when they’re not there, like against Midtjylland, then it had to be Trent.
“It was only when I told him about it that I saw that it meant a lot to him.
“That’s cool – and it will be his role in the future when other players have finished their careers here.
“He is already preparing to be the face of this club in the future – hopefully along with some others. “That’s really nice and when I saw how much it meant to him it made me happy.
“But the decision was a logical one because of the amount of time he’s been at the club.
“English and German people are really similar but I don’t get why the way you see the captaincy in this country is completely different to us. “I try to understand it. But being a captain isn’t about wearing the armband, it’s about how you behave all the time.
“But yes, Trent is someone who will have this kind of role in the future.
“He is already very special to the younger boys in the team, who all have a similar pathway he’s had.
“I didn’t think he was the best leader we had for the last game but he has been here longer than any of the others so it was a simple decision.”
Liverpool head to struggling Fulham today with Klopp thanking his lucky stars that he has Fabinho at the heart of his defence in the absence of Van Dijk.
Klopp persuaded Fabinho,
27, to join him at Anfield two years ago with both Manchester clubs, City and United, interested in the Brazil international.
“I don’t remember what I said but I can picture when I met him first, he was a pretty shy boy and maybe thought it will be best to be around a pretty vocal, loud manager,” added Klopp.
“I think the best help was probably Bobby Firmino who knew him from the national team.
“And thank god we have him – and Joel
Matip and the other boys – that we have somebody other than Virgil who can play this position. “I would love to say his ability there is just because of us but it is not true. “I wouldn’t even say that Fab is a defence-orientated player, he is an organisation-orientated player – he is very strategical.
“I don’t know what positions he played in his youth by the way, in Brazil – I didn’t ask – but he played quite frequently as a right-back for Monaco and the national team also. “I’m not sure whether he played centre-half before but probably yes. He’s just able to do it.
“His challenging skills are just outstanding defensively and, on top of that, football-wise he is very good in small spaces and that is what gives him the ability to play in midfield so well too.”