Klopp has direct line to dressing-room – Critchley

L I V E R POOL U/23 coach Nei l Critchley admits manager Jurgen Klopp has the option to dial into the dressing-room if he has a message for the young team which will face Shrewsbury in their FA Cup fourth-round replay tonight.

With the first team away and Klopp absent as part of the club’s scheduled mid-season break, Critchley finds himself in a similar situation to December’s Carabao Cup quarter-final.

Then he led his youngsters while the seniors were at the Club World Cup in Qatar – although that did not prevent Klopp watching from afar and phoning in his encouragement at half-time.

“It was a message that came through, which I have to say was brilliant at that moment,” Critchley said.

“Even though we were going off the pitch thinking ‘we’ve played alright there but we’re getting beat 4-0’, it creates that element of doubt in your mind about whether you are doing the right thing and if you need to do something different.

“So when you get a message from the manager saying ‘don’t change anything, carry on doing what you’re doing, you’ve been brilliant’, it just clears all that doubt in your mind and you can give that message to the players.

“The message killed every doubt, it settled them right down. It helped everyone at that moment.

“That option is available, yes. But that’s up to the manager. Another great quality of the manager is he trusts people to do their job.

“The best support he gives the players is he gives them a chance and an opportunity.

“I don’t know what more support you could wish for as a young player.”

Christian Eriksen has joined Inter.