Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp has hailed Joel Matip’s influence on the team’s UCL success.
Matip played a major role in defense alongside Virgil van Dijk in the second half of last season after coming in for injured Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren.
Klopp has now said he believes Matip is underrated and was one of the best defenders during the latter stages of last season.
His words, “I think everything about him has been said, what a guy he is, what a player he is, but not a lot of people spoke about the impact Joel Matip had in the last third of the season”
“I don’t see a lot of centre-backs in the world who are better in that period, 100 per cent, pretty much without any mistakes.
“Virgil was the constant in that last line [of defence] and it felt always good when you saw him there. He organises a lot of things on the pitch. He’s a fantastic player and was a pretty good signing.”
On Milner, he said, “There are still a few good years to come [from Milner] and I’m not sure if we already have to think about what he can do after his career,” Klopp added.
“But I’m pretty sure for a guy like him there’s always a door open at our club, 100 per cent.
“You could see in different moments last season how much it meant to him, four years back [when Milner joined on a free transfer] I don’t know what people in Liverpool thought about him, but it was a brilliant idea in that moment because without players like Milly success in football is impossible.”
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