Jurgen Klopp was really impressed by his ‘insane’ Liverpool player against Atalante tonight.
In the end, Liverpool just didn’t have enough left in the tank to inspire the comeback everyone was hoping for.
After the first ten minutes, it seemed like they had it in them to do it. The way Liverpool began was just like how they had started against Barcelona almost five years ago on that magical Anfield night.
But things just fizzled out, especially in the second-half. Liverpool just couldn’t keep the tempo and the high intensity that they maintained in the first half.
Liverpool’s players ran out of steam and Atalanta managed the game well to hold out for the win. There were positives though for Liverpool. Particularly, the performance of one player.
Jurgen Klopp on the ‘insane’ thing Trent Alexander-Arnold did against Atalanta
That man was Trent Alexander-Arnold. It has been a while since he started a game for Liverpool,but tonight in the first half he really showed what the Reds have missed.
He completely dominated the game and controlled possession for Liverpool. Everything positive came from him and Liverpool just looked like they were going to score.
However, that intensity fizzled out from him in the second-half. It was obvious that he was still not fully fit yet. Nonetheless, it was a really exciting first 45 minutes.
Jurgen Klopp was very pleased by Alexander-Arnold’s performance as well. Speaking on TNT Sports, he was full of praise for his vice-captain’s performance.
“If Trent Alexander-Arnold had been a bit fitter, he could have gone a bit longer,” Klopp said.
“How he started the game was insane, [Atalanta] had no clue how to defend that. In the end, he ran out of gas.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ‘world-class’ numbers against Atalanta
Jermaine Defore has recently described Alexander-Arnold as ‘world-class’ and tonight he proved that against Atalanta in the first-half.
Alexander-Arnold’s performance was simply astonishing. As per Fotmob, Alexander-Arnold absolutely dominated the first-half. These were his key stats:
- Most passes completed (36)
- Most recoveries made (8)
- Most dribbles completed (2)
- Joint most tackles won (1