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(Reuters) – Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has described central defender Nathaniel Phillips as a ‘monster’ in the air after the 23-year-old’s dominating performance in his Premier League debut in Saturday’s 2-2 win. -1 over West Ham United.
Pushed to the starting side in the absence of injuries from Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Fabinho, Phillips held West Ham’s attackers at bay with his no-nonsense defense to earn praise from his coach.
“He’s a brilliant guy, a smart guy, smart, everything. He knows … we both laughed at that … He wasn’t really pretty to look at and he wasn’t pretty to look at, we’re both not (Lionel ) Messi, but who cares, “Klopp told the BBC on Saturday.
“In the air he’s a monster and he loves having challenges on the field. He was amazing in his first game. I’m pretty sure you can all imagine how nervous that can be after a long wait.”
Klopp said that Phillips, who played his first competitive game for the team in the FA Cup win over Everton last season, might not have been at Anfield this season.
“It’s a crazy story. Three years ago he was on his way to America to go to college. Then he came to our second team, then we found him, he trained with us and he impressed us,” Klopp said.
“In the summer, 12 Championship teams (second level) wanted him. It was clear that he would go and I was fine with that at the time, but it didn’t work out. Good for us. Tonight he got it right, he helped the team incredibly. It was a good performance. “
The victory thanks to a late goal from Diogo Jota brought reigning champion Liverpool to the top of the table with 16 points from seven games.
(Report from Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Edited by Sam Holmes)
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