Klopp lauds Morton among ‘exceptional’ Liverpool trio

Will Ford
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp smiles after beating Everton

Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for 19-year-old midfielder Tyler Morton after Liverpool’s 2-1 win over AC Milan in the Champions League.

The win in Italy meant Liverpool became the first English team ever to win all six of their group games as they dumped Milan out of Europe.

And as Klopp rang the changes, the Reds’ squad players stepped up.


READ MORE: Enter Konate: The next Van Dijk has arrived at Liverpool


Goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi gave Liverpool all three points after former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori had given the hosts the lead.

Klopp said he was “very proud” of his players after an “outstanding” performance and reserved special praise for Morton, who was making only his fifth competitive start.

“I don’t want to make his life more complicated than it is already, when playing at such a young age for a club like Liverpool, with a performance like this,” Klopp said.

“I think we should all calm down, but it was really good tonight. It was a big pleasure to watch the boy playing.

“The football knowledge, the football brain he showed tonight was absolutely exceptional.

“If you are technically on that level – and he obviously is – and you then have such good orientation, then sometimes we have enough time to do good stuff.

“That is what he did tonight. On top of that, he defended incredibly well, together with the other boys.”

Klopp was particularly pleased with their defensive display, having fielded a completely new back four, which included Nat Phillips making his first start of the season and Ibrahima Konate, who may very well be the new Virgil van Dijk.

“I really thought we defended exceptionally well,” he added.

“The plan of Milan was playing through the centre, through the half-spaces between the winger and our eights.

“We made it complicated because of the disciplined work of all of the players.

“I have to say Nate Phillips and Ibou Konate played an exceptional game, absolutely exceptional game.

“How they defended tonight was outstanding, I am really proud of the boys.”