Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp has been full of praise for Nat Phillips due to the massive improvement he’s made at the club.
Phillips was very much an emergency backup last season, but as the Reds’ injury crisis worsened, the 24-year-old was forced to step up.
Klopp says that Phillips is not far off Robert Lewandowski in terms of being the most improved player he’s ever managed.
What’s been said?
Klopp spoke about Phillips.
“Which player made the biggest improvement under my leadership? I said Robert Lewandowski and it’s probably right, but not far off that is Nat Phillips. It’s just a completely different department,” Klopp said.
“But I remember when I saw Nat Phillips first. I said to him, ‘You know you’re not easy on the eye, eh?’ He improved in pretty much everything and he’s not playing here.”
“Life sometimes is not fair. But he’s here at the moment. We needed him to be safe for that half-year for sure. We will see what happens in the winter but we needed him here.”
“He was fine doing it because he’s a great guy. The development is absolutely insane, honestly. You saw it last year. When you would’ve thought about Nat Phillips being ‘Oh god he plays in the last line’. Stuff like this.”
Much improved
It’s fair to say that Phillips has gotten so much better since he first emerged in the Liverpool squad.
However, unfortunately, that’s not been enough for the centre-back to secure a starting spot for Liverpool.
As Klopp says, we’ll see what happens in January, but a player this talented shouldn’t be left to rot on the bench at any club.
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