Speaking after Liverpool’s win against Preston North End, Jurgen Klopp has been chatting about Nat Phillips after his performance off the bench.
Phillips came on against Preston, replacing Joel Matip at half-time, and he put in a solid performance, helping the Reds towards a clean sheet.
Interestingly this was Phillips’ first senior appearance of the season after he slipped down the pecking order over the summer.
Indeed, while the centre-back was a regular last season, he is now the fifth-choice at Anfield behind Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and new signing Ibrahima Konate.
However, despite his lack of football, Phillips hasn’t allowed his levels to drop in training and Klopp has been full of praise for the 24-year-old.
What’s been said?
Klopp has had nothing but good things to say about the defender.
“It was clear as well that Nat Phillips will come on because we just have to let him out because he’s in an incredible shape, is training really well – and I think we could see that. He’s a top-class centre-half and that’s really good to see,” Klopp said.
Professional
It would be absolutely understandable if Phillips had allowed his levels to drop in training. After all, the centre-back is currently out of favour at Anfield.
However, the defender has shown how much of a consummate professional he is here. He’s working just as hard as ever and he’s clearly impressing Klopp.
Of course, it will be difficult for Phillips to usurp the likes of van Dijk, Matip and Gomez, but he’s seemingly going the right way about it in training.
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