Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
‘I love the boy to bits’: Klopp raves about Liverpool’s ‘incredible talent’ despite 5/10 display
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp handed 18-year-old Conor Bradley a start against Leicester City in the quarterfinal of the Carabao Cup last night, but things didn’t quite go to plan for the youngster.
The Reds had a shocking start to the game yesterday. They went 2-0 down after just 13 minutes and were 3-1 behind at the break. It looked like yet another one of those disappointing cup nights, but Klopp changed things at half-time and his men took the game to penalties in the second half and won it.
One of the victims of Klopp’s triple substitution at the break was young Bradley. The teenager had his fair share of problems in the first half and was even given a harsh 5/10 rating by yesterday.
Klopp decided to bring Diogo Jota on and Neco Williams slotted in at right-back. Bradley would have been disappointed, but his manager’s post-match comments will surely fill him with joy.
Liverpool boss Klopp: Conor Bradley is an incredible talent
In his press conference after the game, Klopp was quizzed about his changes at half-time.
He said, as per : “Of course, it was difficult for us in the first half. We had to make a lot of changes and then in the end, Neco can play an offensive role definitely, but then together with Conor in that situation that didn’t work out that well.
“Even [though] Conor is an incredible talent, I love the boy to bits, he will be a Liverpool player in the future but today, in the combination, we had to make changes for the second half.”
TBR View:
Bradley made his fourth appearance in a Liverpool shirt last night and it was only his second start. He’s still only 18 and has a massive future ahead of him, but his partnership with Williams just didn’t work.
Liverpool were two goals down and were at the risk of getting knocked out of the competition in front of their fans. Klopp simply had to change things and his decision turned out to be the right one.
The Reds face Arsenal in the semi-final next and it will be interesting to see if Bradley gets a few minutes against the Gunners. It is unlikely, but Klopp’s comments tell us that he absolutely adores the teenager, and he may well get on the pitch at some point in one of the two legs.
