‘He’s in the right team’ – Jürgen Klopp singles out ‘exceptional’ Liverpool ace after Fulham win

After Liverpool defeated Fulham 2-1 in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Anfield, Jürgen Klopp gave one player in particular, and rightfully so.

Conor Bradley was hailed as “exceptional” by Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp following his team’s 2-1 triumph over Fulham in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal. Though he struggled to replace the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, the young youngster had a lot of potential.

Bradley faced a difficult assignment against Willian, but he was able to develop and came close to helping Darwin Núñez score. When Sky Sports questioned Klopp if he would sleep well after his performance, the German coach responded, “He will,” with great satisfaction. It’s unlikely that he will make it home; he’ll probably pass out in the changing room.

“Exceptional. What a boy. Fantastic character, real talent, top potential — and he’s in the right team because everybody loves him and respects him and wants him to succeed. It’s really nice.

“Yes, despite all the challenges that come with playing football, that was a very amazing game. It was really difficult and demanding. He may have contributed to our goal by tripping over the ball or something, but collectively we clearly created some issues for ourselves against Fulham’s extremely compact defense; we moved a lot and became stranded on the wing, lacking fluidity, so we needed to adjust and play more in the half-spaces.”

After failing to save a bouncing ball, Andreas Pereira set up Willian for a strong low effort that went past Caoimhín Kelleher, putting Liverpool down after 19 minutes. Liverpool were frustrated by Fulham’s deep defense, and if Bobby De Cordova-Reid had passed to Pereira rather than taking a shot from a tight angle, Fulham could have increased their lead.

But Klopp’s introduction of Núñez and Cody Gakpo altered the course of the match. Curtis Jones equalized with Núñez’s pass, and he later set up Gakpo to put Liverpool ahead. The Uruguayan came close to scoring on his own, but Conor Bradley’s cross was brilliantly saved by Bernd Leno.

Klopp said to beINSPORTS: “We had a lot of possession in the first half, but not much result. We spent too much time playing with the formation, so we now need to adjust a little bit because there are a few things we are used to that weren’t present today. All you need to do is adjust to it; it’s not an issue.

We witnessed the problems in the first half; the challenge is in addressing them, communicating with the players, and disseminating information. Again, halftime was very important to instruct them on where to play and other things since, although we didn’t play poorly, we didn’t play well either.”