Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he gave Reds right back Trent Alexander-Arnold the match ball after his sublime showing against Watford on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old bagged a hat-trick of assists in Liverpool’s 5-0 win at Anfield, and Klopp told the media at his pre match press conference on Friday, as per journalist James Pearce’s personal Twitter account, that he rewarded the youngster with the match ball.
The football traditionally only ends up with a player if he scores a treble, but Klopp clearly took matters into his own hands after Alexander-Arnold’s phenomenal display of crossing against the Hornets.
The England international put three goals on a plate for the Reds as Klopp’s team returned to their free-flowing best against Javi Gracia’s fine Watford side.
Klopp reveals that he gave Trent Alexander-Arnold the matchball v Watford for his hat-trick of assists. #LFC
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) March 1, 2019
OPINION
This is great to hear from Klopp. The former Borussia Dortmund boss isn’t one for conventions, so he clearly wasn’t going to let the rule about only hat-trick scorers receiving match balls stop him from giving Alexander-Arnold his due for his performance on Wednesday. He may not have physically put the ball in the back of the net, but the youngster was directly responsible for three goals against Watford. He put the ball into the perfect area for every one of those goals, and he deserves some sort of reward for that. Ultimately it’s not the biggest thing in the world, but it was a nice touch from Klopp. It shows, as well, just why the German is so highly regarded as a man-manager. He knows it’s the little things that can make a difference with players, and Alexander-Arnold’s confidence will likely have gone up by an extra 10% after taking home the match ball.
