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Jurgen Klopp On Trent Alexander-Arnold: I "See Him Differently" Than Gareth Southgate Does

Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Trent Alexander-Arnold has room to improve defensively but the Liverpool boss believes the right-back is an "exceptional" player.

Alexander-Arnold did not feature in England's final two UEFA Nations League games earlier this month.

England manager Gareth Southgate elected instead to play Kyle Walker and Reece James against Italy and Germany, before suggesting that Kieran Trippier was also above Alexander-Arnold in his right-back rankings.

Southgate cited a superior "all-round game" as the reason for him preferring Trippier to Alexander-Arnold.

But Klopp sees things differently to Southgate.

Jurgen Klopp pictured (right) with his arm around Trent Alexander-Arnold after Liverpool beat Manchester City in an FA Cup semi-final in April 2022

Jurgen Klopp pictured (right) with his arm around Trent Alexander-Arnold after Liverpool beat Manchester City in an FA Cup semi-final in April 2022

When asked about Alexander-Arnold's international career on Friday, Klopp told Sky Sports: "You really want to open this box?

"I mean it, you are an English journalist and we cannot discuss selections until the World Cup starts, it's one of the reasons why you make massive stories of these things, why the team cannot prepare properly.

"If you ask me for my honest opinion, you will create headlines, it's clear. It helps Germany, maybe, it doesn't help England. I don't know why we do that.

"A manager picks a player, or not, which I would obviously decide differently but I'm not in charge of this team and that's how it is. If you want to discuss it, I have a lot of things to say but I'm not sure it makes sense."

Klopp later added: "We are fine here because it's completely different because I see him differently. It's obvious

"There are stories out there all the time that talk about him and say he's not a good defender, but that's not true.

"He is a good defender. He doesn't always defend good, that is true as well, but that is what we're working on. He is a young player, he is 23.

"There is space for improvement, definitely, but we only discuss it on the level we discuss it because his offensive impact is so extreme for us, it could be for each team in the world.

"My point of view, it's an easy pick. Whichever team I would coach in the moment, I would sign him because he is exceptional.

"Is he always exceptional? No.

"The rest now is that it is Gareth's job to find a team, and England is obviously blessed with a lot of really talented players in a similar position and it's difficult to line them all up together."

Alexander-Arnold has only made 17 international appearances since his senior England debut in 2018, despite being a key man for Liverpool throughout that entire period.

He was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year at the end of three of the past four seasons.

Klopp was speaking on the eve of Liverpool's home game against Brighton.