01 February 2024 , 13:18
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Conor Bradley has grafted for two-and-a-half years to be an overnight success with Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp says he knew when Bradley first trained with Liverpool that he would be a star for the Reds. After making his debut in September 2021 and excelling last season on loan at Bolton, the right-back has grabbed the chance presented to him by Trent Alexander-Arnold ’s injury.
Bradley, 20, has five assists and one goal in his last four appearances and is the first Northern Ireland player since Sammy Smyth in 1954 to score for Liverpool.
Klopp claims his No.2 Pep Lijnders and elite development coach Vitor Matos were always on at him about Bradley’s progress.
“I’ve known it for a while because in my left ear was Pep Lijnders and in my right was Vitor Matos and they were telling me,” said the Reds boss. “Perhaps it’s in my personality because I put both hands in the fire. I loved him from the first days and I didn’t need a lot of convincing.
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“The thing is that Conor showed up extremely good in the pre-season, he did extremely well at Bolton, and he came back and looked top in pre-season.
“Then, wow! He’s out for four or five months with a back problem, these kind of issues that only young people have.
“But thank God, time can sort it and in that age group, it gets better. Now since he’s been back, it’s a joy to watch him and it’s all credit to the academy.”
Conor Bradley of Liverpool celebrates scoring against Chelsea (John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)Liverpool vice-captain Alexander-Arnold, who is having his best season for the club, had to be content with a cameo off the bench against Chelsea because of Bradley’s red-hot form.
The Ulsterman, who comes from a family of rabid Reds, won successive man-of-the-match awards against the Blues and Klopp refuses to see picking between him and Alexander-Arnold as a problem for Sunday’s title showdown with Arsenal.
He claims the likes of Bradley and 19-year-old midfielder James McConnell, who laid on Curtis Jones’ opener in the FA Cup rout of Norwich on Sunday, have been key to their impressive return of six wins and a draw in January.
“There’s no problem, there’s not even a situation!” said Klopp. “It’s just how it is.
Conor Bradley celebrates after assisting their side's third goal of the game scored by Dominik Szoboszlai (PA)“We had seven games in January with 11 days off in between. I don’t know how we fitted them all in, but we had to start on the first of January and lots in between. And we couldn’t have put together the string of results we’ve had without the kids.
“We had James McConnell at six against Norwich and he played extremely well, so these boys used the situation and that’s exactly how in an ideal world how it’s got to be.
“Now the next game is coming in four days and I have no idea who can play again because they looked quite knackered in the dressing room.
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“It’s all fine and we need them all. The next massive game is coming up at Arsenal and let’s recover and go again.”