Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for Nat Phillips after a successful Premier League debut for Liverpool against West Ham.
He especially liked his no-nonsense style – something he joked wouldn’t compare him to Lionel Messi.
It comes after Phillips wins the man of the game against West Ham.
The 23-year-old was drawn from the reserves with injured Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho.
There were question marks as to whether Rhys Williams, who impressed as a teenager, or Jordan Henderson would play.
But Klopp surprised everyone by naming Phillips, who was about to be sold by Liverpool in the transfer window.
Instead, the Bolton-born defender showed an exceptional performance as the Reds beat West Ham 2-1.
And Klopp was most impressed with his ability to defend rather than any party tricks.
“The story behind him makes it even more incredible,” said the head of the Reds.
“I’m very happy for him, he deserves it more than anyone else.
“He’s a brilliant guy, a smart guy, intelligent, everything. He knows everything about himself as a footballer.
“He really kept it simple tonight, which was important to us.
“He’s not easy on the eye, he’s not Messi, but who cares? In the air he’s a monster! He was amazing.
“He was loud on the pitch and spoke very well, he overcame the challenges, he was there and was aggressive.
“He may have given away a foul and played a really good game.”
Jamie Carragher was also full of praise for Phillips and compared a moment to Van Dijk.
He said, “It was what he did from the air. What Fabinho and [Joe] Gomez lack is domination in the air.
“If you play some teams, not necessarily the top teams, but a lot of teams will try to set standards, direct balls, cross into the box and score second balls.”
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“Liverpool didn’t look at it at all against Sheffield United and that gave them big problems.
“But today, that header at the end of a corner, one of the last kicks in the game to be the leader and make sure you got your head on it, normally that would be Van Dijk’s role.
“It was an important header and Liverpool really won the game.”
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