Jurgen Klopp has awarded Jarell Quansah as Liverpool’s Man of the Match during last night’s Carabao Cup win over Bournemouth.
Quansah was outstanding for Liverpool on just his fourth start for the Reds. In stormy conditions on the South Coast, the 20-year-old stood firm.
It’s the kind of display we’ve already come to expect from Quansah. And speaking to LFCTV after the game, Klopp was keen to stress just how highly he rated the centre-back’s performance.
“Was there a Man of the Match tonight or we don’t have that?” asked the Liverpool manager. “He was my Man of the Match,” replied the reporter.
“Mine as well,” Klopp concurred. “A really good game, wow. He loved it, I told him now, he was really over the moon about the game. Concentrated, strong in the tackles, reading the game super well.
“We gave him the ball a lot, he had to do a lot with the ball, Caoimh [Kelleher] was like ‘give it to him, let’s have a look what he can do.’ But they [Bournemouth] are good as well, one or two difficult situations but that’s normal as well. Really, really good game.”
Quansah shines yet again
He may only be seven games into his Liverpool career, but big things are now expected of young Quansah.
The youngster has come through tests before – a tough away game at Wolves on his first Premier League start for example. His first ever minutes away at St James Park were no walk in the park either.
But with the wind howling and the rain sheeting down, this was Quansah’s toughest assignment yet.
In typically cool fashion though, the centre-back never really looked troubled at Dean Court.
A big well done does also have to go to Joel Matip, who shepherded his far younger teammate through the game exceptionally.
And although he did perhaps give his defenders the ball under pressure a little too much, Caoimhin Kelleher had a decent game, too.
Quansah was the star of the show, though. After so many calls for Liverpool to sign a centre-back this summer, it really is brilliant to see the academy graduate shining.
The next challenge now is to keep on working and not let this kind of praise go to his head. If he can keep his feet on the ground, the sky is the limit for Jarell.
