Trent Alexander-Arnold’s name has been widely discussed in recent days after his time with England and Jurgen Klopp knows his decision would be different, but he wouldn’t be swayed by the headlines.
The right-back did not feature in England’s two internationals during the September break, remaining on the bench during the loss in Italy and out of the squad against Germany.
There is a growing feeling that he will not make the final 26-man squad for the World Cup in November with Gareth Southgate preferring the likes of Kieran Trippier, Reece James and Kyle Walker.
The England manager has denied being out of the race but said Trippier’s “whole game is ahead” of Alexander-Arnold’s.
It’s made for wide-ranging discussions of Liverpool’s No. 66, who has been a key pillar in Jurgen Klopp’s side and remains so despite a turbulent start to the season.
In the first opportunity for Klopp to be in front of the media again after an extended period, the subject of Alexander-Arnold came up, of course.
Klopp was hesitant to speak because he knows his words will create headlines, but stressed that he sees the situation with Alexander-Arnold “differently”.
“Do you really want to open this box? I’m serious, you’re an English journalist and we can’t discuss the selections until the World Cup starts, it’s one of the reasons you do massive stories on these things,” Klopp said.
“Why the team can’t prepare properly. If you ask me for my honest opinion, you will create headlines, of course.
“It helps Germany, maybe, it doesn’t help England. I don’t know why we do that.
“A coach chooses a player, or not, which obviously I would decide otherwise, but I’m not in charge of this team and that’s the way things are. If you want to discuss it, I have a lot to say, but I’m not sure it makes sense.
“We are good here because it is completely different because I see it 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,” Klopp continued.
“He’s a good defender, he doesn’t always defend well, that’s also true, but we’re working on that, he’s a young player, he’s 23 years old.
“There is room to improve, definitely, but we only discuss it on the level that we discuss it because his offensive impact is so extreme for us that it could be for every team in the world.
“My point of view, it is an easy choice. Whichever team he coaches at the moment, I would sign him because he is exceptional.
“Is it always exceptional? Nope.
“The rest now is that Gareth’s job is to find a team, and England are obviously blessed with a lot of really talented players in a similar position and it’s hard to field them all together.
“In this case, it could work, Reece James can play from three back and it would be interesting to see how they could trade positions.
“The only thing I can really say is that I see it differently, but that doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong.
“For Trent, he came back and accepts the coach’s decision because he understands football quite well, he is an extremely intelligent boy. As a player, you can never do more than offer what you can offer.
“In football, there is one guy who decides if that’s good enough or not, and that’s the manager. Here, more often than not, it’s the case that he gets picked and for England obviously not.”
