Jurgen Klopp has lavished praise on Mamadou Sakho following the defender’s stupendous performance against Manchester United.
The boss has described how Sakho has become a fans’ favourite, claiming he has a ‘special way’ about him.
Versus United at Old Trafford, the Frenchman was colossal, making countless tackles and interceptions to secure our passage into the Europa League quarterfinals. He’ll need to be at his best if we’re to progress past Klopp’s old club Borussia Dortmund of course…
“I don’t know which game it was when I heard the crowd sing his name for the first time but it was a spectacular performance,” Klopp told the ECHO.
“Thursday night was of course the same – he saved our life in a few moments.
“Our crowd know about football. They saw it and they like it.
“Mamadou has a special way to walk and a special way to fight. They like him.”
Alongside Dejan Lovren in defence, Sakho’s been excellent recently. The pair have developed a partnership, having previously had to battle with each other for a spot alongside Martin Skrtel.
Skrtel’s been injured since before Christmas, but his issues have worked in our favour as we’ve been able to discover a better central defensive pairing.
Liverpool have only conceded three goals in our past eight matches, with the defence playing significantly better than they did at the start of Klopp’s reign.
The German’s early months were defined by set-piece mistakes, but he seems to have fixed his leaky defence for now. Joel Matip is arriving in the summer, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Cameroonian can force his way into the side with Sakho and Lovren playing so well.