"He's done everything asked of him" - Steve McManaman lauds Liverpool star for improving leaps and bounds after Chelsea thrashing
Pundit Steven McMananam hailed Liverpool fullback Conor Bradley after his performance in their 4-1 hammering of Chelsea on Wednesday, January 31.
The Reds comfortably beat the Blues at Anfield in the Premier League on Wednesday. Diogo Jota (23') and Bradley (39') made it 2-0 at halftime for the hosts. Dominik Szoboszlai made it 3-0 in the 65th minute before Christopher Nkunku scored for the visitors six minutes later. Luis Diaz then secured the win in the 79th minute.
Bradley, who's had to fill in at right-back in the absence of the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, was brilliant against Chelsea. He scored a goal and provided two assists. He also completed 25/31 passes, made four key passes, won 8/12 ground duels, and made three tackles.
After the game, McManaman lauded the 20-year-old's performance against Chelsea and improvement over the course of this season saying (via HITC):
“His improvement in such a short space of time has been fantastic. Everybody at the academy is incredibly proud of him.
“He has done everything asked of him. Come on leaps and bounds. It’s not a foregone conclusion now that Trent would come in now at right-back against Arsenal, arguably the biggest game of the season."
He added:
“He’s had such a good game. It’s great because Liverpool now, off the pitch if they need to, could easily push Trent into midfield and play Conor Bradley. He was excellent tonight. Defensively, he was very, very strong. He played the game like a proper game.
“He is a really good athlete. He is probably still going to grow more because, the more he plays at the higher level, the more he will grow in experience and physically as well. He has great energy.”
Bradley has made 14 senior appearances for Liverpool, with nine of them coming this season across competitions. He's scored one goal and provided six assists in that time.
Conor Bradley on scoring his first Liverpool goal against Chelsea
Bradley scored a brilliant goal in the 39th minute against Chelsea as he marauded down the right flank and scored past Djordje Petrovic. He also won the ball to set up Diogo Jota and then provided a cross for Dominik Szoboslai's header.
After the game, Bradley spoke to TNT Sports about scoring his first goal for the club, saying (via Liverpoolfc.com):
“It’s a very proud moment obviously. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time. I just feel like I’m in a dream. It’s unbelievable. I’m very happy!
"I just couldn’t believe it went in. I just thought, ‘I’m going to hit it here’ and it went in the bottom corner. I didn’t know what to do, I just went into the corner and did a knee slide. It was brilliant!”
With the win, Liverpool are now five points clear atop the Premier League table of second-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand. Chelsea, meanwhile, dropped to 10th place.