Jurgen Klopp believes Ryan Gravenberch was Liverpool’s best player in their UEFA Europa League win on Thursday, despite the fact he only joined the club three weeks ago.
Liverpool kicked off their UEFA Europa League campaign on Thursday evening with a 3-1 win against LASK in Linz, Austria.
Klopp’s side were forced to come from behind to win for a fourth time this season, after Florian Flecker put the hosts ahead from a corner situation.
Liverpool drew level after the break through a Darwin Nunez penalty, before Luis Diaz put his side ahead and Mohamed Salah added a third.
Gravenberch started as Klopp named a completely changed team to the one that beat Wolves 3-1 on Saturday, earning his first Liverpool start since arriving from Bayern Munich on deadline day.
Despite barely playing with his new team-mates over the last few weeks, Klopp was delighted with his £34.2m summer recruit.
“He did really well,” the Liverpool boss told reporters. “For a long time, he was the best player on the pitch, for sure.
“But in the first half, the frustration [from Liverpool players grew] and you saw him getting lost a little bit as well. That’s normal, these things happen.”
The 21-year-old didn’t last the full 90 minutes due to cramp, but he did set up Luis Diaz to score Liverpool’s second goal with a superb cross.
“He stayed in the game as long as he could,” Klopp said. “Really good moments, very good moments, set up a goal for Lucho [Luis Diaz].
“For not knowing a lot about his team-mates, he looked pretty in-tune.”
