Jürgen Klopp has praised Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen after his recent form earned him the captain's armband for their 0-0 FA Cup fourth-round draw with West Ham United on Saturday.
Allen is playing out of his skin recently and has presented some of the form he showed at Swansea City. As such, the Liverpool faithful have been full of praise for the 25-year-old, who is seen as a model professional on and off-the-pitch.
The Welshman has had a productive start to the year, scoring a memorable late equaliser against Arsenal at the Kop end in the league, opening the scoring at home to Exeter in the FA Cup and sending Liverpool to Wembley and the Capital One Cup Final by netting the winning penalty in the semi-final penalty shoot-out.
Klopp rejects "fringe player" mentality
Reporters were keen to hear Klopp's opinion on whether he was a player who had been disregarded and desperately trying to become a core part of the team, but the German did not agree with this opinion, saying that Allen "was always a first-team player."
Klopp has come under scrutiny from the fans for not giving Allen a fair deal despite his encouraging form and the Reds boss was the first to admit that he was "not in the line-up a few times" but when Klopp arrived he was on international duty and before that he was injured.
The manager was quick to say that "there was no doubt about quality" of the player and admitted Allen was "not 100 per cent in shape" but said "now he is" and that's "good news."
Allen in great shape, says boss
Klopp continued comparing Allen to the "next transfer for us" and describing him as a "very important" part of his plans. He said it was "really good to have him here" and although Allen was "always in" when the boss first arrived in October, he was "not fit enough in the moment."
Klopp also mentioned that Allen probably thought he should have merited a place in the team early on but described this feeling as "the nature of human beings." The Liverpool boss concluded saying that at present we must all admit "he is in really good shape."