Liverpool’s Conor Bradley earned rave reviews after his performance for Northern Ireland against Romania. His display saw him also pick up a 9/10 player rating.
Liverpool defender Conor Bradley was the star man as Northern Ireland drew 1-1 with Romania during an international friendly on Friday evening.
The 20-year-old was deployed in a new role that allowed him to make an impact at both ends of the pitch, and he won back possession early on for his side’s opening goal in the seventh minute, beginning a performance that saw him picked out as the Man of the Match by Belfast Live.
Bradley was handed a 9/10 player rating for his display, which received praise for his work ethic and being the ‘standout player’ on the pitch for the Green Army.
His performance was also deemed ‘magical’ by the Belfast Telegraph, which was impressed by both the Liverpool star’s attitude and ability. Both elements of his game that have previously been praised by club manager Jürgen Klopp.
Bradley recently spoke about Klopp while on international duty with Northern Ireland to BBC Sport. “He’s just good with me and helps me out when I need help,” he said.
“He’s helped me loads and given me my first chance so I’ll be forever grateful to him. It would be lovely [to win the Premier League] but there’s still hard work to go to get that and there’s still loads of games left.
“Hopefully at the end of the season with Liverpool I’ll have a couple more medals to my name, which would be brilliant and give the gaffer the send-off he deserves.”
Liverpool.com says: Conor Bradley is improving quickly since being handed a run of games in the first team, and it looks as though he is replicating the performances for Northern Ireland that Liverpool fans have been enjoying. It’s nice to see him receive the praise he deserves after what has been an excellent campaign so far, and it’s exciting to see how good the 20-year-old could get. He showed the best of both his attacking and defensive abilities against Romania, with further signs of his limitless potential.
As Trent Alexander-Arnold prepares to return, Klopp could even consider deploying both of them in some games where the vice-captain is played in midfield. Sporting director Richard Hughes certainly won’t need to be looking at right-backs as potential signings this summer.
