Moreno has come under a lot of criticism for his poor performances
Modern full-backs are expected to be the complete package. They must be able to defend solidly and get forward when the team attacks. Alberto Moreno can certainly do the latter, but his lapses in concentration when defending have cost Liverpool goals.
This has brought a lot of criticism on Moreno, who has performed inconsistently since moving to Liverpool from his boyhood club Sevilla, and since getting injured, he has lost his place in the starting line up to Andy Robertson. But Jurgen Klopp has jumped to the defence of the left-back, saying that he has been treated unfairly.
Speaking from the Marbella training camp where Liverpool have spent the last few days, Klopp has defended the Spaniard, insisting both left-backs will have their part to play in the final few months of the season.
“The way people talk about Alberto Moreno, I hope it has settled a little bit but it was never fair, that’s just how it is,” he told Liverpool.com.
“If you see Alberto Moreno training, there’s nobody in the squad has a shadow of a doubt about him quality-wise”, he continued.
“He’s an unbelievably strong player and he didn’t deliver all the time, that’s true, but at the beginning of the season he was so strong for us.
“There was one game where he dropped and everybody was saying it was exactly like it was before.
“Obviously, life as a football player is not always fair, but in that time if we would have played Robbo instead of him – no chance to convince anybody, he was not ready for that.”
It took a while for Robertson to break into the first team, but Klopp said he believed the Scotland international used that time well to adapt to his new surroundings.
“That’s why we have more than 11 players and, thank God, in the moment Alberto got the injury, Robbo stepped up. It was lucky to be honest, it was exactly the right timing.
“Now Alberto has to fight, no doubt about that, but we need two left-backs, we cannot go into the season with one.”
Fans may not rate Moreno highly but Klopp still sees something in him. The player is undoubtedly talented, but is error prone. If he irons out those mistakes, he could be a very useful player for Liverpool, allowing them to rotate the two players.
