Conor Bradley may not have many tougher days at the office than Liverpool’s limp 3-0 defeat against Manchester City on Sunday.
It has been a big week for the Northern Irishman, who cemented his place as the Reds’ starting right-back following a brilliant display against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Bradley expertly shut down Vinicius Jnr to show why he can be the Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement Liverpool fans have been hoping for.
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On the back of such a top performance, the 22-year-old should have been full of confidence heading into Sunday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium.
However, with Jeremy Doku in dazzling form, Bradley struggled to win his battle on the Liverpool right.
Despite Doku coming away with a brilliant goal and a man of the match award, City boss Pep Guardiola still saw fit to throw some major praise Bradley’s way after the final whistle.
Conor Bradley of Liverpool appeals ahead of Bernardo Silva of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Conor Bradley singled out by Pep Guardiola
Guardiola has become well-known throughout his career in the Premier League for tossing praise an opponent’s way when he does not see them as any kind of threat.
As a result, anyone receiving kind words from the legendary Spaniard may do so with a pinch of salt.
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Nevertheless, Guardiola’s status as one of the greatest managers of all time carries a great deal of weight, and it is still a feather in Bradley’s cap to have been singled out.
“Today Conor [Bradley] the right-back from Liverpool, I’m really, really impressed,” the 54-year-old said in his post-match press conference.
“Pep Lijnders told me a thousand incredible things about that guy. He can do everything, I know in the game against Madrid how good he was with Vinicius. Vinicius is, wow, right, and he handled it.”
Having seen Bradley struggle to deal with Doku in the same way, they could be forgiven for not feeling the same way.
Bradley can learn from Jeremy Doku schooling
In fairness to Bradley, he did at the very least stick to his task doggedly on Sunday.
Doku may have gotten the better of him time after time, but he did make one or two important challenges himself.
As he heads off to be the star of the show with Northern Ireland, Bradley should still feel pleased with the week he has turned in for Liverpool.
There are signs that he is starting to properly nail down the right-back slot, and as long as he learns from battles such as the one he lost against Doku, it can be a positive in the long-term.
Liverpool fans may scoff at Guardiola’s praise on the back of an awful all-round performance from their team, but there is every chance he is absolutely right about Bradley.