Clinton Morrison has suggested that one Manchester City player has proved Jurgen Klopp wrong on one particular topic.
With just 22 players in their senior ranks, City have the smallest squad in the Premier League according to Transfermarkt.
Now that the Blues are once again on the verge of winning another Premier League title, one pundit has heaped praise on one of City’s first-team players who has played a fairly small but undoubtedly crucial role in the season so far.
Morrison says Stefan Ortega has proved Klopp wrong
Speaking in a recent edition of The Friday Football Social on BBC Radio 5 Live, Morrison had this to say when asked if there is a better second-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League than Stefan Ortega.
He said: “Jurgen Klopp thinks it’s [Caoimhin] Kelleher and he has been outstanding at Liverpool, but for me, it’s Ortega.
“I think he is brilliant. I think he gets into most teams in the Premier League. He is an outstanding goalkeeper. I think he is fantastic.”
Ortega is good enough to be anyone’s first-choice goalkeeper
This season has seen Ortega feature in 18 games across all competitions, keeping eight clean sheets along the way.
Across his eight Premier League matches, the 33-year-old has had to deal with 25 shots on target and made 19 saves, leaving him with a strong save percentage of 76%.
In comparison, Kelleher, who has appeared in 10 league games this season, has saved 28 of the 38 shots he’s faced, giving the Irishman a save percentage of 71.1%.
Having made three vital saves in the second half of City’s recent 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur after being substituted on for Ederson, this makes it easy to see why Morrison thinks so highly of Ortega and what he’s helped City do this season when called upon.
Now that the Brazilian has been ruled out for City’s remaining two games of the campaign, Ortega will presumably now have the chance to further show people how much of an impressive goalkeeper he is and that he’s good enough to be anyone’s first-choice shot-stopper.