Ex-Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia has hailed Joel Matip after the defender’s fantastic start to his Liverpool career. Matip was signed from Schalke in this summer on a free transfer and has played a commanding role in the Liverpool defence. Liverpool haven’t lost a match with Matip in the starting eleven but have struggled without him.
They gave away a two-goal lead against Bournemouth and conceded three goals to lose the match 4-3 recently and the game showed Matip’s importance to the team.
The 25-year old came through the Schalke academy and has spent seven years before making a switch to Liverpool. Hyypia had a stint of 10 years at the Anfield and then moved to Bundesliga to play for Bayer Leverkusen. He had the experience to play against Matip and has been full of praise for the player.
“I knew him from Germany, I think I played against him and then managed Leverkusen when he was at Schalke.
“He’s a good player. He’s a big guy, dominant player, very comfortable on the ball and that’s a big piece of how the team plays.
“When you want to play football, you need to have somebody who is comfortable on the ball and on the other hand a strong defender.
“His style of play is that he is comfortable on the ball but I think that comes from confidence, he is very confident that he can play football.”
