Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno has admitted that he has changed his attack-minded approach since regaining his place in Jurgen Klopp's first-team plans this season.
Moreno was thought to be on the verge of leaving Anfield during the summer having made only two Premier League starts throughout the entire 2016-17 campaign, finding himself behind makeshift defender James Milner in the pecking order.
However, despite the summer acquisition of Andrew Robertson, Moreno has started nine of Liverpool's 11 Premier League games already this season and he admits that he is feeling much happier at the club now.
"Klopp is such an emotional presence, he can't just stand there watching. He always takes part, he always intervenes. And he has got more hands-on with me this season. Last season he wasn't picking me because Milner was playing and the team was playing well," Moreno told the Daily Mail.
"I went to see him a few times and he said: 'Alberto, you're doing okay but I can' t change the team'. This season I'm a starter and he is closer to me. He corrects my mistakes, he improves me more. I'm much happier than I was last season. It is true that now I am more focused defensively. There's knowing when to go forward and when not to.
"Maybe in the first few years at Liverpool I was always thinking 'attack, attack, attack'. This year, I hold my position more. I think: First, let's defend, keep a clean sheet and, only then can we think about getting forward. I'll always have that desire to head off up the pitch. But you have to be focused.
"There are times when I want to go and the first thing I do is look. And if we are covered then I go. It's choosing the moment. It's making fewer runs forward but making more of them count."
Liverpool face Southampton on Saturday looking to close the three-point gap which separates them from the Champions League places.
Barney Corkhill
