Jurgen Klopp admits he is surprised by questions over Trent Alexander-Arnold's defending at Liverpool.
And the Reds boss paid tribute to his right-back after he claimed a 16th assist of the campaign for Sadio Mane in the 1-0 win over West Ham United.
Mane latched on to Alexander-Arnold's ball into the box in the first half, staying just onside to score the winning goal of a hard-fought game with David Moyes' men.
Alexander-Arnold's contribution down the other end was also notable when he cleared Pablo Fornals' goal-bound chip off the line after the Hammers man had beaten the offside trap.
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Alexander-Arnold has played in 24 of the Reds' 27 games this term in the Premier League, helping them to the third best defensive record in the table behind Chelsea and Manchester City with just 20 conceded.
Klopp admits he is confused that there are still questions that are asked of the 23-year-old defender from a defensive point of view.
"Does it surprise me? Yes. Absolutely," he said. "But I don't think that will change with whatever I say tonight.
"If he couldn't defend, he couldn't play. At least not in this position.
"He has improved in all departments and of course in defending as well, but he is young so he can still improve and he has to improve.
"But yes, his defending is not a problem that we have.
"So when you see him playing, we have helped him a little bit with positioning and stuff like this and we have tried to bring him into positions formation-wise to where he can be influential.
"But of course it is all about him, his skillset, his quality and his right foot.
"That is it and he is really keeping this situation in focus to set up goals.
"He knows where the dangerous situations are in the opposition box and around that and he really tries to put the ball there.
"That is very helpful and we have worked together for a long time because the strikers obviously expect that as well.
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"It was a brilliant run from Sadio for the goal and I don't think it was a shot [from Trent] for the goal, I heard some talk about that.
"I don't think he connected with the ball properly but he wanted to bring it into the box and find someone who picks it up.
"That was Sadio at the time, so it was a really good goal."
Klopp also spoke of his delight at seeing incidents such as Alexander-Arnold's clearance off the line and Andy Robertson's last-ditch tackle to deny Jarrod Bowen in the second half.
The Liverpool manager said he celebrated the interceptions like goals as the Reds went to within three points of City at the top of the table.
He added: "All these situations were, for me, like scoring a goal to be honest.
"If the game becomes interrupted [by the defending] then I can celebrate it. Obviously sometimes it is not interrupted and the game carries on but inside it is exactly the same for me.
"We don't have time to analyse but if we do, I will consider [defending West Ham's chances] exactly like we scored a goal.
"If the organisation is wrong for a moment, it doesn't mean you cannot defend the situation, it just means you have to do it differently. We did that quite well.
"West Ham defended us with blocks and it is passionate defending as well, I just wish we had some more patience, so that if they do this, too often we took the option to shoot, so it was too easy to block the ball.
"But if we are calmer in these situations, the boys have a clear sight again and can finish the situation off better.
"We felt in a rush a little like we had to finish the game off instead of staying calm and trying things in the right moments.
"That was the story of the game, we couldn't finish it off but the door stayed open."
