Anfield legend Sami Hyppia has praised fellow defender Joel Matip's performances for Liverpool this season.
Former centre-back Hyppia was speaking toLiverpool.comwhen he said:I knew him [Matip] 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."
Matip is yet to be on the losing side in his short time in Merseyside since making the move from Schalke in the summer. The 25-year-old has quickly cemented himself as a key figure for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp.
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." Added Hyppia.
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.�
Matip for free is our best piece of business since Hyppia for £2.5m and that's the biggest compliment i can give the lad. Superb.
Former Finland captain Hyppia made 464 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 35 times. The former Bayern man's style of play has often seen him used as a comparison to Matip, however he doesn't see it himself, jokingly saying:If you want to see similarities, I think there are some “ but I think he's a bit quicker than me!�
Liverpool fans will be hoping Matip can emulate Hyppia's success at the club. There are signs that this Liverpool side are up there with the very best and failure to achieve silverware will be seen as a failure to most of the Anfield faithful.