Clyne feels force of Liverpool's 12th man
Nathaniel Clyne's buzz from his Anfield debut for Liverpool was still apparent days after the defender witnessed the stadium in full voice for the first time as a Red.
The No.2, who joined the club from Southampton in the summer, ran out in front of his new fans in Monday’s home victory over Bournemouth.
Before kick-off, Kopites had welcomed their team back after three months away with an especially loud version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, red and white flags and banners covering huge areas of the stand as they sang.
The visitors had turned the hosts around to attack in that direction for the first half of the Barclays Premier League contest, meaning Clyne enjoyed a perfect view of the pre-match atmosphere.
“It definitely put the hairs up on the back of my neck,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “It makes you want to play better for the fans and put in a good performance.
“It was a good feeling to play at Anfield for Liverpool. It was a good atmosphere. They are the 12th man and we can use that to build and get better.”
The Englishman has already won favour with supporters for the no-nonsense, consistent approach to stopping opponents he’s shown in his two appearances to date.
He’s been one quarter of a settled back four for Brendan Rodgers, which has yet to be breached in the Barclays Premier League.
Instead, Clyne and co have stemmed the advances of Stoke City and Bournemouth to lay the foundations of consecutive 1-0 wins.
“It’s important to start the season by getting points onto the board,” said the 24-year-old.
“We’ve done that – two wins out of two. It gives us a platform to build on. We haven’t really been firing on all cylinders, but that will come from players playing together and knowing everyone’s abilities.
“It was a good, solid performance from us on Monday. We played well and took the game to Bournemouth. We created opportunities and I think we probably could have won the game by more.
“I don’t feel that we were stretched much, they didn’t have any clear chances. It shows how we were in defence and as a unit, and how organised we were in our defensive shape. We’re looking to build on that throughout the whole season.”
Clyne’s transition to Anfield life was aided by familiarity with a number of his new teammates.
The full-back had worked with Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren at former club Southampton and gotten to know several others on international duty.
James Milner, among the latter, recently commented that Clyne looks like he’s been a Liverpool player for a decade.
The man himself said: “I feel comfortable here, I feel settled and that I’m at the right club.
“I’m playing with quality players and it helps me out to play with solid players. It makes me feel comfortable.
“There’s a good team spirit. There are a lot of leaders in the team that help and talk, and help the young lads as well. With the likes of [Jordan] Henderson and Milly, who are good team leaders, it’s good to have those sorts of players in the team.”