After the triumph which was Sunday’s Carabao Cup victory, the importance of Liverpool’s youngsters has never been more prominent. The current injury list means Jurgen Klopp has been forced into turning to youth to complete his matchday squads, and although the German has never been shy in handing out opportunities, at no point did he think he would be giving teenagers minutes in a Cup final at Wembley.
The recent ascendance of Academy products, whether Klopp was forced into it or otherwise, is perhaps the only positive to come out of Liverpool’s injury woes. It means that, in the most selfish way possible, youngsters like Jayden Danns or James McConnell can get valuable first-team action that may have been impossible if the likes of Mohamed Salah or Dominik Szoboszlai were not unavailable.
Jurgen Klopp has made a point of utilising his academy players during his tenure as Liverpool boss. He has often spoken on the importance of the integration of youth, and Trent Alexander-Arnold is perhaps the most perfect example of this.
Despite this, not even Klopp could have pictured travelling to Wembley to face a star-studded Chelsea team with multiple teenagers on the bench, and nine under-21 players in the squad. It is absolutely absurd. And it makes Liverpool’s victory even sweeter, and provides further proof of just how excellent of a manager Jurgen Klopp is.
It would have been easy, and perhaps even logical, for Klopp to trust his senior players to have got the job done on Sunday. I do not think it is unreasonable to suggest that other managers would have taken one look at Liverpool’s bench and disregarded it, and left the starting eleven to do its job.
But Jurgen Klopp just is not like other managers.
The immense bravery, courage and belief he showed on Sunday just highlights everything that Liverpool fans adore about the German. In the final 15/20 of the encounter, it was clear that Liverpool were ‘hanging on’, and Pochettino’s Chelsea team were growing in confidence. Klopp’s men had run themselves into the ground, and it looked more and more likely that they would just fall short in the final stages.
Everybody could see this. The fans, the commentators and probably even the players. Most importantly, Klopp saw this, and he decided that during the most intense and high-pressure moments of the match, he would bring on Bobby Clark (19), Jayden Danns (18) and James McConnell (19). He even added Jarrel Quansah (20) to the mix during extra-time.
It was this injection of youth, and the excitement that it brings, as four academy graduates take the field, that sparked the Liverpool resurgence. The youngsters battled for every ball, chased every lost cause, and the Liverpool fans were kicking every ball with them. The unity that was felt between the supporters and the players during extra-time is undoubtedly what gave Liverpool the confidence to go and win it. The cacophony that was ‘Allez,Allez,Allez’, the cheers every time a youngster made a tackle or even a pass, and the support of a manager who truly believed that his boys were good enough. This is what drove Liverpool to get their hands on that trophy, and what sets that team apart from the rest.
‘These moments are simply bigger than football. It is community, a sense of belonging, a family. A family all spearheaded by their manager.
It is just that which makes Liverpool special, and it is what separates a Football Team, from a Football Club’