The Carabao Cup, and even to an extent the FA Cup, in the eyes of Jurgen Klopp, are seen as nothing more than minutes and game time for the so called ‘lesser’ players of the squad.
However, Wednesday night was a very good indication that it’s not just the first 13/14 players in the squad who have the capabilities to play for Liverpool.
In the summer, fans of Liverpool and most probably all other teams in the country were expecting the Reds to spend and act like European Champions.
That wasn’t the case, the most notable summer signing for the Reds was 16-year-old Harvey Elliott from Fulham. A young teenager, boyhood Liverpool fan who it seemed had every single club in England after him; we’ve been here before.
After watching Elliott, he looked like one of the more experienced first-team players being asked to get the job done with the younger, less talented players. Always calling for the ball, interlinking midfield and attack (a key Klopp attribute). Although he missed a really clear cut chance in the first few minutes, it shouldn’t be taken away from what was otherwise a very mature and classy performance.
As well as Elliott, Ki-Jana Hoever slipped into the Liverpool defence and looked every bit confident, an topped off a brilliant performance with a goal. Curtis Jones, another local lad coming through the ranks can also give himself credit for a good performance away from home.
At the start of the season, many critics would have looked at the fringes of the first team and looked at some of the above players and wondered why they aren’t out on loan. These players, in pre-season and on Wednesday have shown that they have all the capabilities to play at the highest level, maybe pointing to the notion that Jurgen believes their too good for Championship and League One and wouldn’t benefit from a move away.
But also, it could be a way to show that Klopp is planning for the future, which would put many people’s heads at rests amid suggestions he could leave the club in the near future.
Next up in the cup is Arsenal at home. Which quite frankly, will be the next time we will see most of these youngsters. But, it does give a good indication of were the youth are and can calm a few nerves about Liverpool’s current squad depth.
Quite fitting that we play Arsenal also, a team under Arsene Wenger who were notorious for playing their youth and experimenting in the early rounds of the cup. This sets up perfectly for the youngsters, Premier League opposition, under the lights at Anfield and hopefully progression to the next round.
