That was so much fun. It might only be the League Cup, but this is a game that will be remembered for a long time. It was great wasn’t it? We know the first team can pull off results like this, but seeing a bunch of teenagers doing the same was just brilliant.
Winning this cup isn’t something I dream of or even care about. I mean it’d be nice if we did win it and I want us to win every game we play. What I’m saying is I wouldn’t risk any first choice players in an attempt to win the thing because it’s just not that important. It’s not worth risking our star players, and besides, there’s something special about seeing the young lads given an opportunity and grasping it like this.
Despite not being bothered about winning the competition, I badly wanted to win this game and I think everyone felt the same. The crowd were into it, the players put everything they had into it and Klopp looked like he was going to cry with joy afterwards. It was fucking great.
I wanted to win the game but I wouldn’t have lost any sleep about going out of the competition. Something changed during the game though and all of a sudden it began to feel really important and I desperately wanted us to turn them over. I know why. It was because of the reaction of Arsenal’s players when they scored and then listening to their fans crowing like this was a proper game.
All of a sudden it started to feel much more important than it was. Arsenal were acting like they were beating Big Virg, Bobby, Sadio, Robbo, Mo and the boys. In reality, they were facing half a dozen teenagers and some senior lads who needed game time. Hearing the gloating coming from the away end just made me want us to stick it to the fuckers, and we did.
The second half display was great. The first half was a bit of a train wreck. It started well enough, with Ox running onto a nice ball from Neco Williams and picking out Mustafa in the middle for a close range finish. With that clown in the box it’s just as profitable putting the ball near him than your own strikers.
It was a confident start from the lads but then it started go wrong after Arsenal equalised. We brought it on ourselves by losing the ball cheaply. Ox I think it was, lost the ball with a sloppy pass and it put us on the back foot. We never really recovered from it, though Torreira was offside when he put the ball in the net. No VAR in this competition though.
No matter, I’m not going to complain about the absence of VAR as I fucking hate it. One concern I have though is that the linos might become sloppy because they know VAR is there to bail them out in league games. The guy who didn’t give this should be doing a better job on that call, even if it wasn’t the easiest one to get right.
Soon after it was 2-1 as Origi fell asleep at a free-kick and allowed Maitland-Niles in behind him. Van den Berg got a foot on the cross and the ball was going behind for a corner when Kelleher pushed it back into play and straight into the path of the Arsenal striker who smashed it in.
We were all over the place at this point and we gave away a third with yet more sloppy play. It was Elliott who gave the ball away with a careless pass under pressure, but it was symptomatic of how we were overplaying at the back. It felt as though we were just inviting pressure on ourselves.
We were in real trouble at that point and another wild 3-6 scoreline looked like it might be on the cards. We got back into it before the break when Elliott won a penalty and Milner converted it. If we could sort things out at the back I felt that we’d win it because Arsenal are just bottlers. You put pressure on them and they crack.
The problem was instead of putting pressure on them, we relieved it by handing them three goals. They hadn’t had to work for any of them, which was the most disappointing thing. All presents handed to them, gift wrapped with a nice big bow on them.
Surprisingly, the senior players were our biggest problem in the first half. Not Lallana, he was fine and did everything he could. But Origi was poor, Keita did fuck all and Ox wasn’t much better, although unlike Keita at least he looked interested.
For once even Milner wasn’t good and I wasn’t overly impressed with Gomez either. He was fine in terms of his own responsibilities, but there didn’t really seem to be too many senior players looking to help out Van Den Berg, who at times had a rabbit in the headlights look about him. Shades of Danny Ayala against Norwich.
You know what though, the kid is 17 and playing in the most difficult position on the pitch. Put it this way, it’s much easier if you’re Elliott playing on the right wing than if you’re a kid playing centre back. He struggled but he didn’t get enough help. He’s clearly not ready for this but then anyone who has watched the u23s this season already knew that.
If Hoever had been available then Van den Berg wouldn’t have played but he stuck at it and in the second half I thought he did better, much like the rest of the side.
Except Keita. I was disgusted by his showing if I’m honest. This is a game where he had a chance to really lay down a marker for a first team spot, but he was just so fucking passive and half arsed. Where is the human wrecking ball we saw playing for Leipzig? He sometimes shows flashes that gets people far too excited but so far, the truth is that he’s done fuck all.
I’m not writing him off because Klopp doesn’t get it wrong very often. I tell you something though, if Henderson had performed like Keita did in this game then twitter would have exploded in a fury of rage from the “LFC Family”.
Keita eventually cried off injured but the truth is he never looked like he fancied it anyway. I was calling for him to be replaced by Jones ten minutes before it happened. I didn’t expect it to happen and had he not picked up an injury then it probably wouldn’t, but to me that substitution turned the game in our favour.
We were 4-2 down at that point after Milner had made a shocking error to gift Arsenal yet another goal. Truly appalling stuff again and we were really our own worst enemies all night.
Jones coming on changed things massively though. He was demanding the ball and he was positive with it. He got in and around the box and he made things happen. He was everything that Keita wasn’t.
Ox blasted us back into it out of absolutely nowhere. Incredible strike. We had Arsenal on the ropes and soon after Jones found Origi in the box and he turned and lashed in the equaliser. We were flying around the pitch now and the crowd was bouncing, but yet again we conceded.
This one wasn’t a gift, it was a fantastic individual effort from Willock, who carried the ball forward and hammered one in from 30 yards. Not really anything Kelleher could do, but I reckon Alisson keeps that out. Not sure Adrian would have, but I don’t see Alisson being beaten by that as he’s just bigger and more agile. Maybe I’m wrong, but either way I’m not criticising Kelleher as it was a great goal.
So once again having clawed our way back we were behind again. I said to my Dad with five minutes left that I was sure we’d equalise. The names on the team sheet are different but the mentality was clearly the same and you could just feel the goal coming. Plus we had the miracle man Origi in there.
This game wasn’t anywhere near as important as some of the others that he’s won for us, but it is yet another memorable game we’ll be reminiscing about in years to come that he has played a central role in. He had a poor first half but came up huge in the second. The keeper probably should have saved both of his goals, but he didn’t and once again Origi was the hero. Well, one of them.
This night mostly belonged to the kids, who all did themselves proud. Some stood out more than others but the attitude and mentality from all of them was outstanding.
One player who was good from start to finish was my boy Neco Williams. He was a surprise selection and has almost come from nowhere really. He’s only been with the first team for three weeks but he’s been having a good season with the 23s.
He’s been on my radar for a couple of years, I really like him. I may have written this before, in the diary, but around 18 months I was talking to someone well connected at the Academy and I mentioned that Neco was probably my favourite player in the u18s. I was told “He was Stevie’s too, he loves him”.
Gerrard had just left his job with the 18s to go to Rangers but I was told that Neco was his blue eyed boy, even though there were more highly touted kids in that set up (including Jones and Brewster). Now we see why. I thought he was outstanding.
The problem for someone like Neco is that he’s a genuine, traditional full back. He’s good at everything and in any previous era he’d have a real chance at making it. Now though? The way we play, the full backs are actually the main creative force. Being good going forward isn’t enough. You need to be great.
Trent is the best attacking right back you’ll find, while Robbo is the best all around left back in the world. It’s going to be virtually impossible for anyone to break through. Converted wingers have more chance of making it, although Larouci not being selected for this game shows that defensive nous is still valued too.
Williams had put in a few poor crosses but he delivered when it mattered most, picking out Origi in stoppage time for the equaliser. It was a highly accomplished debut from him.
Of the other youngsters, Elliott impressed with his maturity and confidence once again. He just doesn’t play like a 16 year old. He wants the ball all the time and he’s always looking to make something happen. He stood a ball up perfectly for Origi to attack in the first half (should have scored, poor header) and he won the penalty that got us back into it.
Van den Berg I’ve mentioned. The game will do him good but we might not see him for a while as he has some developing to do. Jones looks like he could contribute now if given the opportunity, but with so many players ahead of him chances are going to be hard to come by. He looks like the natural replacement for Lallana when he moves on though.
And what of Brewster? I’ve said before that I’ve never seen anything from him to make me think the hype is justified, and I still haven’t. I’ve seen enough from Elliott to know he’s special, and I’ve seen glimpses from Jones that suggest he might be too. Brewster though? I’ve not seen it yet, but he can be proud of what he did in this game.
I loved his determination and drive in that second half. He refused to accept we would lose this game and he simply never stopped. He was Firmino-Like in his work-rate and his willingness to drop deep and get involved. He didn’t score but he more than played his part. And of course he stepped up and buried a penalty, showing once again that he’s got a strong mentality.
It was just great to see the kids doing what they’ve seen the senior lads doing. In the last 20 minutes or so of this game, Elliott, Jones, Williams and Brewster were relentless and just grew stronger and stronger and were demanding the ball all the time. I was so impressed with their mentality.
It’s really encouraging to see that the time spent at Melwood, in and around the squad, sat on the bench on matchdays, all of that stuff has paid off. They know what it means to be Liverpool players. You could see it in the way they kept pushing and pushing. This was their “Barcelona”.
Arsenal must have been completely demoralised when it went to penalties. They kept thinking they’d delivered the knockout blow but we kept sitting back up like the Undertaker. Twice we came back from two goals down, and when they made it 5-4 they must have thought they’d finally ended our resistance. Nah, sorry lads, this is Klopp’s Liverpool. This is Anfield. Doesn’t matter if it’s a team of kids or not.
We scored all five penalties, with Jones showing the confidence (cockiness even) to insist on swapping with Origi and taking the decisive fifth pen. It was decisive because Kelleher made a brilliant save from Ceballos.
The scenes at full time were great. Wasn’t it just fucking boss seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces? It reminded me of when we beat Spurs with a team of kids. Mellor, Potter, Raven, Pongolle, Whitbread etc
To me, that’s the magic of the league cup. That’s what it should be about now. The first team winning games in this competition would mean virtually nothing to me, but when the young lads get a chance and do something like this, it’s fantastic and brings smiles to everyone’s faces.
Klopp must have been so proud. I knew exactly what he’d say afterwards because you could see it in his face during and immediately after the game. “I loved it”. “I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun at a game”. Yep, that’s about right. He’s the ultimate football man, he just loves it, and seeing the kids come in and play like that will have had him buzzing almost as much as beating Barcelona.
It’s different of course. It’s not as important, it wasn’t the high stakes, high pressure occasion and it obviously won’t be as memorable. But in terms of pleasure there will have been a similarity for Klopp in how much he enjoyed it, not least because there was no pressure concerning the result. Losing wouldn’t have had any real consequences, so that makes it much easier to have fun.
It was almost like a free hit, there was more pressure on Arsenal because although they also fielded a weakened side, they would have been expected to win given the respective strengths of the two teams. This was Arsenal’s Europa League side. They’ve had experience of playing together and their fans will have expected them to win.
Yet we battered them. The score was 5-5 but in terms of chances and possession, we were dominant. Most of Arsenal’s goals were gift wrapped from our mistakes rather than from them playing through us. Klopp said afterwards that he doesn’t care about the mistakes because it was such a great night for us.
I feel the same. Without those mistakes we wouldn’t have had the drama of a 5-5 draw and a win on penalties. If I was an Arsenal fan though I’d be fucking seething at my side for conceding five goals to a team containing half a dozen teenagers. They’re soft as shite though Arsenal, so the fans probably expect this kind of thing now.
The draw for the next round hasn’t been kind. Had it been at Anfield then this team could beat Villa. Can they go and win at Villa Park against a full strength team though? I doubt it, but you never know. They certainly deserve the chance, and with the amount of other games we have around that time then no doubt they’ll get it. They might be joined by more kids too, as the likes of Ox, Gomez, Milner and Origi are going to be needed in the more important games.
Regardless of what happens at Villa Park, it’s great that these lads will have another chance to play and I for one can’t wait to watch it.
All hail the mini “mentality monsters”!
Team: Kelleher; Williams, Gomez, Van den Berg, Milner; Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Chirivella), Keita (Jones); Elliott, Brewster, Origi:
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