The adage “you can’t win anything with kids” was completely disregarded on Sunday when Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp, placed his faith in a number of young players, who handsomely returned the favor by helping his team defeat Chelsea 1-0 in overtime to win the League Cup.
With an injury issue so bad it may have derailed Sunday’s plans at Wembley, Klopp looked to a collection of young players who had combined for only a few first team outings to get him out of a bind.
Liverpool was struggling and needed a boost to turn the tide in its favor as the game headed into extra time with Chelsea leading.
The manager of Liverpool started 18-year-old Jayden Danns, 19-year-old Bobby Clark, and 19-year-old James McConnell. Jarell Quansah, 21, was then added off the bench.
Virgil van Dijk’s header in the 118th minute of extra time gave Liverpool the vital advantage, and all four players appeared composed and unfazed by the moment.
Even though the League Cup is the least significant of England’s domestic championships, Klopp—who has won the Champions League, Premier League, and Bundesliga twice with Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund—said Sunday’s triumph was very noteworthy.
You don’t win prizes with kids, I was informed outside. Write it from scratch. This is without a doubt the most meaningful trophy I have ever won in my more than 20 years as a manager,” he told reporters.
I wish I could be proud of everything more often, but today I was proud of everything. I get asked sometimes if I am proud of this or that.
“Seeing the faces of the kids after the game, Jayden Danns, can you create stories in football that nobody would ever forget – this tonight if you find the same story with academy players coming on against a top, top side, and winning it, that’s how we do it.”
The Liverpool manager had already started the game with 20-year-olds Conor Bradley and Harvey Elliott in a lineup that was largely dictated by the players they had missing.
He will rarely have been so depleted in his managerial career with the likes of Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, goalkeeper Alisson and Curtis Jones, key forwards Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai recently joining a number of longer term absentees on the sidelines.
The loss of Ryan Gravenberch to a nasty looking ankle injury after 28 minutes also did not help the cause, forcing Klopp into a reshuffle that resulted in right back Bradley playing up front.
Yet against a Chelsea side assembled at an eye-watering cost, Liverpool’s youngsters did not wilt.
“This was so special,” added the Liverpool manager, who said age was not in his thought process when he chose his squad.
“You saw the circumstances, we had problems before the game. They became bigger during the game. Tonight is a night I will never forget and if nobody else sees it like that no problem. For me it’s a really nice memory forever.”
