Klopp eyes early Europa League progress to benefit Liverpool's next generation
Hit ‘em hard, hit ‘em early has always been Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy.
Which is why he’ll probably resist the temptation to promote too many of the young players he has spoken so glowingly about in recent weeks, even after revealing his relish to be working with so much emerging talent in his new look Liverpool team.
He will want to get qualification for the Europa League knockout stage out of the way as early as possible…to then give his next generation valuable experience in a different style of football.
Klopp has a trio of teenagers who have already made significant first team appearances in 20 year old Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic 18, and his latest talent with huge promise, Ben Doak, who has six first team appearances to his name at just 17.
Then there is Jarrel Quansah, another 20 year old who looked so assured on his full Premier League debut for the Reds - and was described as Liverpool’s best player by skipper Andy Robertson - in the victory at Wolves last weekend.
Klopp's dream Liverpool line up as last-gasp January transfers rejected
And that is not the end of the conveyor belt of talent coming out of the youth ranks at Anfield. Klopp made a point of singling out 18 year old Bobby Clark last week as he spoke of his undiminished enthusiasm for working with young players.
“So you can see that Bobby Clark has made massive steps, and the club has really good young players - the progress is really impressive,” he explained.
“I have and obviously Vitor Matos and Pep Lijnders are the biggest advocates of all these boys. So they know absolutely everything about them and I see them from time to time and I can say it's good.
“But we have a situation where we don't need to put them in when it's too early for them. So are they in the first team? Probably not. Are they on loan? No, because we want them around to learn.
And at the end of a career, no-one talks about the year when you were 18 or 19. If you were outstanding it can cause you more problems and if you're not in yet, you can feel like you didn't make it yet.
Harvey Elliott has been a fixture in the first-team picture (harvelliott/Instagram)
“So our job is to help the boys to deal with a massive advantage of time in the best possible way, because they have all the time (to make it).”
If that explains why Klopp will lean towards a strong team in Austria against Linz as Liverpool’s Europa League Group stage gets underway, then it doesn’t detract from the passion the manager has for his “Year One” project, which is how he describes his new look, frighteningly young squad.
Virgil van Dijk is back from suspension so likely to start, while Ibrahima Konate needs a game after injury, and his three South Americans, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, who all only played half a game or less last weekend, are all likely to start.
But Klopp will still try to give game time to some of his younger stars, although Quansah picked up an injury at Wolves and may not be risked.
Liverpool transfer window winners & losers as £37m spent on Klopp's "great day"
Perhaps the most exciting of all is Doak, who has agreed a new contract after only joining Liverpool from Celtic last March. That shows the regard in which he is held by Matos, Lijnders and most importantly Klopp.
The teenager has been in the match day squad for every Liverpool game so far this season, and it has already been suggested he is a long term replacement for Mo Salah, given the pace and trickery he has shown cutting in from the right flank.
He has an eye for goal too, and an electric ability to terrorise defences…which was so wonderfully illustrated with a stunning performance for Scotland U21 against Spain in the recent international break.
The problem though, is Salah…in the best possible way. The Liverpool superstar almost notoriously wants to play in just about every game possible, and incredibly, has missed just one European game in his time at Anfield - that historic 4-0 triumph over Barcelona in 2019.
Klopp will have some persuading to do if he wants to rest his influential forward, but he could even play the Egyptian in the centre against Linz on Thursday and use Doak on the right.
Ben Doak is tipped for big things (Getty Images)There is no doubt he will feature strongly in the Europa League this season, and also in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup campaign. The question is when.
The same applies to the rest of the youngsters, with Elliott (seen almost as a guiding figure for those coming through behind him) likely to be given a start in Linz, along with Ryan Gravenberch, who - don’t forget - is still only 21.
Yet there is still some caution from the manager, who has a fine track record in promoting the best young talent at the right time…evidenced when his Dortmund side won the Bundesliga a decade with the lowest average age in the competition’s history.
Klopp has spoken of his boys brigade ‘earning’ the right to play, suggesting: “there is real talent there, but it is not experimental.”
The contract for Doak though, suggests the experiment is already over for this 17 year old from a small town in north Ayrshire. He has been identified by Liverpool’s pathways programme as being a future first team regular…and that time is not far away.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
