A special place will always belong to the League Cup in the narrative of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure as Liverpool’s manager.
In October 2015, Klopp’s first victory as Reds manager came from the competition as the team defeated Bournemouth 1-0 at home. Four months later, he made his first and last appearance in the Anfield bench.
The manager of Liverpool now has a platform to evaluate fringe players’ claims, give much-needed playing experience to those who need it, and—perhaps most importantly—take into account the development of the most recent class of Academy graduates.
In fact, on Wednesday at the Vitality Stadium, Alexis Mac Allister came off the bench to become the 96th different player that Klopp has used in 28 League Cup matches.
The main highlight of the game was Jarell Quansah’s cool, collected performance at centre back. In spite of the terrible weather, he handled himself with such poise that it was almost surprising for a young player making just his fourth start for Liverpool.
Even though the 20-year-old is still just starting his career, it was hard to ignore similarities to some of Liverpool’s previous centre backs in the way he moved the ball out of defence and gained ground swiftly. Additionally, he appears ready to play more frequently at the greatest level based on his physical stature.
With 114 touches during the game—39 more than the next player—Quansah demonstrated the faith his teammates had in his usage of possession in addition to the fact that Bournemouth’s offence was logically directed towards him. “He did a great job on the ball,” said Klopp in the aftermath. “Caoimhin (Kelleher) obviously thought ‘give him the ball quite a lot, let’s see what we can do’.” In addition, Quansah made the most defensive plays and completed the most passes for Liverpool.
With Liverpool still having three Europa League group matches left, a League Cup quarterfinal at home against West Ham United before Christmas, and the FA Cup beginning in the New Year, the defender may anticipate further opportunities in the first team in the upcoming months. Playing the child won’t be a gamble.
Even though Quansah was not asked anything unusual during Wednesday’s 2-1 victory, Klopp appeared to be using the game to test out players in various places, thus other Liverpool players were not subjected to the same scrutiny.
When Mohamed Salah lined up down the centre of the attack, it certainly added to the surprise of seeing the Egyptian play at the centre of Liverpool’s only other League Cup start. For the first time since February, Cody Gakpo started on the left, with Dominik Szoboszlai starting on the other flank.
It was not very effective. The trio had some wonderful combinations, especially with Salah and Szoboszlai on the right, but it was noticeable that Gakpo became more dangerous when he drifted into his favourite central areas. His ability to sniff out a chance was demonstrated by his fast reaction time for the first goal.
By the time Szoboszlai was replaced late in the game, he had returned to midfield, while Salah had switched back to the right flank after Darwin Nunez’s game-winning introduction.
Nunez entered the game shortly after the hour, along with Alexis Mac Allister and Trent Alexander-Arnold. With Joe Gomez starting at right back and the defence staying the same, Alexander-Arnold ostensibly played as the number six, but Mac Allister frequently partnered with him in a double pivot as Bournemouth pressure put Liverpool on the back foot in the closing minutes.
However, Alexander-Arnold was able to break forward with purpose thanks to his position; none more so than a strong probe that culminated in a shot that Bournemouth custodian Andrei Radu fielded. Naturally, Nunez’s pivotal moment in the game was set up by his pass from a key position.
Of all Klopp’s experiments on the South Coast, Alexander-Arnold’s midfield cameo may prove to be the most beneficial in the long run. However, he was easily forgotten amid the storm in the skies and on the pitch. The Liverpool manager is still very interested in the League Cup.
