Jurgen Klopp hails Liverpool youngsters after AC Milan win
A great performance from Liverpool saw the Reds get the better of AC Milan in a mid-season friendly game in Dubai yesterday. Goals from Darwin Nunez (two), Mohamed Salah and Thiago saw the Reds beat the Italian giants 4-1.
But the best part of the Reds’ win was the performance of the youngsters in the team. Stefan Bajcetic, Melkamu Frauendorf and Ben Doak were all excellent against top-quality opposition, especially the Spaniard who seemed so comfortable on the ball.
It all comes at a wonderful time for the Reds, who will now wrap up their preparations in the Middle East and fly back to Merseyside to resume the 2022/23 campaign. Hopefully the time off has given the players time to introspect and work on their weaknesses.
The gaffer was indeed happy with the performances of a few players, especially the youngsters and here is what he had to say about it via Liverpool Echo:
“Of course, when you bring on the kids in the second half and you see the pass from Bobby Clark and the whole performance from Stefan, the performance from Mel [Frauendorf] as a right full-back and then Ben Doak comes on, 17 years old, and is this kind of natural force, it’s really cool to see.
“In these 10 days the kids especially, everybody made a real step forward. That’s why these things are so important, that we can involve them. And in general, tonight was the result of the last 10 days what we saw in training and tonight we could bring it on the pitch, which is obviously nice.”
A number of academy stars made the cut to travel with the first team to Dubai, and they would have valued their experience alongside stars like Mo and Thiago a lot. The Reds’ academy has a history of producing talents for the first team and there are certainly a few players worth watching on the current youth roster.
The Gaffer Lauds the Youngsters
Words of appreciation from the gaffer will have certainly boosted the morale of these youngsters and we could see them get more first-team action in the coming days, especially in Cup games like the one we have on Thursday against Manchester City.
Jurgen Klopp certainly doesn’t shy away from providing an opportunity for the young guns. In competitions like the FA Cup and EFL Cup, the opportunities are there for the youngsters to make a name for themselves.
The bright performances from the young midfielders would have certainly put a smile on the fans’ faces as the future looks promising in terms of the midfield.
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Moreover, it is always exciting to see young players break through at a club like Liverpool and make their mark on the first team as the academy plays a vital role in the development of these players and helps to ensure that the club has a pipeline of talent coming through to the first team.
