‘Brave football’ earned young Liverpool side win, says Klopp
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says playing ‘brave football’ was what earned a young and inexperienced Reds side victory in Sunday’s FA Cup meeting with Everton.
Liverpool-born academy product Curtis Jones scored the winner for the Reds at Anfield, curling a fantastic shot past Jordan Pickford in the 71st minute.
Nathaniel Phillips, Neco Williams, Pedro Chirivella and Harvey Elliott also started the third-round tie, while Yasser Larouci and Rhian Brewster were also introduced from the bench.
With such a youthful team sent out by Klopp, Everton, who opted to go with a full strength line-up, were fancied to claim a first win at Anfield since 1999.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side, however, were wasteful in front of goal and were made to pay when Jones found the top right corner with just under 20 minutes to play.
And speaking to Match of the Day afterwards, Klopp was full of pride while reflecting on the performances his players had put in.
“They played brave football. Unbelievable individual performances from the kids and the adults as well”, Klopp said.
“Adam Lallana – what a game, unbelievable. Joe Gomez – organising the whole defence for maybe the first time in his life.
“Sensational game and a sensational goal from a Scouser – who could ask for more? You cannot perform like the boys performed if you think you should not perform in that team.
“They all think like that. I am so happy they all showed up tonight. The only thing I didn’t want was a draw. We had to take some risks and it paid off.”
Klopp was hoping to avoid a replay after a run of nine games in the month of December, while Liverpool’s next two fixtures see them go head-to-head with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
Before today’s game, Liverpool were already without Nathaniel Clyne, Fabinho, Dejan Lovren, Naby Keita, Xherdan Shaqiri and Joel Matip through injury, and James Milner had to be replaced within the first ten minutes of the game after picking up a knock.
They will, therefore, be relieved that they don’t have to squeeze another fixture into their already busy schedule thanks to Jones’ superb winner.
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