Having been introduced to James Milner’s wife and children, Arne Slot was spotted deep in conversation with Liverpool’s former vice captain and his own skipper for the night, Andy Robertson.
Elsewhere, in the bowels of Brighton’s Amex Stadium, was Alexis Mac Allister, who could be seen chatting through things with his former colleagues Pervis Estupinan and Julio Enciso.
Verbruggen, in fact, was so struck by the performance of Vitezslav Jaros in the Reds’ 3-2 win over Brighton to set up a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Southampton that the Seagulls’ shot-stopper simply had to learn more.
It’s fair to say then that Jaros, a relative unknown to those outside of Liverpool circles, enhanced his wider reputation in Sussex on Wednesday night.
“I didn’t really know too much about it,” Jaros himself says of the fingertip save from Adingra at 1-0. “I was just getting across then the header went back across the goal and I just stuck my hand out to get something on it – and it went wide luckily
Otte backed up that private claim to Verbruggen later that night with a response to a clip of the save itself on social media. Three emojis that consisted of clapping hands, a smiling face and the symbol for a mind blown was quite the wordless piece of praise from the Reds chief.
“I thought it was really good,” was Jaros’s own more general take on his full Liverpool debut. “The team performance was brilliant as well. I’m happy with it overall. I’m really happy that I could help the team like this in a tough game against Brighton away. I’m over the moon with my performance and the team performance.”
It’s testament to Jaros’s own quality that he was able to stand in for the stand-in and produce such an assured and authoritative performance in a difficult away-day against the well-drilled and upwardly mobile Brighton.
If the injury to Alisson Becker unexpectedly thrust Jaros into the spotlight for the 1-0 win at Crystal Palace earlier this month due to Caoimhin Kelleher’s own absence, the ongoing hamstring problem for the Brazil international meant the reserve keeper found out ahead of time about his involvement in Wednesday night’s tie, with Slot keen not to overexert current deputy Kelleher while the first choice continues to convalesce.
Having found out he’d be starting on Tuesday, Jaros says: “You’re not really thinking about it until you get into the ground. You don’t really do anything different other than maybe rest a bit more because you know you’re playing.
“You have to be physically ready and mentally as well, so not staying up too late or anything like that. [At the final whistle, Arne Slot] just said congratulations, you played well and all that. I’m very happy
“[It’s easier] when you know it’s coming because everyone’s getting into the game, and you can build up to it as well. I’m quite pleased with the performance. There are obviously a few bits that I would do differently, looking at it now. But overall, I’m pleased.
“I think the boys dug in, you could see the last five to 10 minutes we were under the cosh a little bit and Brighton brought some players on who caused us trouble. It’s massive because the boys won [the Carabao Cup] last season. Everyone wants to carry on and defend the trophy and go to Wembley again.”
Despite a profile that, judging by Verbruggen’s piqued intrigue, suggests Jaros is not yet a household name among even the goalkeepers’ union of the Premier League, the 23-year-old is no novice
Last season’s campaign was a memorable one at Sturm Graz as he kept goal for the team who won the Austrian league and cup double before he was part of the Czechia squad for the European Championship in Germany as an unused backup.
That stint in the second half of last season helped end Red Bull Salzburg’s domination of the Austrian Bundesliga and caught the eye of those at Anfield, who made the decision to promote him to No.3 behind Alisson and Kelleher, following the departure of veteran Adrian.
But if the performance of Jaros is credit to his own ability, mentality and development, it’s also a feather in the cap of a goalkeeping department that has been in flux in recent months.
The transition from the departure of the long-standing and hugely respected John Actherberg and the subsequent recruitment of Otte and Hans Leitert – whose informal association with the Reds was made more concrete when he took over as Fenway Sports Group’s head of global goalkeeping in the summer – has meant that it has been all change where the glovesmen coaches are concerned at the AXA Training Centre
Alisson is widely regarded as one of the planet’s finest around the Kirkby facility, while Kelleher’s reputation as arguably the most polished of deputies has long since been established, even if it’s a tag he is seeking to rid himself of. But the performance of Jaros at the Amex is proof that Liverpool have not simply stumbled on two excellent shot-stoppers. On the contrary, it is further proof that those tasked with finding the quality in the No.1 position for the Reds are clearly getting it right.
Jaros says: “We have a really tight group with the goalies so everyone supports whoever is playing. Everyone wants to play, but everyone is really supportive. I’d put it down to the scouting as well. The club, the coaches and the staff, are doing a really good job.” Even Verbruggen will now be able to attest to that.
