The League Cup will always have a very particular place in the story of Jurgen Klopp’s time in charge at Liverpool.
The competition gave Klopp his first victory as Reds manager with a 1-0 home win over Bournemouth back in October 2015 and, four months later, provided his first final appearance in the Anfield hotseat. It has also given the Liverpool boss a platform on which he can assess claims of fringe players, give welcome minutes to those who require game time and, perhaps most importantly, consider the progress of the latest raft of Academy graduates.
Indeed, when Alexis Mac Allister emerged from the bench at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday, he became the 96th different player Klopp has used in 28 League Cup ties.
The calm, composed performance of Jarell Quansah at centre-back was the major bonus of the evening, his unflustered approach in such stormy weather conditions hardly that of a youngster making only his fourth start as a Liverpool player. Each player is their own and the 20-year-old is only just beginning his career journey, but it was impossible not to see shades of certain past Liverpool centre-backs in the manner he brought the ball out of defence and covered ground quickly. And his physical stature means he already looks prepared to feature more regularly at the highest level.
Quansah had 114 touches during the game – 39 more than the next player – which highlighted not only that he was understandably targeted by Bournemouth’s attack, but the confidence his team-mates have in his use of possession. “On the ball, he did really well,” observed Klopp afterwards. “Caoimhin (Kelleher) obviously thought ‘give him the ball quite a lot, let’s see what we can do’.” Quansah also completed the most passes for Liverpool and made the most defensive actions.
The defender can expect more first-team chances in the coming months with Liverpool still having three Europa League group games, a League Cup quarter-final at home to West Ham United before Christmas and the start of the FA Cup in the New Year. It won’t be gamble to play the youngster. But if nothing out of the ordinary was asked of Quansah in Wednesday’s 2-1 win, the same cannot be said of other Liverpool players with Klopp seemingly using the match to try out players in different positions.
Certainly, the surprise at seeing Mohamed Salah start only a fourth League Cup game for Liverpool was heightened when the Egyptian lined up down the centre of the attack. Cody Gakpo began on the left for the first time since February while Dominik Szoboszlai was on the opposite flank.
It didn’t really work. While there were some good combinations between the trio – particularly Salah and Szoboszlai on the right – it was notable Gakpo became more of a threat when drifting into his preferred central areas, with his ability to sniff out a goal evidenced by his quick reactions for the opener. Szoboszlai had moved back into midfield by the time he was substituted late on, while Salah reverted to the right wing once Darwin Nunez was introduced to match-winning effect.
