Young players - Liverpool's launching pad in the League Cup

Coach Jurgen Klopp considers the use of young players as the secret to helping Liverpool reach the final of the English League Cup in two of the last three years.

Liverpool's success so far this season has been underpinned by the influence of their young players, and that was evident in the Carabao Cup. Four academy graduates featured in the opening game against Leicester, alongside 17-year-old Ben Doak and 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic. Then there were four youngsters in the win over Bournemouth, then five in the win over West Ham. Jarell Quansah started all of those games, while Conor Bradley featured in the semi-final against Fulham.

This is also Klopp's mark during his time leading Liverpool. In the journey to the League Cup final in 2016, his first season in charge, the German coach used players who grew up from the academy such as Connor Randall, Brad Smith, Cameron Brannagan, Joao Teixeira and the newly recruited young talent Jordon Ibe.

Quansah (left) and Bajcetic (middle) are two young stars that Klopp highly values and have made great contributions to helping Liverpool reach the final of the English League Cup today. Photo: Sky Sports — Quansah (left) and Bajcetic (middle) are two young stars that Klopp highly values and have made great contributions to helping Liverpool reach the final of the English League Cup today. Photo: *Sky Sports*

There are many reasons why Klopp favours young players, including a desire to harness their determination and hunger to perform. "I want a group that wants to play in this competition," he told Sky Sports . "It makes sense to bring in fresh air, fresh minds and people who really want to do it, and want to win this particular game more than anything else in their lives. That's why Liverpool have gone so far in the competition. Three years, two League Cup finals, not bad at all."

Another, equally important, reason is Klopp's need to rotate, with Liverpool competing for trophies in all four competitions. "In the first season, we had a lot of Europa League group games and you had to rotate," the 56-year-old said. "Where else can you do that? You want to win, but you have to rest players and give others a chance. Two years ago, we won the FA Cup, the League Cup and that was really special. You can't get to the final without playing young players. That's impossible."

Klopp cited his first season in charge of Liverpool. In the 2015-2016 season, the "Red Brigade" reached two finals, but lost to Man City on penalties in the League Cup and lost 1-3 to Sevilla in the Europa League. "In the first season, we played 63, 64 games. So the young players had the opportunity to play and we reached two finals," he said. "Brad Smith, Connor Randall. I still keep in touch with Pedro Chirivella who plays at Nantes. They helped the team a lot. Then there are other excellent players, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher. It's great that Liverpool have a good group with these young players to develop, not to win the world championship but to win specific matches. That really pleases me."

Klopp sees giving young players a chance and their ability to seize those chances as part of what makes Liverpool special, and has praised Liverpool's academy director Alex Inglethorpe. "Liverpool is a special club," Klopp said. "Not everyone from the outside sees it that way. I work here and I can tell you that. The fans want Liverpool to spend more money on transfers, but I'm pretty sure they're happy that Liverpool do it a little differently. At a club like Liverpool, we're still very happy to promote a player from the academy to the first team. That's pretty special."

"It's great to have these kids around. This morning, there were six young players training with the first team and I thought it was fantastic, and no one outside knows their names yet. The future of Liverpool is very bright," Klopp added, and wants to help these young players reap trophies in his final season in charge of the team, starting with the final at Wembley on February 25.

Hong Duy

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