Lithuanian girl takes women’s football by storm spotlight
If Klopp’s colourful description of goals being “the mother of football” is correct, then Liverpool are in danger of being orphaned.
With 137 chances created, Liverpool have had the most opportunities to score of any Premier League team this season, but have netted only 13 times.
While Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all splashed out on forwards in the close-season, Klopp opted against signing a penalty box predator and the decision looks like coming back to haunt him.
Out-of-favour forward Daniel Sturridge is often on the bench and Liverpool are paying for their lack of cutting edge.
Anfield legend Jamie Carragher said: “You take it back to Manchester United last season in terms of having a lot of games
Only two Premier League teams have conceded more goals than Liverpool this season, with the 12 allowed by Klopp’s leaky rearguard. Klopp is clearly aware of Liverpool’s defensive malaise as he spent most of the close-season engaged in a failed attempt to sign Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip, Ragnar Klavan, Alberto Moreno and Joe Gomez comprise a distinctly flawed unit, with Klopp’s commitment to attack also leaving his defenders with little protection from the midfield.
“If they keep defending the way they are at the minute they’ve got no chance (of winning the title). The goals they are conceding are far too easy,” former Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland said.
Klopp’s decision to rotate goalkeepers Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius has exposed his lack of a true number one. — AFP Vilnius: In basketballobsessed Lithuania, women’s football is gaining new fans after the sensational debut of 10year-old Zemyna Lekaviciute as the Baltic state’s youngest-ever scorer in a second-division match.
After just five minutes on the pitch, Zemyna took a pass and sent the ball past goalkeeper Agne Ratkeviciute, who is more than twice her age, handing her Zalgiris Vilnius reser-ves team a 10-0 lead over Sesupe.
“This was her very first appearance in (second-division) Lyga 1 and she became the youngest scorer in Lithuania,” beamed Svajunas Stravinskas, manager of the women’s football academy at Zalgiris.
Passing the ball to Zemyna was Greta Jaroseviciute, the other youngster on the pitch born in 2006.
Wearing the green shirt of the Zalgiris reserve team, and reaching barely up to her fellow players’ shoulders, Zemyna also grabbed an assist for a late goal that pushed the final score up to 11-0.
It all started four years ago. “One day, when my dad and I were going home from the kindergarten, we saw an ad inviting kids to play football,” says Zemyna, flashing a smile.
At seven, when she started elementary school, she also started training with boys.
“We strongly encouraged her to play,” says her father Evaldas Lekavicius, sitting on the team bench and talking about his passion for football and small teams like Iceland or the Balkan countries.
“Today her greatest advantage is her speed,” he says, praising also his daughter’s character.
“Zemyna is a maximalist. In our family, she has the strongest character,” Lekavicius added with a smile.
At almost 11, the girl wearing the number three, which her dad had worn during his amateur career, has become the hope of Lithuanian women’s football, together with Jaroseviciute.
Zemyna has been practising passes, tactics and skills with much older girls three times a week on one of the few pitches in central Vilnius since 2016. — AFP