Keita has the quality to fill Gerrard’s No 8 jersey
pASS! pass! Now! Naby Keita had just received possession from Trent Alexander-Arnold, and to his left, Andrew robertson began to hare down the flank.
The collective scream around Anfield let you know precisely what the crowd demanded — an instant ball, ushered into the marauding full back’s path to maintain the impetus.
Keita does not yet speak fluent english but he could not have failed to understand the noisy plea.
But he took a touch, then another. He carried on moving, maybe 15 yards, as Declan rice and Angelo ogbonna scurried after him, snapping at his ankles. So, again, the directive came rolling down from the Kop: pass! pass! Now!
Still Keita would not be hurried. He waited a fraction, then, when he was ready, moved a perfectly weighted ball with the outside of his foot into the West Ham penalty area.
The delay was crucial as it created new angles, enabling robertson to fizz a first time cross to Mohamed Salah. The egyptian tapped in to open the scoring. When Salah was substituted in the 87th minute, all four sides of the stadium rose in acclamation, leaving you in doubt of where he lies in their affections.
Had Jurgen Klopp chosen to end Keita’s afternoon early, though, you can only begin to imagine what the ovation would have been like. The Guinea international, a new £52.5million cog in Klopp’s engine, was brilliant, as the snapshot of his role in the first goal illustrates.
‘Naby is a very good player and you could see that straight away,’ said James Milner, the game’s outstanding performer. ‘He did so well in his first game and you can see he is only going to get better. You can only imagine how good he will be when that happens. He is a ball-winner and has great drive.
‘i’ve seen him get out of tight situations in training that are ridiculous. He gives us depth to the squad, it’s another quality addition and that is what we want.’
Quality is the perfect word. in an ideal world, he would have been a Liverpool player this time last year. When it became clear that was not possible, Michael edwards, the club’s sporting director, struck a deal with rB Leipzig to take Keita off the market.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona were lurking but Liverpool had the foresight to pay then and play him later. Klopp did not want this signature to be lost and you could see in this action-packed 90 minutes why those super clubs were ready to pounce.
As first days go, this was almost faultless. He ran for miles, kept the ball moving — it came as surprise in the 48th minute when he gave a pass away — and his hunger to recover possession was never satisfied.
it was, simply, a performance befitting the No 8 jersey, which was back in service for the first time since Steven Gerrard last wore it in May 2015. Keita might only be pint-sized in stature but his ability is huge. Watch him go: he has the tools to become a giant in this Liverpool team.