KLOPP’S BRAVE NEW WORLDIE
Jones’ magnificent strike and kids’ class act show future is bright for Reds
THE scoreline may not have been emphatic, with just a single goal separating the two sides, but the statement undoubtedly was.
If you think Liverpool are good now, just wait until the next lot get going.
Curtis Jones, at 18 years and 340 days, became the youngest Reds player to score in a Merseyside derby since a 1994vintage Robbie Fowler, who was just two days younger.
Jones’ sublime finish 20 minutes from time was worldclass, yet all around him were performances of huge promise for the future from debutants, back-ups and various stars from the Under-23 squad.
At the end, Jurgen Klopp beamed on like a man who could not quite believe he had got away with fielding such a weakened side. Across the dugouts, Carlo Ancelotti looked on wondering at the size of the task ahead.
Charged with beating a team minus nine of Liverpool’s firstteam regulars, a full strength
Everton proved woefully inadequate. Spurning the chances they created, they withered as the pressure built.
And in goalscorer Jones, Liverpool had the stand-out player on the pitch.
It took until 20 minutes from the end for his curling shot from 20 yards to send Anfield into raptures, grazing the underside of the crossbar as it arrowed in on the tiny space between keeper Jordan Pickford’s hand, crossbar and upright.
But the writing was on the wall for well over 45 minutes after Everton failed to convert the chances they created in the early stages.
With each spurned chance, Liverpool’s youngsters grew in confidence. Deployed around the more experienced spine of 22-year-old Joe Gomez, Adam
Lallana and Divock Origi plus debutant Takumi Minamino, right, they started to play.
Klopp would not have minded a week off in late January rather than the complication of an FA Cup fourth-round tie, yet he will know at least he can field the same players again without fear of humiliation.
If Liverpool’s youngsters take a huge leap forward from this, it leaves the rest of the season looking like a long and boring rebuilding exercise for Everton.
Liverpool fans never need an invitation to remind Toffees of the date of their last trophy but there was special delight in the “since 1995” chants that echoed around Anfield.
It is going to be a miserable first day back at work for plenty in Liverpool today.
Liverpool-born Jones has nudged his way to the fringes of both Premier League and Champions League squads this season. But Pedro Chirivella, who looked composed throughout, Neco Williams, Nathaniel Phillips, and Yasser
Larouchi – who came on as an early replacement for the injured James Milner – might not be far behind.
On paper, Everton had never had a better chance to land a first win at Anfield since 1999 or post a first win over their cross-city rivals since 2010.
But after early chances went begging, the longer the game went on, the more Ancelotti’s side tightened up.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Mason Holgate and Richarlison had chances to put Everton three up by the half-hour mark only to find Adrian in the way.
At the other end, Pickford superbly denied Origi after the striker wriggled through traffic and hit a low shot, which the England keeper turned around his post.
After the break, it was all Liverpool though – pressure which built to Jones’s breakthrough – and did not relent with Everton unable to locate the last pass or engineer a clear opening.