From genuine hopes of a quadruple to settling for the least-coveted trophy of the lot, the climax of Jurgen Klopp‘s final season at Liverpool was painted in some quarters as a letdown.
But with the German having now handed the reins over to Arne Slot, the club’s first-ever head coach, the lasting impact of that Carabao Cup triumph could cement his legacy at Anfield.
Across their six games in that domestic competition, Klopp called upon 11 academy graduates, including four who made their debut that same season.
Five others made at least one matchday squad, with Liverpool’s group for the final against Chelsea at Wembley including Caoimhin Kelleher and Conor Bradley as starters and Jarell Quansah, James McConnell, Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns introduced as substitutes.
Trey Nyoni and Lewis Koumas watched on as unused substitutes, joining the celebrations after Virgil van Dijk‘s late header and posing together with the trophy at full-time.
It was a result that led the commentating Gary Neville to label it “Klopp’s kids against the billion-pound bottle jobs,” referencing the 10-figure outlay sanctioned by Chelsea‘s new owners in under two years.
Though it was a situation forced – with 11 players ruled out in the buildup including Mo Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alisson and academy poster boy Trent Alexander-Arnold – Klopp’s faith in those youngsters to perform at such a crucial time made a statement.
Just as he did in the 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea in the Premier League that saw Bradley score one and assist two, and the FA Cup fifth-round win over Southampton in which Koumas opened the scoring and Danns netted a brace off the bench, the manager proved his ethos.
If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
Klopp’s final season ended with 20-year-old Harvey Elliott having played the second-most games of any player, Quansah settled as first-choice centre-back and Kelleher marking the longest run of starts of his career.
Bradley featured 23 times, Clark made 12 appearances and scored his debut goal, McConnell made the squad 31 times and played in nine of those games and both Danns and Koumas saw their dreams come true at Anfield.
Nyoni, Ben Doak, Luke Chambers, Kaide Gordon, Stefan Bajcetic, Calum Scanlon and Owen Beck all clocked first-team minutes, while Fabian Mrozek, Vitezslav Jaros, Marcelo Pitaluga, Amara Nallo and Tom Hill all sat next to senior players on the bench.
That Klopp did so while juggling the demands of a uniquely challenging season, both collectively and individually, is testament to his character.
But it also speaks to the foundations of the club, with there an ongoing commitment to youth that has remained as Slot oversees his first weeks of pre-season with a squad largely comprised of academy players.
Add to those mentioned Harvey Blair, James Norris, Harvey Davies, Kieran Morrison, Luca Stephenson, Dominic Corness, Tyler Morton and Sepp van den Berg.
Many of those names will eventually be cut, with loans and sales likely and some instead joining the academy ranks, but there is an expectation that Slot maintains the emphasis on youth.
It is a vision masterminded by academy director Alex Inglethorpe and reinforced by coaches from the under-8s right to the very top.
Inglethorpe in particular will have been vindicated when winger Rio Ngumoha opted to turn down a scholarship offer at Chelsea to make the switch to Liverpool this summer.
The 15-year-old is widely considered one of the finest talents around, and having already made his debut for their U21s the development is said to have left Chelsea “furious.”
Staff on Merseyside, meanwhile, have been left delighted by the signing, with the Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst reporting that they “believe they have signed one of the most exciting youngsters in English football.”
Claims via less reputable sources that Liverpool had broken their long-standing academy wage structure – currently capped at £50,000 a year until a player signs his first professional contract – have been dismissed as PR spin from Stamford Bridge.
Rather than riches – of which, having already spent £92 million more on four teenagers this summer, are clearly on offer at Chelsea – the Reds are believed to have convinced Ngumoha to join by laying a pathway out for him.
Ngumoha will join Wolves midfielder Alvin Ayman in making the move to the AXA Training Centre later this summer, as the latest additions in Liverpool’s post-Brexit recruitment plan.
With work permit rules no longer allowing signings under the age of 18 from overseas, the club changed tack and instead focused on bringing in the very best from around the UK.
Bajcetic, who joined from Celta Vigo for £224,000, was the last brought in before the Brexit deadline passed in December 2020, and Scanlon, a £500,000 signing from Birmingham City, was the first since restrictions were imposed.
Since then, Gordon was signed from Derby (£3.5m), Clark from Newcastle (£1.5m), Doak from Celtic (£600,000) and Trent Kone-Doherty from Derry City (£150,000), with goalkeeper Kornel Misciur arriving from Hull, Nallo from West Ham and Nyoni from Leicester for undisclosed fees.
Centre-back Harvey Owen also completed the switch from Wolves last summer, with an £800,000 fee for the then-14-year-old centre-back evidence that Liverpool’s new outlook may be more costly than poaching from the continent, but also seemingly more effective.
That the majority of those players have already been involved in the first team should be more persuasive to players of Ngumoha’s potential that Liverpool is now the right destination.
It may not be the immediate pathway, with the initial plan being for Ngumoha and Ayman to join the U18s ranks before aiming to progress, but the likes of Nyoni and Nallo last season showed that youngsters can quickly make that step up.
While hours will be put into researching the level of coaching offered at Kirkby and support to the families off the pitch, to those young players, watching Danns being interviewed on ITV and Koumas posing with the Carabao Cup on Instagram will be just as important.
Hopefully that can resonate for years to come, with the faith and trust that came as second nature to Klopp serving as a parting gift to Slot and Liverpool.
