8 months ago
163 Gary Neville had no idea who some Liverpool players were on Sunday.
Neville’s confusion was probably shared up and down the country.
Liverpool were down to the bare bones for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Chelsea with a host of big-name players missing.
Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota were all ruled out.
Ryan Gravenberch was stretchered off in the first half too, as if Jurgen Klopp needed any more injury problems.
As the game wore on, Liverpool’s only option was to throw on young players – and they battled admirably to help the Reds over the line.
Virgil van Dijk’s header won it for Liverpool, giving Klopp a truly memorable victory as the clock ticks down on his Reds career.
Gary Neville left confused after Liverpool substitutions
That Chelsea couldn’t beat a battered Liverpool side with a host of kids on show is another damning moment for the Blues this season.
Yes, Chelsea had many young players on the pitch too, but pundit Neville has admitted that he didn’t even know some of the players Liverpool were bringing on.
James McConnell, Jarell Quansah, Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns all came on to help Liverpool secure a famous victory.
Neville has now told Sky Sports (26/02, 7:40pm) that he had to put his microphone down and take his headphones off on commentary to tell Jamie Carragher that he didn’t even know some of Liverpool’s substitutes.
Neville reiterated that this was a Liverpool reserve team and that Chelsea ultimately wasted a big chance against them.
“I know there’s been people today saying ‘Chelsea’s team was younger than Liverpool’s. The idea of ‘Klopp’s kids’ wasn’t actually something that meant we were saying Liverpool’s team was younger,” said Neville. “Carra will tell you this by the way, they made those substitutions, I actually pulled my headphones off, put my mic down and said ‘Carra, I haven’t got a clue who’s playing for Liverpool here. There’s three or four players, I don’t even know who they are’. No word of a lie, they were playing against Liverpool reserves,” he added.
Neville may not have known Liverpool’s youngsters when they came on the pitch, but he will surely know them now.
Those prospects now have a Carabao Cup to their name and will be looking to nail down spots in the Liverpool first team in the years to come.
Whatever happens down the line for these players, they have made themselves club heroes with Sunday’s display, and that won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
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