There’s almost nothing as good in the realm of funk than Sly and the Family Stone. There’s a timeless element to it that has been more enduring than stuff that’s a bit out more toward the edges, like Parliament-Funkadelic, or the more straightforward style employed by bands like Kool and the Gang. Unfortunately, the mic on Gerald Martini’s sax in this performance wasn’t quite up to par, so you can’t hear the rejoinder that follows every chorus very well, as that’s one of the signature elements of this track. In contrast, what was up to par was the performance by Liverpool’s academy squad that took on Southampton tonight in the senior-level FA Cup. The most prominent element of that performance by the final whistle was one Jayden Danns, who’s even sporting a Sly-style hairdo, as fate would have it. Jayden is the player who first touched a ball for the senior side one week ago against Luton Town, came on in the second half against Chelsea on Sunday to earn a winner’s medal, and then scored not only his first but also his second goal as a senior player tonight. Pretty good week.
Of course, we also can’t forget the guy who opened the scoring, Lewis Koumas, who was making his very first appearance as a senior player and did so with an adept shot off a nice feed from Bobby Clark, who was alongside James McConnell, the everpresent jarell Quansah, and the now-regular Conor Bradley once again. And oh, hey, 16-year-old Trey Nyoni also made his debut for the senior squad (younger than the iPhone, yo.) Turns out Bill Shankly was right when he said “I’ve always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside: Liverpool and Liverpool reserves.” But now that we’ve firmly established that La Merseya is the best academy in European football, let’s not forget the man who insisted on its development and its placement with the senior squad at the new training center in Kirkby so that the transition between the two would be easier than ever. We went out and spent a pile of cash this past summer and are benefiting from everything (and everyone) that that largesse brought. But we’ve also apparently been sitting on a gold mine of talent at home that is going to reinforce that refurbished squad for years to come; all of them raised on the current philosophy of Liverpool (Klopp) football. When Jürgen arrived at Liverpool, the youngest scorer in our FA Cup history was Michael Owen, at 19 years and 20 days. Since then, six players (Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Sheyi Ojo, Jayden Danns, Lewis Koumas, and Kaide Gordon; the youngest at 17 years, 3 months, and 4 days) have beaten that mark; two of them tonight.
I mean, granted, this was a Championship opponent and if Cody Gakpo had had his shooting boots on, it would’ve been laid to rest a long time before Jayden put the game out of reach. Also, my vote for MotM likely would’ve gone to Ibrahima Konaté, who was amazing on both offense and defense and basically everywhere that a centerback should and should not be in normal circumstances. But there’s no denying that the game was driven forward by da youts like Harvey Elliott, as well as other veterans like Joe Gomez, playing at the 6 for much of the evening. The outright joy of much of the proceedings is also another reminder to never visit match threads on r/LiverpoolFC, where the reaction to the proceedings early in the second half was to complain about how Conor was looking “lost” at right wing again… The absolute self-entitled pessimism that still infests so many so-called “supporters” of LFC after nine years of Jürgen will never cease to repel me. But, whatever. For now, just revel in yet another win and rest assured that this squad, even devastated by injuries, can still put a game in against any opponent. Right now, the only music you should be hearing is another round of Allez, Allez, Allez.
Liverpool 3 – 0 Southampton
But, yeah, Soton had their opportunities. There can be no debate about that. That includes Shea Charles missing an absolute sitter with a wide open net to his right, but who had the misfortune to put it into the side netting even before Caoimhin Kelleher had a chance to come at him. The Saints created a fair number of solid chances, as can be seen above and it was really only bad luck and Kweev’s once-again excellent keeping that made sure that the seeming cruise to victory was, indeed, a cruise and not a scramble. The press in the first 20 minutes of the game was basically non-functional. Once the team got coordinated, it worked much better and Southampton found the going much more difficult. That’s when we roughly took command of the game and, once we had the momentum of Lewie’s goal behind us, started to carve them open in the second half with some degree of aplomb. Certainly, there was some concern about fatigue, since Harvey and Captain Virgil Van Dijk had both played 120 minutes three days ago and Joe had played 90 at both fullback positions, which involves a lot of distance to cover in our system. But something to keep in mind is that part of what makes up the xG above is xG from set pieces, which they had more of. When you look at xGoT (expected goals on target), the edge swings to us, 1.71 to 1.12 and we still had a massive edge in field tilt (75% to 25%) and defensive action height (the average point on the pitch where a team took its initial defensive action), 62 to 35.6. That explains our margin in high turnovers (sequnces that start 40 yards or closer to the opponent’s goal; 17-2), as well.
Once again, my main concern in coming into this stretch of injuries was the fact that Alisson Becker was among the casualties. I’m OK with that now. I’m still hoping that he makes it back for the City game, just because, but Kweev has proved that he’s more than up to the task, making a couple more excellent saves tonight and obviously being in the flow of regular play with his long distribution and rapid throws.
Standing out on both ends of the pitch was, once again, Harvey. He’s still more creator than scorer, which is why I’d prefer him in the midfield, but with Bobby and James in there to push the issue, we really needed someone who provides a threat up front in the same way we did against Chelsea. He did launch one of his excellent outside-the-box inquiries in the first half and generally kept things moving on the right side, trading places with Conor at any opportunity.
But, man, that assist was killer and the finish was even better. Forget age and the level of the opposition, both of those are markers of outright skill that, again, should leave everyone quite content for the future.
Speaking of Bobby, he played the regular Harvey role tonight and looked even better than he has over the past two matches. Clearly, regular play is suiting his development, as well. There are still a few decision points that he could reassess but that’s what comes with a) being young and b) being exposed to opponents that are far older and more experienced. As one of those players I had a bit of a question about in terms of who was coming up from the U23s and below, it’s good to see him actively progressing with each match.
Have to note the assist, of course, as well, as that pass into Lewie was pretty sharp. That goal along with Jayden’s brace made it the first senior match in Liverpool’s history that two players 18 or younger have scored.
And, yes, this is now meme-worthy, as Jayden and Lewie make it 50 different players that have scored since Joe joined the club, while he still waits for his first. But he also completed 91% of his passes, made six clearances, four recoveries, and won 2/2 aerial duels while playing the 6 for the first time in his career. He’s been showing his ability while inverting from both fullback positions, but this was the first time he was playing as an out-and-out midfielder and he looked as comfortable as ever. Jürgen insisted the the player who really won the game for us was Joe and there’s an argument to be made.
But, yeah, what would a post these days be without a comment on officiating? FFS. When I heard that Man United had scored off a free kick with Casemiro playing the same role that Wataru Endo did on Sunday and it was the same official calling it the other way, I just laughed. Here Dale Johnson is suggesting that, since Casemiro wasn’t as close to the eventual scorer, it can’t be called offside. But somehow standing in the way of other players (i.e. making a play on the play, not the ball) is the same thing that Wataru did and yet…
Whatever. We’re at Forest on Saturday and then at Sparta Praha the following Thursday and then the season is basically on the line next Sunday when Man City comes to try to settle all family business. And, sure, here’s that last goal from Jayden, too. The most impressive part might actually be the curling shot by Conor (and the really nice save by Joe Lumley.)
Extra Time 