Jurgen Klopp has seemingly been very impressed by the young Liverpool trio of Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak and Bobby Clark while out in Dubai.
The Reds flew out to the Middle East earlier this week as they undertake some warm weather training before two friendlies, against Lyon tomorrow and then AC Milan on December 16. With several senior Reds either on World Cup duties in Qatar or recovering from injury, the 33-man travelling party consisted of 13 academy prospects, giving several young stars a chance to impress.
Klopp's inclusion of the young talents is hoped to help introduce them into the first-team picture, particularly given the potentially long-term injuries suffered by the likes of Arthur Melo and, more recently, Luis Diaz. And the Reds boss had highlighted the importance of taking this rare opportunity to include youth mid-season, adding that a select few have looked 'really promising'.
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“Because we have so many young players with us as well, it’s very important to bring them closer,” Klopp told LFCTV. “They did incredibly well, Stefan did incredibly well, so many really showed up, to be 100 per cent honest, and others still have to adapt.
“For example, young Calvin had no pre-season with us, now this is his first pre-season. He was long out, very important for him to get to know everybody and all of these things. Ben Doak looks really promising, now he’s here with us. So all these kind of things are really interesting. Bobby Clark, really interesting player, obviously here with us – like the others as well.
“But they showed already, ‘OK, looks good, have them here'. Then all the other boys, have them here, it’s very important.”
Klopp has often reiterated the point that the next fortnight will act like a full pre-season summer, with warm weather fitness training and friendlies tapered towards an eventual Carabao Cup meeting with Manchester City on December 22. But with the inclusion of so many young talents who are yet to master the German's demanding style, sessions in the UAE have also taken on a more tactical aspect.
“We are really busy here with the boys,” he continued. “They have time off, of course, but every night so far we had an analysis meeting, team meeting where we showed the boys how different things should look.
“It’s not like in school where you think, ‘Oh my God, what is he talking about?’ So, it’s our football and the atmosphere in these meetings I love really because I can see the eyes of the boys [that] we are really onto it.”
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