Youngsters given harsh reality
Talk about contrasts. From the oldest Liverpool starting XI in almost 70 years on Saturday, this friendly against Strasbourg saw Jurgen Klopp turn to his youngsters.
Indeed, eight teenagers were in the line-up with several making their first appearances at Anfield in front of a sizeable crowd.
The learning curve was steep, not least given the size and physical stature of so many Strasbourg players underlined that, for the most part, this was men against boys.
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It showed during a whirlwind opening when the inexperience of Isaac Mabaya and Luke Chambers told, Mabaya caught napping for Strasbourg’s first goal and Chambers responsible for the second with an unwise pass into his own penalty area.
Chambers also sold James Milner short with a header that allowed the French visitors to sprint away and score a third inside 21 minutes, but the left-back deserves credit for sticking to his task and not letting his head drop. By the end, he was firing shots on goal at the Kop end.
Elsewhere, Stefan Bajcetic, a breakthrough in pre-season, found it much tougher going in a congested midfield as Strasbourg flooded forward during a one-sided opening quarter, but did force a save with a curling free-kick.
Melkamu Frauendorf showed good persistence after a frustrating first half, while both Bobby Clark and Mateusz Musialowski made the most of later cameos from the bench.
Gomez improves as Konate concerns
One area of the team where Liverpool could boast a certain level of experience was centre-back, with both Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate welcoming the minutes after not featuring in the Community Shield 24 hours earlier.
They had contrasting fortunes. Gomez found the mammoth 6ft 6in striker Ludovic Ajorque difficult to contain at times, this anything but a friendly for the Liverpool defence.
Intriguing, though, was when the England man switched to right-back after the break. While Gomez readily admits it wouldn’t be his preferred position, there’s little doubt he continues to improve in the role and enjoyed roaming forward and linking with the attack.
But for Konate it was a somewhat concerning evening. After a pretty non-descript first half, the Frenchman went down twice in quick succession before limping off after some lengthy treatment, replaced by Sepp van den Berg.
Early word suggests there is no lasting issue, but it underlined the potential pitfalls of pre-season with Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Caoimhin Kelleher, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kostas Tsimikas already sidelined going into the weekend double-header.
Nat Phillips, meanwhile, appeared for the second half amid increased speculation of renewed interest from Bournemouth, although any change in Konate’s situation could see such plans reappraised.
Elliott and Carvalho given test
Along with evergreen James Milner – the midfielder would probably play on Monday if he could – only two players who featured in Saturday’s Community Shield made an outing here.
And Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho both provided further evidence of why they will play a part this season.
Carvalho, playing in the number nine role with Darwin Nunez not involved, took a while to adjust to the position but enthused with his willingness to press forward and test the visiting defence.
Elliott, though, was the standout, finding the answer to a first half in which he was often double-marked with a second 45 minutes full of inventiveness, energy and the care in possession that means he will surely feature regularly this season.
The introduction of five substitutions in the Premier League – drawing it in line with other competitions – will be utilised by Klopp, who turned to Elliott and Carvalho from the bench against City. That may well be from where the teenage duo provide an impact, certainly during the coming months before the World Cup shutdown.
One frustration was the absence of Naby Keita and Curtis Jones, two players who would have benefited from further minutes. While Keita’s illness won’t threaten his availability for the Premier League opener at Fulham on Saturday, Jones will now undergo tests on a knock. Any injury couldn’t have been timed any worse.
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