Liverpool transformation has already begun and Jurgen…

Liverpool transformation has already begun and Jurgen Klopp has just dropped his strongest hint yet

It wasn't quite the changing of the guard. But there was something notably different from the team that started for Liverpool against Napoli compared to those still on the pitch come the final whistle.

Of the players who took to the field at Anfield in the closing Champions League group game on Tuesday night, seven were aged 30 or above, captain James Milner - just over two months shy of his 37th birthday - the oldest.

The average age of the team was 28 years 266 days. By comparison, Napoli's starting XI had an average age of 26 years 164 days.

Come the full-time whistle, though, the situation had changed dramatically, with Liverpool's average age plummeting to 24 years 103 days, altered by a raft of substitutions that saw Jurgen Klopp turn to the younger players at his disposal to first help the Reds gain their late advantage and then ultimately see out a 2-0 triumph against the Serie A side.

While the advancing years of the Liverpool squad has been a concern that has quietly been addressed in the transfer market in recent years - all the way back to Harvey Elliott's arrival in the summer of 2019 - Klopp's continued reliance on his tried and trusted has been brought into sharp focus by the travails of this campaign.

The huge efforts of last term, the short summer break and the condensed pre-season, along with a spate of injuries, have all combined to further drain the energy of those players who have been available. With many nearer the ends of their careers than the beginning, it's perhaps small wonder Liverpool have struggled to reach their usual levels of intensity and aggression. Legs have been tired.

Indeed, five of the Reds' leading seven appearance-makers this season are in their 30s.

That's what made Tuesday's game intriguing. First there were the younger players named in the XI, 23-year-old Ibrahima Konate and 21-year-old Curtis Jones both making only their second starts of the campaign after lengthy injury absences.

Then came the substitutions. First was 19-year-old Elliott, replacing the crocked Milner in midfield. Then came 23-year-old Darwin Nunez to bolster the attack. And the final 10 minutes saw 20-year-old Fabio Carvalho, 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic and 19-year-old Calvin Ramsay emerge.

Academy breakthrough star Bajectic is only just beginning his journey. And while Ramsay was making his long-awaited debut after an injury was picked up during the medical following his summer move from Aberdeen, the quintet have nevertheless accrued more than 50 appearances between them this season already.

If Klopp expected to this to be a term of "transformation", blooding much younger talent is undoubtedly the aim. It cannot, though, be achieved overnight, as Anfield predecessors Brendan Rodgers, Graeme Souness and Bill Shankly discovered to varying degrees. Not all of the younger recruits and graduates will last the course.

But Liverpool are gradually becoming younger, their starting line-up on the opening Premier League weekend at Fulham still the oldest average in the top flight this season of 29 years 131 days. Indeed, the team that started the Community Shield against Manchester City the previous week was even more long in the tooth.

The return to fitness of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota - both turning 26 in the next few months - will offer a more youthful edge to the Reds attack, providing fresh legs and an injection of energy.

The imminent break for the World Cup - as few as five Liverpool players could be on duty in Qatar - will allow for a much-needed rest and refresh. But balancing his squad's youth and experience during an intense second half of the season could prove the difference between success or otherwise for Klopp.

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