Virgil van Dijk is enthusiastic about Liverpool’s future. The captain of the English top club once again saw the youngsters excel in the League Cup match against Fulham and had the necessary compliments for that.
With Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch, Liverpool had no fewer than four players aged 21 or younger in the starting lineup on Wednesday evening. In fact, Van Dijk was the only player over 26 years old. Despite the low average age, Liverpool qualified for the final of the League Cup at the expense of Fulham, where the average age was 29.9.
Afterwards, Van Dijk appeared in front of the Sky Sport camera and said he was proud of the young boys. ‘Obviously we didn’t have the most experienced team today, but the young boys did really well. I have been very proud of them all season. And this is just the beginning. Reaching the final is a great achievement and it shows what progress they have made.’
And that while there was a lot of pressure on the match. Even Van Dijk felt that way. “I think their manager also said it was the biggest game of the season. We had to fight for it and I am very happy that we can go to Wembley again. I can’t wait for it. It even feels a bit like coming home.’
Strong performance Gravenberch
One of the outstanding youngsters was Gravenberch. The Athletic thought he played a good game. ‘After a promising start, his performances have become somewhat more inconsistent. But his performance against Fulham was encouraging. He always found space and drove Liverpool forward. He played a key role in pressing alongside the excellent Harvey Elliott and created a huge chance early in the second half.”
Yet Gravenberch also still has things he needs to work on. ‘However, he still occasionally showed a lack of concentration and was sometimes not positioned properly.’
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