Jurgen Klopp’s massive cojones allow Liverpool to dream of competing on four fronts

The debate can rage about whether Jurgen Klopp is the best coach in the world, but Liverpool’s latest victory confirmed there is no one of elite status who is so daring.

With 15 minutes remaining of the FA Cup third round match with Arsenal – the tie delicately poised at 0-0 – Klopp sent on two under-23 players: 20-year-old right-back Conor Bradley and 18-year-old midfielder Bobby Clark.

“He’s chucking the game. He doesn’t want to miss a winter break,” was the overriding feeling from pessimistic Liverpool supporters, and optimistic Arsenal ones.

Two goals later, the sound tactical reasons behind the switch had manifested themselves, the young duo’s outstanding cameos nullifying the threat of Gabriel Martinelli and freeing Trent Alexander-Arnold to wreak havoc from midfield.

Klopp has been making such bold decisions throughout his nine-year Anfield tenure, but they have gone up a notch this season. On the opening day of the Premier League season he replaced Mohamed Salah with the then 17-year-old Ben Doak for the latter stages at Chelsea. Too many were obsessed with Salah’s sulky reaction to being subbed than to recognise the gutsy decision.

At Newcastle United in August, with Liverpool a goal behind and down to 10 men after Virgil van Dijk’s dismissal, Klopp handed Jarell Quansah his senior debut. Darwin Nunez then scored twice to give Liverpool a late win. It has almost gone under the radar that the 20-year-old centre-back has saved the club £50m on a new defender, the ‘spend, spend, spend’ cult giving the impression they are irritated when Klopp polishes academy gems instead of taking another trip to the wild west of the transfer market.

Each time a youngster feels the confidence of their coach, their self-belief and sense of belonging on the biggest stage confirms the arrival of another first-team ready footballer.

Such courage has accelerated the Liverpool revival to a point where Klopp was without a full outfield senior team at Arsenal and still emerged triumphant. The list of absentees would have been a shield for many other managers. Klopp’s default position is to look for solutions, not take refuge in excuses.

Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Dominik Szoboszlai, Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara and Wataru Endo are starters in a first-choice Liverpool XI. Kostas Tsimikas, Stefan Bajcetic and Doak would certainly have played in the FA Cup tie if fit and on form.

Klopp’s preference for coaching and developing what he has before demanding owners Fenway Sports Group splash the cash is a recurring theme of his Kop era.

Of course he has spent big when necessary, but not as much as some of those clubs and managers in his shadow.

And it is also true that Liverpool’s perceived prudence has not always worked. They appear to have been dealing in biennial brilliance since 2020, a sort of footballing hokey-cokey in which they are in the fight for all titles and European domination one year and out of everything other than a desperate pursuit of fourth place the next.

Klopp has already been hit with the ‘F’ word

It is a reflection of the foundations Klopp laid over the summer and the absurd standards he has set that the Liverpool manager has already been hit with the ‘F’ word in 2024.

With somewhat preposterous prematurity, Klopp was asked before the trip to Arsenal to weigh up the pros and cons of an Anfield foursome and a campaign similar to two years ago when Liverpool were two wins from a quadruple.

The justification for such a line of enquiry is that Manchester City and Liverpool have made such quests a seasonal occurrence, Pep Guardiola sure to be quizzed on the chances of a repeat of the Treble the longer his side continue their FA Cup defence.

For City, it is expected – their wealth enabling them to buy £100 million midfielders like Jack Grealish and develop them for a year.

Liverpool being back so soon is a borderline football miracle given where they were this time 12 months ago, and even as recently as August, when the snubs by Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia gave the false impression the club lacked the resources and clout to get back to the top any time soon.

That prompted another audacious call from the manager when he signed 30-year-old Endo. One can only presume those who are still claiming he needs a defensive midfielder in this transfer window did not see any Liverpool games for the last month.

What connects this campaign to 2021-22 is a strength in depth which gave Klopp the confidence to include 10 academy players in his 20-man squad at the Emirates.

He will have no choice but to do likewise against Fulham in the Carabao Cup first leg on Wednesday. Rather than hinder his club’s ambitions, Liverpool appear to be getting stronger, the benefits of attacking on four fronts rendering any perils of trivial insignificance.

It remains laughably early to talk about a quadruple given how much football is left to be played. The fact the whispers have started at all is the ultimate compliment for Klopp’s rebuild.

Whatever happens from here, for all his coaching and man-management skill, Klopp has rapidly rejuvenated Liverpool thanks to an asset which is too often overlooked: the biggest cojones in football.

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