Liverpool have mastered this Ferguson trait.
For decades Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were the tormentors of the Premier League. Often they harboured resentment from Liverpool for their ability to win games even when they were seemingly down. Especially since the Reds were often the victims of Sir Alex Ferguson’s genius.
Remember when Federico Macheda became Ronaldo in the final minute against Aston Villa? Or how Fabio and Rafael would turn into Roberto Carlos all of a sudden when they represented the Red Devils.
Sir Alex Ferguson had this innate ability to bring youth players into important Premier League fixtures and churn out world-class performances from them.
More from Rush The Kop
- Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home
- Liverpool making late comebacks all the rage once again
- Wolves tilt gives Klopp opportunity to tinker with lineup following international duty
- Players to watch in the matchup with Wolves
- Predicting Liverpool’s Next Five Premier League Fixtures
But now the tables have turned.
Jurgen Klopp is emulating Ferguson’s success at Liverpool.
The youth revolution at Anfield, triggered largely due to the Reds’ injury crisis, has seen a plethora of seemingly ‘average’ stars make their mark in the first team.
Nathan Phillips deputised excellently and played a stunning game in the Reds’ victory over West Ham. Rhys Williams has been solid in the Champions League and showed his class against Tottenham on Wednesday night too.
Meanwhile, players like Caoimhin Kelleher, Neco Williams and Curtis Jones have all stepped up at pivotal moments and produced when it mattered for the Reds. Without the Reds’ academy trio, Liverpool could have easily lost to Ajax.
Klopp has the magic touch.
The key to the German’s success is much like Ferguson’s.
The Reds play the same system from the U16s down to the first team. This means the club’s scouts go for similar calibre players when they’re recruiting youngsters to the academy. It enables youngsters to make that transition into the first team seamlessly.
What helped Ferguson’s teams was also often the fact that the youngsters he deployed were surrounded by world-class stars.
It’s the same for Klopp and Liverpool. Playing alongside Fabinho has helped the club’s young centre-back flourish. Meanwhile Kelleher would have learn a lot from studying Allisson’s game and the Brazilian’s influence was evident on the Irishman.
Jones is helped by the fact that he has arguably the best attacking line-up in the world in front of him. In an environment like that it is easy to shine.
Being able to rely on fringe and academy players is the hallmark of a great team and an even better manager.
One can only hope Klopp achieves the same level of success as Ferguson at Man United.
Which Liverpool academy player has impressed you the most?