Jurgen Klopp was delighted with the contributions of several of Liverpool’s up-and-coming talents in the 4-2 win over Karlsruher on Wednesday evening.
James McConnell, Bobby Clark, Calum Scanlon, Lewis Koumas, Conor Bradley and Ben Doak all featured in the game at BBBank Wildpark, and the latter was described by his manager as ‘much fun to watch’.
Speaking after the match, the Reds boss chimed (via Liverpool Echo): “We saw the kids how good they were. James never played a six before and today he played there and it was so nice to watch, to be honest. Bobby first half did really well.
“Ben Doak, oh my God, it’s much fun to watch these kids. Calum I’ve known him only nine days, he was injured before and now he was there. Koumas came on, Conor Bradley really good.”
All of the aforementioned youngsters can feel quite pleased with their contributions against Karlsruher, although Doak particularly stood out after his half-time introduction.
As per Sofascore, the 17-year-old won a team-high seven duels (70% success rate), completed 76% of his passes, won two tackles and succeeded with four of his six dribbles.
The Scottish teenager made a handful of first-team appearances last season (Transfermarkt) and, off the back of performances like this, may well fancy his chances of featuring a few times more when the competitive action resumes next month.
Could he make a genuine breakthrough during the upcoming campaign in the same fashion as Stefan Bajcetic during 2022/23?