Jurgen Klopp admitted that Harvey Blair’s Liverpool debut against Preston was ‘really not easy’ for him because his teammates didn’t involve him in the game enough, as he told Sky Sports.
Liverpool progressed through to the next round of the League Cup with a 2-0 win against the Championship side on Wednesday night.
This has been a competition that Klopp has blooded a number of Anfield youngsters, with Blair making his first mark on the senior side last night.
The 18-year-old flyer played out on the right, a position that has been dominated by one man of late, so plenty of inspiration for him to draw upon.
Blair played 55 minutes at Deepdale and Klopp explained why it was a tough evening for the teenager.
“We couldn’t create too much in the first half,” said Klopp. “The little change helped.
“The game for Harvey in the first half was really not easy and in the second half as well. We didn’t really involve him in the game. That doesn’t help.
“When you can’t train a lot together, then these things can happen, so we decided to change things and push Nico (Williams) higher and bring Conor Bradley on. And they both did really well.”
This is all part of the learning curve for the youngster because with Klopp in the dugout, there’s no doubt that he will get a shot at first-team action again.
After all, the Reds are through to the quarter-finals, so that’s where his next opportunity will fall.
This is a competition that Klopp hasn’t won during his time in England, but with holders Manchester City getting knocked out last night, it has opened that door once more.
West Ham were the ones to send them out via penalties, so they will be up amongst the favourites, alongside free-flowing Brentford, in-form Arsenal and Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.
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