Jurgen Klopp praises Liverpool’s “perfect night” at Anfield after beating Toulouse 5-1 in the Europa League – and particularly praises the Reds’ youth players and new signing Ryan Gravenberch
Jurgen Klopp has hailed a “perfect night” for Liverpool after the Reds beat Toulouse 5-1 at Anfield on Thursday night.
Although the visitors scored an early equalizer in the Europa League tie, the hosts were at their best, scoring three goals before half-time and two more in the second half – all from different goalscorers.
Summer signings Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo both found the back of the net for the Ligue 1 side, along with Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.
The German coach was also able to hand Luke Chambers his full debut as he reshuffled his defensive line, while academy young talents Calum Scanlon and James McConnell also made their first senior appearances.
A third win in three games, which takes the team top of Group E after the halfway point of the group stage, ensured the evening was full of positive events for a team that looks every inch Liverpool 2.0 after a successful rebuild over the summer looks.
Jürgen Klopp was beaming after the evening, which the German coach described as “perfect”.
Summer signing Ryan Gravenberch scored his second ever Liverpool goal at Anfield
Luke Chambers (left) made his full debut in the club colors in the 5-1 win
“Very,” Klopp replied when asked if he was happy with TNT Sports’ work that evening. ‘Very happy. You could see how difficult the game could have been in the difficult moments, but most of the time we were in full control and scored wonderful goals, we could have scored more.
“The right players scored, no one was injured.” Perfect night. “We could bring the kids and show how much we trust them, so that’s really good.”
Chambers in particular stood out and academy graduate Trent Alexander-Arnold gave him particular praise after the final whistle.
But Klopp himself was delighted not only to get minutes at a young age to further strengthen his squad, but also to be able to reward strong performances in training.
‘Yes, it was [a good opportunity to experiment with youth players]but it was more – I’m not sure how much it had to do with the result, but it was more like the boys really need this now, they need to get this feeling.
“If I tell them how much I like them or what I see in them, they have to show it from time to time,” Klopp continued. “It’s not that easy, we have difficult games, but in times like these we have good moments where you can give the boys a chance.”
“And they all took it in different ways, but they all took it. “(There’s) a few that aren’t even available right now, like Ben Doak or Bobby Clark, so we’ve got a lot of good guys. “We really trust them and really build on them. So I’m glad they got a good opportunity.”
While Gravenberch rose through the ranks at Ajax before making his professional debut for the Eredivise side, Klopp was equally impressed with the performance of his summer purchase from Bayern Munich.
The Netherlands international struggled to find his feet in the Bundesliga following his move in the summer of 2022, but Gravenberch has hit the ground running since joining Liverpool – and Klopp is excited about his development ahead.
Calum Scanlon was another academy player who got minutes against Toulouse
Gravenberch (left) is gaining momentum in Liverpool after failing to make an impact at Bayern Munich
“He’s a good player.” “I’m so happy for him that he’s really enjoying football again,” added Klopp. “He’s not even half where he could be, but it’s really promising and I’m happy for him.”
“There is a lot to improve, which is really good news because he is still very young and there is a lot more to come.”
Liverpool will now look to improve their position in the Premier League and hope to climb from fourth place when they face Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Sunday.
The concentration at the top of the table means Klopp’s side are just three points behind first-place Tottenham and just one goal behind the north London side.