[ad_1]
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp compared Aston Villa youngster Louie Barry to a ‘little Jamie Vardy’ after he scored in their FA Cup clash on Friday night.
Villa were forced to play their youth team due to a coronavirus outbreak that ruled out their entire first-team squad.
Barry made the most of his chance and netted a fine goal at the end of the first half to send his side in level at the break before going on to lose 4-1.
Klopp paid the 17-year-old a huge compliment after the game comparing him to one of the best strikers in the Premier League.
“The boys did really well. Little Jamie Vardy was a proper threat,” the Reds boss told talkSPORT.
Klopp came in for criticism for starting a number of his star players, including Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson, against a team without any first-team appearances.
The German defended his decision saying they had already decided on the team before knowing Aston Villa’s squad would not be able to play.
He said: “We rotate yes, we changed six players, but we maybe could have done eight or nine. It is pretty much (always) first team players (in the FA Cup).
“It’s nothing to do with COVID we have our squad together. All our tests were negative so we could have used anybody in the squad.
“Two or three kids at home training with us, so it was nothing to do with that. We prepared yesterday for a game against the Aston Villa first-team and after training we heard that wasn’t the case. We played the team we wanted to anyway.”
The spirited Villa players equipped themselves well in the first half before the quality of the Premier League champions shone through after the break.
Klopp added: “It was a good start, less good rest of the first half and very good second half. The second half looked like what we should have played for the complete game.
“Moving at the right moment, passing to the right spaces, accelerating in the right situations and all these kind of things.
“That’s what we did in the beginning but then we played too much around. We still had chances but didn’t use them. We know that.
“It’s not important how you score the goals it’s important that you score goals. We had the moments, super cross by Milly (James Milner) but nobody in the box and Gini was in a similar situation.
“By the end, 1-1 at half-time is not exactly what you wish for and second half it looked much better.
“That’s football, it won’t be the first time it happens to us and of course it will be a challenge to have the ball all the time but you have to do better stuff with it.
“We know that and we did in the second half so it’s fine.”
[ad_2]
Source link
Comments are closed.