Andoni Iraola names the ‘best thing’ about Liverpool’s Carabao Cup win over Tottenham
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Andoni Iraola was delighted with the shift put in by Liverpool’s cohort of young players during their Carabao Cup third round win against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.The Reds beat Spurs 3-1 with what could certainly be considered a second-string XI, as Iraola gave chances to a number of youngsters who are battling for a bigger role in the Liverpool squad.Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha, James McConnell and Lewis Koumas all started – and did well – leaving the Liverpool head coach to hail their work-rate, application and willingness to press after the final whistle. Where should the Carabao Cup sit in Liverpool’s list of priorities this season and why? 🤔 Credit: Photo by Alfie Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images Liverpool youngsters worked until they were ‘dead’The biggest change in Liverpool‘s performance from Saturday’s limp display against Fulham to Tuesday was energy.
It was not only the youngsters who hassled and pressed Tottenham, but they certainly lit the touch paper.Iraola touched on this during his post-match press conference, saying that he was the most pleased by how hard each of the players had worked, with Nyoni needing to come off after suffering with cramp, and the other youth-team graduates running themselves into the ground.“I was happy for them. The best thing probably is that they were dead when I subbed them,” said the Basque.“Trey was cramping, Rio couldn’t have run a lot more, McConnell the same.
They especially have been very energetic, having the willingness of winning the duels, feel that they press, I was happy for them, yes.”READ MORE: Liverpool’s Carabao Cup player ratings vs Tottenham as Dominik Szoboszlai stunner sends Reds throughMore widely, Iraola touched on the fact that he felt he had to make changes to the team after Saturday’s disappointing display, and admitted that he had been very pleased with the results on the pitch.“It’s good that I made a lot of changes, but I think I needed to do it because we could see the other day we lacked a bit of energy and we needed fresh legs,” he said.“I’m happy because all the players have given us intensity, have given us aggressiveness. I think we’ve been good during a lot of parts of the game and I’m happy that we received the reward to win the game and to earn the right to be in the next round.”It remains to be seen whether the effort expended on Tuesday’s game will have an impact on Liverpool as they travel to face Iraola’s former team Bournemouth on Sunday.