Liverpool boss Klopp hails 'insane performance' as youngsters star in League Cup Chelsea win
Liverpool defender and Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley said he was “thankful” to have played a role in the Merseyside club's role in the League Cup win on Sunday. The 20-year-old from Tyrone praised outgoing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp saying he would "cherish" the remaining months of the German's tenure at Anfield.
He said: “I think it all comes from the gaffer and the confidence he puts in us youngsters, he just tells us to go out and enjoy it. “That’s what we try and do and we’re so happy to get the win. “We were all looking forward to it, especially the younger ones. “It wasn’t easy with the amount of injuries we did have but we were just so thankful to get the win, get over the line and get the win for the manager.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk headed the winner deep into extra time as Jurgen Klopp’s massively-depleted side beat Chelsea 1-0 to claim a record-extending 10th Carabao Cup. The Dutch defender, who controversially had another header ruled out at the same end in the second half after VAR intervention, rose above Mykhailo Mudryk to nod in Kostas Tsimikas’ corner in the 118th minute. It was no more than the Netherlands international, lifting his first trophy as Liverpool captain, deserved after a monumental performance in defence in a win which seemed against the odds for long periods. Klopp became the third Liverpool manager to win the trophy more than once as his long goodbye to his departure at the end of the season began with the first of a potential four pieces of silverware. And the result was even more surprising with the Reds missing 11 of their usual first team - and losing Ryan Gravenberch inside the first half hour.
Since his debut in January Bradley has been a regular in the side with Trent Alexander Arnold on the sidelines. He has scored once and assisted in five goals. He was named Premier League player of the month in January.
And on Sunday he had a goal-bound shot blocked early in the game.
Bradley said he wants to “cherish” his remaining months under “special manager” Klopp as Liverpool chase further honours this season. “He’s just such a special manager to work under,” Bradley said. “I just need to cherish every moment I do get left with him because obviously he’s going in the summer. “I just want to enjoy every moment with him now and try and win everything we can with him.” Elisha Scott: The man who won the Kop
Klopp described Liverpool’s performance as “insane” and also praised the youngsters. He told Sky Sports: “What happened ... is absolutely insane. “These things are not possible, what an academy full of character, it’s unbelievable what happened here. “I’m so proud that I could be part of that, wow. We deserve it, we had lucky moments they had lucky moments and the boys showed up, it was really cool. “I’m pretty sure when we brought on all the kids people thought ‘OK that’s it now, they give up, they have a game on Wednesday’ but that was really not the case. “We thought we need fresh legs and the fresh legs were fresh but very young. They did the job. “It’s the environment we created, the boys trained for a pretty long time with us so they know exactly what they have to do. “In training when they have time for 11 v 11 they are a pain to be honest! That’s what you have to be in these moments and they were today as well!”
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