Klopp made nine changes to his line-up for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Everton, with Lallana among a handful of established senior players selected to take on a full-strength Blues side at Anfield.
Curtis Jones was one of several youngsters who started for the Reds, and the 18-year-old Scouser duly curled home a sensational second-half strike to seal the hosts’ 1-0 win and place in Monday’s fourth-round draw.
Liverpoolfc.com caught up with Lallana post-match – read on for the No.20’s assessment of a memorable derby success…
On whether the youthfulness of Liverpool’s team made the win feel even sweeter…
It was good but we expected to win. We said before the game that no matter what teamsheet we had, we’re at home [and] we expect to win. I think it was important that we went out there with that mentality because it’s such a fortress, Anfield, and the young lads are around us experienced players day in, day out in training and it’s why the level is so high because in training we give them good games, we keep them on their toes and I think that absolutely showed out there.
Especially second half, after the first 10 or 15 minutes we found our feet, and even dealing with Millie going off injured, I thought Yasser [Larouci] was absolutely remarkable, coming in like that. Pedro [Chirivella] was outstanding, Harvey [Elliott], Curtis, the confidence he showed. It’s credit to the manager for believing in the younger lads and it’s no surprise to me that we put in a performance like that and we won.
On the mentality of every Liverpool player…
It’s the mentality that is instilled throughout LFC and that started when the manager came in. He wanted to create his own way of playing, his own mentality and you saw that throughout the whole 90 minutes today. I thought second half we were outstanding, the way we controlled the game, got the goal and they never really caused us any problems. Adrian was magnificent first half and had to make two or three big saves, but that’s what he’s there for. I thought we fully deserved the win and to get into the next round.
On Jones…
He’s a confident boy. It’s important he keeps his feet on the ground now after such a high and that he keeps working hard, keeps listening to the manager and keeps learning from all the experienced players that he’s working with day in, day out. He’s going to want to obviously play more, but with the injuries we’ve got at the minute it’s important that he’s in and around us and he’s a big part of the team.
On the result being extra special for Jones…
Of course. It’s extra special when you’re a local lad and I’m absolutely delighted for him. He’s been working hard, he’s stayed patient and not just him but all the other young lads, I thought they were magnificent today.
On the future being bright at the club with so many talented youngsters…
Of course. They wouldn’t be playing for Liverpool if they weren’t technically good players. I think it’s just important that they gain the right mentality as early as possible and by being chucked in in games like this today, by being around the first team lads day in and day out, they’ll gain that mentality and the right attitude. For me, that’s what it’s about. They’re good players because they’re already playing for Liverpool [so] it’s about getting the balance of the other parts of the game and you could see that they’ve got that already.