Liverpool took a big step on the road to Wembley, but didn’t have it all their own way as plenty happened in the match, on and off the pitch.
Jurgen Klopp will have felt relief that they aren’t going to Craven Cottage needing to win. Fulham have proved twice this season that they can cause Liverpool problems, and the manager was clearly feeling it.
As always, a semi-final brings heightened emotions that, for the manager, seem to come out in the form of wild gesturing to players and staff.
Amid the waving arms and German accent was no doubt some great advice, though, for Liverpool’s youngsters.
Here, we have put together a list of the things we spotted from Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Fulham in the League Cup.
Nunez’s reaction to another miss
In a behind the scenes video of the match against @FulhamFC — You can hear Darwin Nuñez tell someone “Loco, no quiere entrar la pelota nomás” which means:
“Brother, the ball just doesn’t want to go in”
You can tell that even he is frustrated about it.
pic.twitter.com/PQMpZpij1H— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) January 11, 2024
While recent weeks have seen Darwin Nunez miss some sitters, it was hard to fault him for his performance off the bench against Fulham.
Despite his game-changing impression, to his frustration, he still couldn’t score, and even his close-range finish from Conor Bradley‘s pass was somehow kept out by goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
After the game, a observant listener managed to pick out him saying, in Spanish, “Brother, the ball just doesn’t want to go in,” as he walked back to the changing rooms.
Beck gets an earful
We’ve all been Owen Beck here, stuck in a kitchen at 5 bells with a mate who’s been on it all night ? pic.twitter.com/5oyFQuSJrU
— PM (@____PM1O) January 10, 2024
Ever been that person who is talked at without non-stop and has to keep an interested face? Well, Owen Beck pretty much found himself in that situation on Wednesday night.
Klopp decided he would give some advice or rant about something, presumably, to the young left-back, while gesticulating to make his case.
Thankfully, having subsequently won the game, it made for quite a funny watch.
Advice on the pitch
WE’RE CONOR BE FINE ??#LFC #LIVFUL pic.twitter.com/cxOxEMg0rN
— AsimLFC (@asim_lfc) January 10, 2024
Learning never stops when Klopp is your coach, and the manager even had some words for Bradley at full time, despite the youngster’s impressive display filling in for Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back.
As Bradley went to receive applause from the crowd after the match, Klopp could be seen in discussion with the Northern Ireland international, possibly explaining something, before playfully pushing him away.
Elliott bizarrely booed
In a strange turn of events, Fulham supporters decided to boo Harvey Elliott due to his former allegiance to the Cottagers.
Elliott became the club’s youngest-ever player, making his debut at just 15 years and 174 days old. However, he played just 27 minutes for the first team.
He then moved from the Championship to his boyhood club, Liverpool. For some reason, the visiting supporters at Anfield deemed that worthy of being booed.
Bizarre.
