JURGEN KLOPP SAYS Liverpool must “keep the public” away from Ben Woodburn and is afraid the press will raise expectations too highly after he became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer in Tuesday’s win over Leeds United.
Woodburn came off the bench to seal a 2-0 EFL Cup quarter-final win over Leeds United, displacing Michael Owen in the Anfield record books by netting aged 17 and 45 days.
It was a satisfactory night for a number of the youngsters in Klopp’s side, with Trent Alexander-Arnold performing superbly at right-back before supplying the cross for Divock Origi’s 76th-minute opener, but Woodburn was understandably the talk of the post-match news conference.
“We know what Ben is capable of and what he is already able to do,” Klopp said.
“My first job is to help these boys so that they can be the best – in this case, Ben Woodburn.
“There’s a lot of things to do, especially to keep the public away as long as possible.
“That’s quite a difficult thing to do. But on the other hand, we only bring him in because we want to use him.
“So that means when he’s on the pitch he’s absolutely allowed to score goals, to prepare situations, to make crosses – how Trent did, for example.
“So, all good. I’m really happy for him. The only problem is I’m a little bit afraid about you [the media].
“That’s why I’m so quiet on this. Think and do what you want, but don’t write anything – only ‘Goalscorer, Ben Woodburn.’ Done. Quite a challenge!”
Klopp’s opposite number Garry Monk spoke warmly of his Leeds players, who carved out some good chances when the game remained 0-0 – most notably when Kemar Roofe was denied his first goal for the club by the post.
“The only thing lacking was us taking one of quite a few opportunities, I think we had the best chances in the game,” he said.
“All it needed was a little bit more composure – that’s the only negative in the performance. Also a little bit of unluckiness as well, as Kemar’s shot deserved a goal.
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“Overall I told the players I was gutted for them. As a performance for a team that’s very young and very inexperienced, these kind of nights can set a marker for yourself. That’s the spirit and the quality that you have to have if you want to be successful.
“We’re disappointed at this moment in time but I’m sure they will look back in the next day or so and realise they put on a very good performance.”
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The really ridiculous thing is the divisional finals. Having won all their divisional games, Limerick then had to go and play 2nd place Dublin. If you’re top of the league, you win. Its not as if its a humongous money spinning game for the GAA.
There should be 8 teams in Division 1. As a Dub i’m delighted with the win on Saturday night but it could have gone either way. Limerick don’t deserve to be playing in 1B. They should be playing in the Top Division with teams of the same calibre as them.
Limerick should be in the top flight no doubts.
Losing one playoff shouldn’t doom a good team to another year playing teams they’re clearly superior to.
Helps nobody
Of course leagues are ‘elitist’ – but that’s why there are leagues in the first place. Allen would be on the other side of the fence if Limerick were made to play a few meaningless games against Longford or Warwickshire in a pre-Championship tournament.
On a broader point, it seems this year like every division below 1A has one or two teams that are evidently on a higher plane than everyone else – Dublin and Limerick in 1B, Laois and Westmeath in 2A, Meath and London in 2B, Fingal in 3A and Longford in 3B (perhaps less so in the 3A and 3B divisions).
It seems like the bands of teams would be much fairer if the league was restructured into five tiers, with eight teams in Division 1 and the rest of the country (36 teams, if you brought Cavan back in) split into four divisions of seven teams each. The likes of Laois and Westmeath – Liam MacCarthy teams, basically – get back with their own kind in Division 2; Meath or London get into the third tier where they’re given a decent challenge to rise up a few notches, and Fingal or Donegal are taken out of a division where they’re consistently beating the likes of Fermanagh and Tyrone.
To be honest it seems like there are only two issues with the idea: firstly, that it would mean a few extra Sundays taken out of the county club championships (which shouldn’t be too much of a problem considering every county previously took part in an eight-county division until fairly recently), and secondly, that you’d have the seven lowest teams given the dubious honour of playing in ‘Division 5′. Realistically this is just a branding thing: I don’t see the difference between putting a team in Division 5 and putting them in Division 3B (why isn’t it called Division 6? it’s not as if Divisions 1, 2 and 3 carry any equality to the four tiers of Championship hurling anyway). A rose by another other name…
The GAA needs a complete overhaul. I know traditionalists wont like the idea, but I would love to get rid of pre league tournaments like the McGrath cup. Run off provincial championships in March&April. Then roll league and championship into one champions league style tournament 16 teams in hurling – 4 groups of 4 and top 2 from each into quarter finals. 32 teams in football (4 groups of 8 teams) top 2 from each into quarters. This would also help create a proper calendar for club fixtures.
It should be an 8 team division one, the current 6 plus Dublin and limerick! you need to have promotion and relegation
I don’t get how an eight team division one solves the problem of an elite six team division 1a. If anything it makes the situation worse. Think about it, Limerick played four of six games against Dublin(twice), Wexford and Offaly. Cork or Clare will replace Dublin next year. It’s a bit much for Limerick to believe they’re too good for that type of opposition.
With an eight team division one, the likes of Wexford will play six of seven games against Carlow, Antrim, Laois, Kerry, Westmeath and Down in division two. Being in a six team division 1b in spring is a reasonable preparation for the championship, and even offers a route to winning the league. Finding yourself in an eight team division two would be a far bigger setback.
Billy, Limerick and Dublin are better teams than wexford and offaly. they are on the same level as cork, clare and waterford and this was clear in lasts years championship. Being denied promotion two years ago was insulting. They top the league yet are still in the same division . The young players coming through need to be playing the stronger sides to develop and to make the championship stronger.
10 team in Div 1 Of hurling league .. Would include current 6 plus Dublin, Limerick, Offaly and Wexford
The format for the championship is no better. There’s more chopping and changing than their is in a match itself.
A league is a league – you win the league – end of story .