Virgil Van Dijk delivers emotional speech to Liverpool youngsters ahead of kick-off at Anfield… with Reds captain urging them to be ‘brave and stick together’ in FA Cup clash against Southampton
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Virgil Van Dijk urged his young Liverpool teammates to ‘stick together’ and ‘be brave’ ahead of their FA Cup tie against Southampton on Wednesday.
Bobby Clark and James McConnell – both aged 19 – started the 3-0 win at Anfield, which gave the Reds a quarter-final draw against Manchester United, alongside 21-year-old Jarell Quansah and 18-year-old Lewis Koumas. who scored on his professional debut.
The quartet was joined in the starting XI by 20-year-old Conor Bradley, while 18-year-old Jayden Danns came off the bench to score twice.
And images emerged on social media of Van Dijk telling his younger teammates to take their chance to make an impression by expressing themselves.
‘Help each other, push each other. Stick together no matter what happens, boys,” the Liverpool captain can be heard saying in the tunnel before kick-off.
Virgil Van Dijk gave an emotional speech to the Liverpool youngsters ahead of the match against Southampton on Wednesday evening
The Reds captain urged his younger teammates to ‘enjoy’ the occasion and ‘be brave’
Van Djik delivered the message in the tunnel ahead of kick-off at Anfield
‘Go for it, enjoy it, be brave, confident, everything we do.’
It has been a fantastic season for Liverpool’s youngsters, with a number of players making their mark in Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The Reds had eight youth academy players in the squad for their 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Bradley started at Wembley, while Danns, Quansah, Clark and McConnell all came off the bench.
Van Djik’s words on Wednesday echoed the message Klopp gave during his pre-match press conference against Southampton, in which he took the pressure off his younger stars and urged them to enjoy football.
‘First and foremost, they don’t have to show anything. I know what you mean. It is easily misunderstood,” he said.
“Sunday’s story was one of the best football stories I’ve ever heard of. It’s 100 percent correct.
“Chelsea was younger than us, this kind of thing. That’s a different project (but) that’s not what it’s about (and) we’re not comparing it.
Lewis Koumas scored the opener on his professional debut as the Reds won 3-0
18-year-old Jayden Danns came off the bench to score twice as Liverpool reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they faced Manchester United
The public could do that, we don’t. But our boys played in youth teams (and) U21s, things like that, and only recently came up and haven’t trained with us for a long time.
‘That is absolutely zero experience, but a lot of talent and they have simply shown that. That is the situation we have to create for the boys.
“If we play more of them tomorrow from the start or whatever and we look (and say), ‘Well, you’re not as good as I thought after Sunday,’ that would be terrible.
‘There is absolutely no pressure. All these guys have to do is really enjoy what they do.”
