With Andy Robertson out for three months because of a dislocated shoulder, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp is wary of overloading his understudy Kostas Tsimikas. Ahead of last weekend’s Merseyside derby, Klopp had already stressed that Tsimikas couldn’t play ‘all the games’ in the absence of the Scotsman.
The Reds boss had already used the Europa League group stages as an opportunity to blood young players, handing Ben Doak a full debut in the opener against LASK before giving Jarell Quansah his first start in European competition on matchday two against Union SG. On Thursday, it was the turn of Luke Chambers, an academy graduate presented with an opening by Robertson’s injury after 13 years at the club.
“[I found out I was playing] yesterday [Wednesday] in training,” Chambers told liverpoolfc.com. “I went home and it didn’t really sink in at first, then this morning it kind of came to a bit of reality.”
“[The manager] just said to enjoy it. He said there was no pressure, just go out and play how I usually play. As a young player, that’s what you strive for, opportunities. I’m hungry for more, so hopefully more will come.”
Chambers certainly followed his manager’s advice as he turned in a solid performance. You could argue that he was partly culpable for Toulouse’s only goal in the 5-1 victory, charging out a little too enthusiastically to try to cut off the pass to the wing back but leaving the left channel vacant for Thijs Dallinga to run into, but the far more experienced Trent Alexander-Arnold was the man who played him onside.
For a player who’s not ‘in top, top, top shape’, to quote his manager (via liverpoolfc.com), and was making a full debut, the main thing was just to carry out the fundamentals of Klopp’s instructions. His offensive contribution was decent — only Harvey Elliott (four) attempted more crosses than his two, he made three progressive passes and he also logged a shot-creating action for his role in the build-up to a Ryan Gravenberch chance.
He also connected with his teammates well and took up the kind of positions Klopp likes. That enabled him to record 12 touches in the final third, and receive five progressive passes — a tally only Darwin Núñez (11) and Elliott (eight) could better.
After the game, Alexander-Arnold, the captain for the evening and the role model for all of Liverpool’s academy talents, was effusive in his praise: “He’s been in and around the team on and off the pitch, and he plays amazing football,” he told TNT Sports. “It’s amazing to see him out there, and he’s a real amazing player and he has great potential — and I’m sure him and his family will have a great night because it’s one he’ll never forget. He put in an amazing performance out there, very mature, and contributed to a big win for us.”
Chambers could have left the club in the summer, albeit on a temporary basis, amid interest from Championship clubs like Watford and Sheffield Wednesday and, most notably, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen (via The Athletic). Alonso and co. had clearly been impressed by the left-back’s performances on loan at Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock, where he started 15 games in his first taste of senior football.
Klopp, however, was quick to rule out the possibility of any departure — he told reporters on Thursday that ‘he didn’t blink for a second’ even though there was ‘a lot of interest’ — and now, with Robertson out, Chambers should reap the rewards of that call. He’ll be targeting another start as soon as Wednesday, when Liverpool travels to Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.
