Liverpool, undermined by injuries, “did the job” despite “all the problems”, said captain Virgil van Dijk, “very proud” of the young players who took over during the League Cup final won on Sunday against Chelsea. “We got the job done, even with all the problems we had. I am very proud of these boys, they all played their role,” declared the Dutch defender, scorer after extra time, on Sky Sports.
The Reds are affected by a multitude of injuries affecting key players like Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai, in addition to the less regular Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara and Curtis Jones. They started the final on Sunday at Wembley with youngsters Conor Bradley and Harvey Elliott, both 20, and finished it with Jayden Danns (18), James McConnell, Bobby Clark (19) and Jarell Quansah (21). ).
“It’s an incredible team. The match was intense on both sides, they had chances, we had chances,” summarized van Dijk, whose first trophy as captain of Liverpool. The Mersey club had not won a title since the FA Cup in 2022, already against Chelsea, on penalties.