Juergen Klopp called on his young players to become more “robust” and blamed the state of the pitch after his second-string Liverpool side were held to a 2-2 draw in the FA Cup third round by Exeter City on Friday.
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The replay at Anfield means Exeter are set for a cash windfall, with Sporting Intelligence estimating it will be worth about £700,000 to the Devon club.
Exeter, sensing the opportunity to cause one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history, went ahead after nine minutes when a low cross from Jamie Reid was poked home by top scorer Tom Nichols. It was really hard, you could see who wasn’t on the pitch, but Exeter did really well.
However, in first half stoppage-time, those errors were forgotten by the home supporters as Hungarian goalkeeper Bogdan inexplicably allowed Holmes’ right-wing corner kick to soar over his head and directly into the roof of the goal.
Asked about whether the young Liverpool players were players of the future, Klopp replied: “I mix some team together and you say “show me the future”.
“If I judge finally after just this game, no. It doesn’t work like this”.
The Reds needed a late Brad Smith goal to rescue a replay against Exeter and most blame the weakened XI that, in fairness, Klopp had to choose due to the injuries.
“To score and get a draw, although we’re a little bit disappointed we didn’t win, gives us a bit of momentum now to build in the league and to also go to Anfield”.
The club now walk away with a lucrative FA Cup Third Round replay at Anfield in 10 days time, a match which could again be selected for television coverage.
“You saw the players of Exeter and in one-on-ones they were more robust than our guys – they won too many headers and flicks-ons – but it’s always hard”.
But there was an intensity about their performance which delighted their long-serving manager Paul Tisdale. “We knew we could cause an upset”, said Holmes. We are very frugal and we are careful with every penny we spend. However, this only made fans more angry as they felt he was not trying to earn his wage and he seemingly quit the internet.
“I know Jurgen Klopp well”, he told Bild.
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Pundit Alan Shearer added: “It was a brilliant 94 minutes of football”. What a night for the Exeter chairman and the football club.
