On an evening when Liverpool’s youngsters took centre stage, there was no shortage of eye-catching performances from the various academy products who helped put a lacklustre Everton to the sword.
One of the standouts of the 1-0 FA Cup victory was Yasser Larouci, who, after replacing an injury-hit James Milner early in the first half, impressed with energy and composure in the heat of a Merseyside derby.
And the left-back’s outstanding senior debut did not go unnoticed in latest episode of the Academy Show podcast on the Blood Red channel, with the former Le Harve prospect coming in for praise from host Paul Wheelock.
“He’s another young player who came in and absolutely thrived,” he said.
“He was a player we all became aware of in the summer during the pre-season tour. He dropped out of the picture a bit after that and he’s played a number of positions for the academy teams this season.
“But he looks a left-back - another full-back in the Liverpool, Klopp mould.”
Larouci arrived at Liverpool’s academy as winger but found himself converted to a full-back during the 2018-19 campaign.
It was a move that paid off as he helped the Reds to a fourth FA Youth Cup triumph.
And Academy Show podcast expert Matt Addison was thrilled with how Larouci made the step up to the senior side in Sunday’s stunning Merseyside derby win.
“He’s absolutely a Klopp full-back,” said Addison.
“You’ve got to put it into context as well, he didn’t start that game. He’ll have been thinking, ‘James Milner, he doesn’t get injured, he’s not going to be coming off’.
“Nine minutes in he ends up coming onto the pitch and Theo Walcott looked terrified of him - you think of someone as quick and as experienced as Walcott and he didn’t do anything.”
Addison was quick to point out that Larouci, who trained as part of the first-team squad at Melwood on Tuesday night, has all the tools necessary to continue his excellent progress, even if he is relatively raw compared to some of his academy colleagues.
“He has a tendency to get excited and a bit too far up the pitch,” said Addison.
“But you look at the pure physical specimen that he is - the speed, strength, he’s got everything you need.
“He just needs a little bit more coaching, he’s not where Neco Williams is yet
“But he has every tool to make himself a top left-back or wherever he wants to play on the pitch.”
