Liverpool v Porto CL

[Kenneth]

Morton did well. One of the best performances I’ve seen from Neco for us, not as rash diving in all the time as he used to be.

I thought Neco was good too, he was enjoying bombing forward, but he didn't have to much to worry about defensively, especially second half. A relatively easy game for the fullbacks.

[Fosterbloke]

Hats off to Ox who I thought had another good game today.

[Assassin]

Porto are a really good team with some excellent players. They are a handful for most teams. They would be even better if they cut out the theatrics

Makeshift back for was a little shaky at times, but when you take 3 of the best players in the world from a back 4 it will always be like this. We looked more assured when Robbo came on. Matip was barking at Konate most of the game, especially at free kicks. Konate seems a good player, but his positional sense needs improving, he was dragged out to the sideline too often

Midfield. The Ox put in a great shift and really seems to compliment Thiago. Morten played extremely well, no frills and maturity beyond his years. Ultimate compliment for him, 5 subs used mostly midfielders and he wasnt hooked. Thiago, his skill set is absolutely off the charts, proper good. The way he positions/contorts his body and at the same time does something totally unexpected with the ball is outrageous, he sold me more than a couple of times on the sofa The daisy cutter goal was spectacular

Strikers done their job and avoided injury, just like the rest of those who played

[Scratch]

As we've seen with Ox, players need a run of games to get going properly, to get their match day brain tuned, so for Konate, Neco and Minamino we won't see the best of them unless they are in the first team for a prolonged spell. Of course, there are other players, like Millie, who can just step in and bring a steady 7/10 performance in any position, be it fullback or in the Bobby role.

[frank the tank]

Porto are a really good team with some excellent players. They are a handful for most teams. They would be even better if they cut out the theatrics

Makeshift back for was a little shaky at times, but when you take 3 of the best players in the world from a back 4 it will always be like this. We looked more assured when Robbo came on. Matip was barking at Konate most of the game, especially at free kicks. Konate seems a good player, but his positional sense needs improving, he was dragged out to the sideline too often

Midfield. The Ox put in a great shift and really seems to compliment Thiago. Morten played extremely well, no frills and maturity beyond his years. Ultimate compliment for him, 5 subs used mostly midfielders and he wasnt hooked. Thiago, his skill set is absolutely off the charts, proper good. The way he positions/contorts his body and at the same time does something totally unexpected with the ball is outrageous, he sold me more than a couple of times on the sofa The daisy cutter goal was spectacular

Strikers done their job and avoided injury, just like the rest of those who played

agree with all of the above.

With the back 4 last night, Matip did a good job of communicating to them all. Your point about 3 of the back 4 being rested is a good point. It feels like if we were missing any one of them apart from Virgil then we would be fine.

With Neco and Timmy, they probably need more minutes to keep them game sharp. Which is going to be tricky for Jurgen because for us, every game is going to be a must-win in the league if we want to challenge. Obviously the Carabao is another opportunity. And Milan away too.

[frank the tank]

Also, Morton was brilliant. I was at the game and noticed that he is a leader. His communication with the other players was really good. Telling Thiago where to press etc

I thought that he might need Hendo or Milner to talk him through the game so was interested when I saw him starting with neither of those two next to him.

Even when Henderson came on, he spent a lot of time talking to Neco but Morton just did his own thing.

[Assassin]

Also, Morton was brilliant. I was at the game and noticed that he is a leader. His communication with the other players was really good. Telling Thiago where to press etc

I thought that he might need Hendo or Milner to talk him through the game so was interested when I saw him starting with neither of those two next to him.

Even when Henderson came on, he spent a lot of time talking to Neco but Morton just did his own thing.

Thanks for that.....speaks volumes for Morton

[Irishnev]

Also, Morton was brilliant. I was at the game and noticed that he is a leader. His communication with the other players was really good. Telling Thiago where to press etc

I thought that he might need Hendo or Milner to talk him through the game so was interested when I saw him starting with neither of those two next to him.

Even when Henderson came on, he spent a lot of time talking to Neco but Morton just did his own thing.

Ya - noticed that, he can also handle himself. Got a kick and went after the guy having a go at him. Then Milner absolutely buckled the same guy later

[Buzzo]

Porto are a really good team with some excellent players. They are a handful for most teams. They would be even better if they cut out the theatrics

Makeshift back for was a little shaky at times, but when you take 3 of the best players in the world from a back 4 it will always be like this. We looked more assured when Robbo came on. Matip was barking at Konate most of the game, especially at free kicks. Konate seems a good player, but his positional sense needs improving, he was dragged out to the sideline too often

Midfield. The Ox put in a great shift and really seems to compliment Thiago. Morten played extremely well, no frills and maturity beyond his years. Ultimate compliment for him, 5 subs used mostly midfielders and he wasnt hooked. Thiago, his skill set is absolutely off the charts, proper good. The way he positions/contorts his body and at the same time does something totally unexpected with the ball is outrageous, he sold me more than a couple of times on the sofa The daisy cutter goal was spectacular

Strikers done their job and avoided injury, just like the rest of those who played

Good summary

[Buzzo]

Then Milner absolutely buckled the same guy later

That was class. It was a tackle on Conceição's son. It wasn't the booking, but he was a writhing pile of flesh and bones after Milner's tackle

[Assassin]

Ya - noticed that, he can also handle himself. Got a kick and went after the guy having a go at him. Then Milner absolutely buckled the same guy later

Milner came on like a wrecking ball Cant help thinking Milly got himself booked intentionally, so he misses the AC game and resets the booking clock. He didn't seem to upset that he got booked

[baitman]

Milner is like the new Lucas, he can smash players but mostly walks away without the ref responding.

[Angryred]

Milner is like the new Lucas, he can smash players but mostly walks away without the ref responding.

Almost like a dare to book Milner!

[Fuzzy]

Can anyone paste the article The Athletic did on Morton?

[Montana]

Here you go ...... from The Athletic by Simon Hughes:

Klopp and Thiago know Liverpool could have another gem in Tyler Morton

A lifetime ago, Tyler Morton was running about with 30 other kids on the pitches of one of Liverpool’s development centres at Birkenhead Grammar School when the club’s Wirral area scout Geoff Peters picked up his phone and called across the Mersey river to say he had spotted a promising midfielder.

Morton was too young to sign a contract with anyone at that time. He became a regular at Liverpool’s pre-academy programme for six- to eight-year-olds, training also with Everton while he played matches for the Greenleas junior team in Wallasey at weekends.

Following a summer tournament in Manchester, Liverpool made their move.

Morton’s father Scott was delighted because he was a Liverpudlian to the core and his son felt the same way. There was a chance he could have joined Everton, but the pull of Anfield lured him to where he really wanted to be.

On Wednesday night, 19-year-old Morton became the sixth teenager in the Jurgen Klopp era to start for the club in a Champions League game having began at a pre-academy setting.

It is understandable why there is a serious conversation about the risks attached to recruiting at such a young age but for Liverpool, at least, the longest-held associations are bearing some meaningful sporting rewards.

The other names on that list include a superstar in Trent Alexander-Arnold and a team-mate who has the potential to become one in Curtis Jones. Others are trying to establish themselves in Klopp’s thoughts. Leighton Clarkson and Rhys Williams are currently on loan in the Championship but Neco Williams was selected at right-back against Porto last night and seems to have regained his confidence after a rocky year.

The only club in the Premier League who can claim a similar record from the same period are Chelsea, for whom Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Mason Mount, Trevoh Chalobah and Tammy Abraham (now with Roma) went through the equivalent learning process before earning exposure on the grandest stage of European football.

It is probably fair to suggest that, more often than not, a six-a-side team made up of Chelsea pre-academy graduates would beat a Liverpool one. But at club academies outside the capital, it is felt Chelsea have it easier when it comes to youth recruitment thanks to their greater financial resources and the population density of London, which means they have more competition but also more options.

There was a feeling that Klopp was going to add to that list against Porto, given Liverpool’s qualification for the knockout phase was already secure with two group games to spare and the fact he could not afford any more injuries ahead of a busy schedule over the next few months.

Conor Bradley and Owen Beck were the names supposedly under the most serious consideration, not only because of their abilities but Liverpool’s potential needs on the pitch.

Instead, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Liverpool’s youth team manager in the UEFA Youth League, was informed at 7.30pm on Tuesday that all three would be available to him for the following afternoon’s fixture against Porto’s under-19s, which Liverpool ended up winning 4-0.

Six of Bridge-Wilkinson’s starting XI at Kirkby, as well as two substitutes, featured two weeks earlier when a Liverpool Under-23s team suffered a 5-0 EFL Trophy defeat away to a Port Vale side loaded with vast professional experience in the lower leagues.

That chastising event reminded of the pitfalls of throwing them in all at once. It is fair to say Porto are a lot better than Port Vale and in the end, Klopp went only with Morton, whose Champions League debut followed the pattern of his brief Carabao Cup and Premier League outings against Norwich in September and Arsenal on Saturday.

Nothing seems to bother him. He treats the ball with the care of a shepherd in a busy field during lambing season but here, he showed another side of his game. Just when it seemed like Porto would score in the first half, he was there on the edge of his own box stealing away the moment with a clean sweeping challenge.

“Tyler adapts to situations in games so well,” Bridge-Wilkinson told The Athletic earlier in the day. Other coaches at Liverpool say Morton craves possession. He does not possess the swagger of Jones but he is a worker who has learned much from watching and listening to Jordan Henderson and James Milner, who always remind him to trust himself. When Thiago saw the teenager train for the first time, he was impressed. “I said, ‘Who is this player?’.”

On Tuesday, Klopp spoke about his development since the summer, when he spent more than three weeks in Austria with the first team. “You could see his technical skills,” Klopp said. In the friendlies, he was good without being spectacular but at Norwich in the Carabao Cup he was introduced at half-time and after the performance that followed, Klopp saw his confidence “explode” for the first time. His coaches Pep Lijnders and Vitor Matos had promised this would happen having watched him closely in the youth ranks. This was “the real Tyler Morton”, Klopp concluded.

Since joining Liverpool, he has usually been considered the best player in each of his age groups.

With time, Liverpool’s coaches began to see similarities with Alexander-Arnold, who is an athlete now but needed gym work and assistance from Liverpool’s nutritionists to get there. Klopp has already said publicly that he has a player in Morton. What he wants now is the body.

An hour or so after the final whistle last night, Morton walked out of Anfield holding carrier bags with mementos from the most significant day in his life: his first start for Liverpool’s first team.

He was wearing a black Nike tracksuit and nobody seemed to notice him.

How long that sweet spot lasts will be determined by what he does next.