You've heard of the Busby Babes… now meet the Kindergarten Kop. Or Jurgen Klopp’s Kirkby Kids, maybe Xabi Alonso’s Adolescents next season. Whatever alliteration we want to force, the point is that Liverpool’s youth academy is thriving like few others in Europe.
Amid 10 first-team injuries for Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Luton, the substitutes’ bench featured five teenagers and the eight outfielders had an average age of 21, boosted significantly by poor old Andy Robertson, 29, and Kostas Tsimikas, 27, who must have felt like pensioners.
Both of those left backs still have plenty of elite-level football ahead of them but the pair, along with many in the best XI, know there is a cabal of youngsters waiting in reserve to take their spots.