13 February 2023 , 22:00
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The first buds of spring are shooting on Merseyside, after a long, cruel winter.
No one is getting carried away on either side of the city after a bruising derby, but there are signs of life returning from the frozen dead ground.
For Everton there is some hope, even in painful defeat. There is no solace, but they know how different this game could have been, had not James Tarkowski’s header bounced down and out off the bar. Yet that moment was pivotal in stirring Liverpool, providing them with the hope that their talent can still bloom this season, with a Champions League still to play for.
The life that it brought to Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez was so evident. Before Salah’s goal, both looked lacking in confidence and belief. After, they weren’t just rejuvenated, but almost reborn.
If the focus - rightly - was on those two though, then the shoots of growth spread further than the front line.
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Behind them, an 18 year old kid playing in his first derby suggested there is an answer to Liverpool’s midfield problems already within their midst.
Cody Gakpo of Liverpool FC celebrates with Stefan BajceticStefan Bajcetic had only started three Premier League games for the Reds before last night. There were far more experienced midfielders in James Milner and Naby Keita who could have been preferred ahead of him in a game which demanded knowledge and calmness.
Yet there was no calmer, more composed player on the pitch than the Spanish born kid of Serbian descent. In fact, there is a case to suggest that few teenagers have ever shown this level of composure in Premier League history.
His ability to keep possession, and use it wisely, hints at the skill of former hero Gini Wijnaldum in that respect, and he has the awareness and reading of the game of Thiago. That is some billing, but his display deserved it.
There has been so much noise about Liverpool’s need for a midfielder, and criticism of Jurgen Klopp for not buying one last summer, or in January. Yet with a talent of this potential, who is to say that providing the space for Bajectic to grow is the wrong decision for the future of the club?