adminTEENAGE defender Isaac Mabaya became only the second Zimbabwean footballer to play for Liverpool when he featured in a friendly in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.
The 17-year-old, who is highly-rated, was ushered into the Reds starting XI against Manchester United.
He was pulled out in the 32nd minute as Jurgen Klopp used three different teams in the match which the Reds lost 0-4.
He played alongside the Reds’ first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Backer, captain Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino.
The game marked the second time the 17-year-old has had a date with the senior squad.
During the 2022/23 season, the right-back was in the Match Day squad for the FA Cup’s third round encounter against Shrewsbury.
Born in Preston, England, to Zimbabwean parents, Mabaya signed his first professional contract with the Reds in September 2021.
The defender has represented England at junior level but is still eligible to switch allegiance to Zimbabwe in the future.
And, while United are a full week ahead in their preparations, the Reds boss is adamant he wouldn’t change his approach with so many of his squad having only returned from their summer break last weekend.
“We have to do what is right for us, we can’t have a look at what line-up the opponent uses,” said Klopp.
“I think United are a week longer in training with the core group.
“It’s all fine, I don’t want to take anything away from United as they did really well, but I think we saw in moments when we showed glimpses of our normal football that we were immediately dangerous.
“We had a lot of good situations and I saw a lot of good performances in moments, but no consistency.
“We were sometimes in a rush or too high and with the way United defended with a man-marking in midfield, we lost the balls at the wrong moments. They finished the situations off.
“We have to improve, and even if United hadn’t won 4-0 we’d have to improve. It’s just the start of pre-season.”
Jadon Sancho, Fred and Anthony Martial scored in the first half before Facundo Pellistri sealed the win, with Liverpool hitting the woodwork three times and missing a number of other chances.
And Klopp added: “The result is fair, we have to accept that always. But I think it’s clear we could have scored our goals as well, then it would have been a more spectacular game.
“The goals we gave away for United, they didn’t really get any assists for it, to be honest. But they used their chances, that’s how it is. They had some really good moments that caused us problems.
“But I saw a lot of good stuff from my team as well. If the game obviously came a bit early for us, for a few of our players, you could see individual mistakes happen in football.
“It was pretty clear where we made mistakes but you have to keep on playing and we did, we could have scored three or four in the last five minutes and we didn’t, that’s our fault.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag speaking to MUTV: “I am satisfied today. It was a team with a great spirit and we know we are just getting started.
“We made some mistakes in the press, we conceded some chances, but we created a lot.
“We have to work hard to cut out the mistakes but of course we are happy.” – Sports Reporter/Mailonline
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter