Bill Shankly was right about Liverpool’s reserves: Richard Buxton
Liverpool's young side show they are the second-best team on Merseyside
Bill Shankly always maintained that Merseyside's top teams both resided at Anfield.
Liverpool's reserves were infinitely superior to Everton's senior ranks.
Turns out he was right.
Shankly's words echoed through the ages yesterday morning (Singapore time), as a young Reds side dumped their neighbours from across Stanley Park out of the FA Cup third round with a 1-0 win.
In the rich tapestry of all-Merseyside clashes, this may rank as their most emphatic victory, with three debutants, including January signing Takumi Minamino, four teenagers and just one first-team mainstay lasting the distance in the 235th meeting between the clubs.
Manager Juergen Klopp will likely savour it over some of the high-scoring routs that stronger Liverpool teams have administered to their old enemy during his four-year tenure.
His starting line-up consisted of nine changes and was more befitting of an Under-23 fixture than a contest in the world's oldest club cup competition against a Carlo Ancelotti side.
Whether a psychological ploy or an indication of where Liverpool's competitive priorities currently lie, the romantics sensed a potential giant-killing; a totem of English football falling humiliatingly at the first hurdle, all because they showed a total lack of respect to the FA Cup.
But Everton's best chance of a long-awaited win at their former stomping ground never materialised. Their players were second-best to callow youth, despite costing five times their opponents' £44 million (S$77.6m) outlay.
RUBBED SALT IN THE WOUNDS
That Liverpool's home-grown goalscorer Curtis Jones was not even born when Everton last won at Anfield - way back in September 1999 - merely rubbed salt in the wounds.
Had it not been for those pesky kids, the Toffees still would not have got away with it.
With a squad heavily polluted by passengers, Ancelotti truly has his work cut out at Goodison Park.
For all the new-found optimism that the Italian's appointment has triggered on the blue half of Merseyside, it cannot mask the harsh realities that they continue to perform far below the standards demanded by their long-suffering supporters.
Underestimating Liverpool sides has become par for the course from footballing cynics.
Few gave them any hopes of overturning a three-goal deficit against Barcelona in last season's Champions League semi-final, while their plucky youngsters' bid to eliminate Arsenal in the League Cup quarter-final just three months ago was considered a flight of fancy.
But Klopp demonstrated on both occasions why Liverpool's former doubters are now true believers.
He has kick-started their fabled academy production line, which ground to a halt shortly after Everton's last away derby win, and it is now beginning to bear tangible signs of progress.
Jones' role in two match-winning acts, against Arsenal and Everton, proves that the club's current bloodline does not begin and end with Trent Alexander-Arnold.
A refusal to bite his tongue about a lack of first-team opportunities underlines the hunger his manager has instilled.
Even Klopp cannot resist getting swept away by the current tidal wave. Before yesterday, he had resisted the clamour to dust off his trademark fist-pump celebration.
Despite the best efforts of The Kop and television crews alike, he refused to play up to the cameras as Liverpool's momentous season continued to go from strength to strength.
It seems even the German is finally, in his own words, enjoying the ride.
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