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When Liverpool sold Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona for 146 million pounds, the money they got was very wisely spent on one of the most important signings in Liverpool’s entire history. Virgil Van Dijk. He has been an essential part of Liverpool’s success, not just by being a rock in defense, but his leadership, even before becoming captain, has always been clearly visible. Van Dijk helped the club win every single trophy out there, and in an era where Manchester City have been dominating, he even helped Liverpool win the Premier League title that they hadn’t won in 30 long years. And that club legends like Steven Gerard, not only couldn’t win in 17 seasons, but cost the club a title with that disastrous slip against Chelsea.
*But after finally being crowned Premier League Champions in 2019-2020, the following season, and in only matchweek 5, Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made an awful tackle on Van Dijk. The tackle was so ugly that it damaged Virgil’s knee ligaments and ended his whole season. Just then, it seemed that Liverpool’s entire foundation had shaken. And eventually finishing the season with 9 losses, clearly showed the suffering that Liverpool would go through without Van Dijk. And since Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are always injured anyways, shortly afterwards, they joined the injury list, and a team competing in the toughest league in the world, had suddenly become without a senior defender.
Liverpool’s very long injury list in the 2020-2021 season was so ridiculous, that midfielder Fabinho would have to help in the defense as centre back. But who would play alongside Fabinho? Senior defenders Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip were all out for injuries, and at mid-season, there wasn’t an option for any new signings. So Jurgen Klopp had no choice but to resort to youngsters. He referred to Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams. They were both from Liverpool's academy, and so they had to have the club’s DNA within. But with neither the preparation nor the experience, could they take charge of the very tough job that was at hand?
*Phillips and Williams suffered at first. And eventually finishing the season with 9 losses clearly showed that. But game after game, the lads improved. Because in the final stretch of the season, the last 5 games of the league, Liverpool won them all, and those 5 crucial wins helped Liverpool finish 3rd and qualify to the Champions League after a very long and tough season. It was so impressive, that Jurgen Klopp himself, said that a picture on the last day of the season of Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams applauding the fans, both of them with bruises and cuts to their faces, captured best what those boys achieved.
But another reason Liverpool miraculously qualified to the Champions League was another unlikely hero; Alisson Becker. With Mane, Firmino, Gini and Trent, all missing their shots, someone had to score that crucial winning goal. And up came Alisson! The goalkeeper’s 95th-minute header helped Liverpool defeat West Brom 2-1, and strengthen their position in the top 4. The whole scene, the goal, the rain, dedicating the goal to his father who had passed away only a few months earlier, it all seemed so poetic, like something you would see in a movie.
And fast forward 12 months later, those unlikely Liverpool heroes, not only helped a struggling team qualify to the Champions League, but that qualification ended up with a place in the final against Real Madrid. And if it hadn’t been for those 9 ridiculous Thibaut Courtois saves, the most ever in a UCL final, against the likes of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, Liverpool would’ve easily won and it would’ve been a great football story.*
But nonetheless, the story of two unknown youngsters, Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams, helping a struggling Liverpool qualify to the Champions League in the first place, remains to be a terrific story, a story of two young lads who stepped up and did the job when it mattered the most.