‘Bergvall is headline act as young Spurs show incredible maturity’

One of the most important victories of his tenure came from Ange Postecoglou, who he rewarded with trust in the exuberance and talent of youth to relieve the pressure on his position as Tottenham manager.

Postecoglou has been dealing with the strain of poor performance in recent weeks, but Spurs’ 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final gave the players a new lease of life.

Postecoglou’s victory, which keeps him on track to keep his promise to win a trophy in his second season at the club, also helped him deliver three positive reports that back up his transfer strategy, which was frequently criticized, of acquiring promising young players to build a bright future.

Step forward 18-year-old Swedish match-winner Lucas Bergvall, 21-year-old debutant keeper Antonin Kinsky – barely through the door having signed from Slavia Prague in a £12.5m deal on Monday – and another teenager in Archie Grey.

Because Liverpool will now have to defend his decisive contribution, Bergvall’s decisive contribution will become controversied because referee Stuart Attwell allowed play to continue following a wild challenge on Kostas Tsimikas, which could have resulted in a second yellow card moments before his 86th minute winner.

He will be the headliner, but Kinsky and Gray, who both showed remarkable maturity in high-pressure situations versus high-quality opposition, must share the spotlight.

Due to injury and illness, Postecoglou was without 10 players, a number that quickly rose to 11 when Rodrigo Bentancur was taken off on a stretcher after 10 minutes of treatment for a head injury at a corner.

Bergvall was the centre of attention with a confident, classy, feisty – Liverpool would suggest too feisty performance in midfield.

The young Swede made the most of the players’ three-from-open play opportunities possible, scoring the winner, and it was a landmark moment for the young Swede, who was creative and competitive.

With four minutes left, Bergvall clinched the win over Alisson, making him the club’s youngest League Cup scorer since Gareth Bale, who was 18 years and 72 days old when he scored against Middlesbrough in September 2007; he is now 18 years and 341 days.

The £8.5 million loan, which Djurgarden received in February 2024, and which later returned him to the Swedish club for the rest of the season, already looks a little stale. It is obvious why Barcelona also wanted to sign him after his performance in his fourth game for the club.

The story of Kinsky, who arrived from Slavia Prague on Monday and was thrown in by Postecoglou without any harm, who chose him ahead of Brandon Austin, was equally remarkable.

Kinsky escaped in the first half when he slipped as he collected Cody Gakpo’s routine shot, but he still completed one catch with the help of a neat juggle.

And he did a fantastic job of putting him to the test as Liverpool finally put pressure on late on, diving from his goal to block Darwin Nunez’s angled shot before making his nightly best save by diving to his right to block the striker’s header in the closing seconds.

Another 18-year-old, Archie Gray, who has been thrust into the unfamiliar role of central defender as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are both injured, was slightly less impressive but just as impressive.

He will succeed in his favored midfield position as time goes on, but as evidenced by his composure in the second half, ignoring the crowd’s concern and allowing Spurs to retreat on the attack, he will become more successful as time goes on.

Gray was unruffled by Liverpool’s potent charge, a genuine star of the future. Another good deal might be Leeds United’ $ 40 million.

Postecoglou was delighted with his youngsters, saying: “It is incredible when you think we had a couple of 18-year-olds out there. I have seen so much growth. Without a doubt, we will survive this time and re-enter the game. We have some real players to help us become the team we want to be, I’ve found so far.

This was the kind of result and performance that should give Postecoglou and his players the perfect tonic in these extreme circumstances, with so many players missing and a four-game winless streak that included a 6-3 home defeat to Liverpool.

It was also another example of the wildly contradictory and inconsistent nature of Spurs, their last six wins coming containing two against Manchester City, a 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa, a 5-0 win at Southampton, a 4-3 triumph against Manchester City then this, only Liverpool’s second loss under head coach Arne Slot.

Although the Spurs have a slim lead going to Anfied, Postecoglou has a month to prepare some of his most significant players for the test at Anfield, particularly Romero and Van de Ven, with the exception of Romero and Van de Ven.