OLIVER HOLT on the Liverpool player’s performance at Man United that rivalled Roy Keane against Juventus

Following Liverpool’s draw against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, Jurgen Klopp sat in the Old Trafford press room and answered a question I asked him about Jarell Quansah and the strength of character his young centre-back had shown after of his goal. a rare mistake that led to a second-half tie for Erik ten Hag’s team.

Klopp spoke well of Quansah, as expected. Some of his team-mates, including Virgil van Dijk, had already dismissed the idea that Quansah should take the blame for Liverpool dropping points. It was obvious to most that if there was an underlying reason for Liverpool not winning, it was that they missed too many opportunities.

“As a Premier League and Liverpool football player,” Klopp said, “I have the bad news that, unfortunately, it will not be the last mistake of his life.” This is life. I thought he handled it very well. But when our idols in the past made these kinds of mistakes, social media didn’t exist, so I hope he’s smart enough to turn it off.”

Klopp mentioned the Daily Mail in his dispatches at the time, which was nice, and advised Quansah not to read anything that would “make it personal”. So, apologies for this Jurgen, but I’ll make it personal. I’m going to make it personal because I think Quansah is one of the best things to happen to English football this season.

I want to make it personal because I thought the way Quansah played on Sunday afternoon, particularly after his mistake, particularly when the United players and supporters smelled blood, was one of the most impressive individual performances I have seen from any player in the Premier League this year. season.

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It takes a particularly admirable type of athlete to be able to perform in adversity, to excel in adversity, to respond to adversity not by falling apart but by improving their game. And that’s what Quansah did on Sunday. He made a mistake that was harshly punished with brilliant skill and then raised his game to a level that dragged his team back into the game.

Whenever I am asked what is the best individual performance I have ever seen live in a football match, the answer is easy: Roy Keane in the second leg of United’s Champions League semi-final against Juventus in the Stadio delle Alpi, 25 years ago. month.

United had drawn 1-1 in the first leg and trailed 2-0 in the first 11 minutes in Turin against a stellar Juventus team that included Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids and Didier Deschamps, before Keane scored a goal halfway through the middle.

Then, 12 minutes before half-time, Keane made a poor tackle on Zidane and was booked. He knew at that moment that the yellow card would keep him out of the final in Barcelona, ​​should United get there. Many players would have collapsed. Keane did not.

Instead, Keane played like a superhuman. He was everywhere. He attacked Juventus like a dervish. He ran and ran like there was no tomorrow. He urged his companions to move forward. He was his inspiration in the most difficult circumstances. United equalized a minute after he was booked and won the match 3-2.

I would put what Quansah did on Sunday in the same category. The game wasn’t as important as a Champions League semi-final, but it was probably the most important game for the 21-year-old from Warrington, who was on loan at Bristol Rovers last season and was making only his 11th Premier League appearance. League on the weekend you have ever played. There was a lot at stake.

And for Quansah to make that mistake (a mistake that might have been harmless if not for the instinctive brilliance of Bruno Fernandes, who brought down Caoimhin Kelleher from 45 yards) and for him to respond in the way he did, marks him out as a special player who only deserves praise for his performance at Old Trafford.

He was flawless after that mistake, just as he had been before. He is the most elegant centre-half, the epitome of grace under pressure, a lad who plays with a maturity beyond his years and who could easily be a pillar of the England defense for years to come. Few have talked about him as a candidate for Gareth Southgate’s Euro this summer. They should.

When Liverpool looked headed for defeat against United, it was Quansah who broke the start of a counter-attack, overcame a challenge and started the play that led to Harvey Elliott being brought down in the area for Mo Salah’s converted penalty.

I looked at him as the final whistle sounded and he put his hands up to his head and pulled the collar of his shirt up over his face as far as he could go. As much as others consoled him, it was clear that he felt the weight of responsibility for Liverpool’s failure to beat a team they had dominated.

There was no need. In fact, quite the opposite. Quansah represents the best of Liverpool this season. He represents everything good about a season that was supposed to have been one of transition and modest progress and which has become an exciting part of a three-way title race.

On Sunday, Quansah was a symbol of the resilience, youthful hope, potential and excitement that has driven Liverpool time and time again this season when, at almost every turn, people expected them to leave the stage against Manchester City and Arsenal. The way he played, the way he responded, tells you that Liverpool are not about to weaken.

On Sunday, his mistake only served to highlight how good he is because it was so unusual. There is no resignation in Quansah. A man who responds to adversity as he did is destined for even greater things.

PGA Tour’s objections to LIV are being undermined

There will be a lot of vilification of LIV Golf and its golfers this week as the Masters gets into full swing, but it’s hard to get too outraged when it’s long been clear that the sport’s objection to the breakaway circuit has very little to do with qualms about track record. of human rights of the State of Saudi Arabia that finances it and everything that has to do with the threat that LIV represents for its economic model.

The more the PGA Tour reacts to LIV’s forays, the more its objections to LIV are undermined.

And so, ‘the creatures without looked from the pig to the man, and from the man to the pig, and from the pig to the man again; but it was now impossible to say which was which.

White loses respect with Brighton antics

If he feels unable to give his best, uncomfortable for whatever reason, I have no problem with Ben White deciding he doesn’t want to play for England. The choice of him and the loss of him.

I have a bigger problem, though: Brighton’s Pervis Estupinan brushed past an Arsenal defender during Saturday’s match between the teams at the Amex, and White hit the deck like a sack of potatoes, clutching his throat as if he’d been hit. garroted with a piano. wire.

Much of the respect I had for him disappeared in that moment.

Will this be Rory’s time in Augusta?

I have a feeling this will be Rory McIlroy’s year at the Masters.

Then again, I’ve had that hunch every year for the last 13 years.

It was a particularly strong hunch last year. And she missed the cut by three strokes.

The Premier League alarmist about the regulator

The Premier League appears to have run alarmist online adverts about the imminent arrival of an independent regulator for football and trotting out its favorite hackneyed line about “unintended consequences”.

Your fear is real. In fact, the fear is becoming more real and more urgent.

Perhaps, one day, someone should make it clear to the Premier League that if the consequences of appointing an independent regulator somehow dilute the unbridled greed of some of our major airline owners, then those consequences will not be at all unintended.