“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” roars Jordan Henderson as he joins in with his animated manager, Jurgen Klopp, during a routine win at Villa Park.
It’s February 2016 and Liverpool have already scored five times against Aston Villa. The second half is as close to a training game as it gets until rookie 20-year-old midfielder, Jordan Lyden, comes off the bench to spice things up.
High on adrenaline and determined to give those in the stands something to cheer about, Lyden collides with Roberto Firmino within seconds of his introduction and then lunges into a sliding tackle that just misses the Brazilian striker but is tasty enough to spark an infuriated Klopp into life on the sidelines.
“I nearly took him out,” Lyden, a member of Swindon Town’s League Two-winning side, tells The Athletic when discussing his time as the youngest member of the last Villa side to be relegated from the Premier League in…
