Teenage defender Willy Kambwala came in for special praise from Erik ten Hag after Manchester United’s draw with Liverpool.
The Red Devils boss handed the 19-year-old his first start at Old Trafford in only his seventh appearance for the club on Sunday afternoon.
Despite Liverpool laying siege to United’s goal for much of the match, which ended 2-2 after Mohamed Salah’s late penalty, Kambwala impressed.
The Frenchman clearly has a fan in Ten Hag, who gave him a surprise debut at West Ham in December, and he caught the eye with a superb tackle to deny Darwin Nunez in the box having failed to control a ball over the top.
United boss Ten Hag explained post-match that he considered starting Casemiro at centre-back due to injuries for Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw and Raphael Varane.
“[Kambwala] has been training a while with us and progressing well,” he told BBC Sport.
“The next generation need to step in and he is doing brilliant. The challenge for him is doing it consistently.
“Great opportunity for him. We have other options, like bringing Casemiro in at centre-half, but today he deserved it and he showed it on the pitch.”
United looked to be heading to defeat having failed to fire off a shot in the first half. Luis Diaz’s goal was nonetheless cancelled out by Bruno Fernandes’ 40-yard lob and the hosts ended up disappointed after Salah’s penalty replied to Kobbie Mainoo’s goal.
“Very mixed emotions,” Ten Hag continued. “On one side, I am disappointed that we have dropped seven points in one week, after being in winning positions, but we have to blame ourselves for making stupid mistakes.
“On the other side, I am very proud. You see how we are improving and the potential of this squad is amazing. I am proud.
“In decisive areas, we were losing battles, especially with young players, we were not confident to win them [duels]. We encouraged [them] in the second half to do better and they stepped up.”
