Memories of Football Manager: Liverpool coach on Hugo Ekitiké: "You call it stupid? Me too!"

In the League Cup against Southampton, former Frankfurt player Ekitiké scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1. Shortly afterward, he was sent off. The world shook its head. Liverpool coach Arne Slot was no exception. He couldn't believe it all. Perhaps someone already knew this. He was sitting on the other bench.

Before Southampton's Will Still began his career in France, the 32-year-old repeatedly simulated his future life as a coach on "Football Manager." "The little kid inside me, who spent all those hours trying to become one of the best managers in the world and winning everything on 'Football Manager,' tells me to hold on to the dream of coaching West Ham," he once said when the world first discovered him a few years ago.

This summer, Will Still took a step closer to West Ham. The Belgian-born Englishman was drawn to the UK. He had spent two years there as a teenager, but was otherwise always to be found in continental Europe. At Stade Reims, he first worked as an assistant coach. Then, in October 2022, on the day before his 30th birthday, he became interim coach and soon after, manager. He didn't have a license. The club paid a €25,000 fine per game until he obtained a license. He was the youngest manager in any of Europe's top leagues. He led the club from the relegation zone to a secure mid-table position.

In the summer of 2024, Still moved to Lens, finished the season, and disappeared anyway. He wanted to go to England. There was a serious reason for this. His girlfriend was ill, and he wanted to be with her. Not have to commute all the time. Sometimes, he said in the summer, he stood on the training ground in Lens and blamed himself. In England, he took over at Southampton, which had just been relegated from the Premier League.

League Cup in Liverpool, not as football fiction

In Southampton, he assembled a new team. He also drew on Germany. Caspar Jander came from Nuremberg, Leo Scienza from Hoffenheim, Damion Downs from Cologne, and Joshua Quarshie from Hoffenheim. He had previously discussed how coaches also look at player ratings in "Football Manager," on Transfermarkt, and FIFA. They are data and information tools.

After a poor start in the league, they traveled to Liverpool for the cup last Tuesday. In real life. A big step. Southampton had the Premier League champions on the verge of a sensation. They had admired the 1-0 lead with the equalizer from Liverpool's €145 million man, Alexander Isak, in the 76th minute. It was a game that exists in the English League Cup and that appears again and again in "Football Manager." After many attempts, if necessary. One advantage of digital football fiction.

It's entertaining anyway. The game engine keeps throwing in strange events. Some of them are hair-raising, so hair-raising that it's impossible. But it is. Just like what happened shortly after the 1-1 draw in Liverpool shouldn't have happened. But it did.

What Ekitike did

In the 85th minute, Hugo Ekitiké, standing free in front of goal, did what Liverpool had spent €95 million on Eintracht Frankfurt this summer. After a pass from Federico Chiesa, all he had to do was somehow put the ball in the net. He succeeded. What happened next caused everyone to shake their heads.

Ekitiké, who had already been cautioned early after being substituted at halftime for complaining and throwing the ball away in a single move, was in a frenzy. The decisive goal at Anfield. The 2-1 in a cup match. The goal in the final minutes. What the completely euphoric striker blocked out. It was the round of 16 in the English League Cup, the unpopular second tier of the competition. It was the easiest goal in the world. But the 23-year-old didn't care.

Ekitiké took off his number 22 shirt, held it toward the stands, and must have already been surprised by the looks on his teammates' faces. It was then up to former Leverkusen player Jeremie Frimpong to deliver the message to the celebrant. "That was stupid, Hugo. You can't do that," he may have told him. Shortly afterward, referee Thomas Bramall flashed first a yellow card and then a red card. Because that's the way the rules dictate. That meant a suspension for the next league match against Crystal Palace. At least the Reds managed to hold on to the win with ten men. At least Isak scored. It won't be that bad, after all.

What Arne Slot thought

Liverpool manager Arne Slot, however, found it all rather odd. "The first card was unnecessary and also somewhat stupid. You have to control your emotions," the Dutchman lashed out. "Regarding the second card, I told him I could certainly understand. If it were a goal in the 87th minute of a Champions League final, and if he had beaten three players beforehand and fired the ball into the top corner, I could understand him thinking it was all about him. I'm old-fashioned. With that goal, I would have gone to Chiesa and thanked him for the assist. That was unnecessary, that wasn't smart. You call it stupid. I immediately called it stupid, too."

The match winner, who was so criticized, immediately followed up with an apology on Instagram. "It's always better if you can control your emotions. If that's not possible, do it in a way that doesn't get you a yellow card," he wrote. "I was just so excited to help the team to another win here. The emotions got the better of me. I apologize to the entire Reds family."

When Will Still, the Southampton manager, spoke about his new job this summer, he also talked about Hugo Ekitiké. He had already met him at Stade Reims, back when he was still an assistant manager and the attacker was a huge prospect. "He was a star at Reims back then. He wasn't a star at PSG. He was growing up. He was still a boy, an adolescent. Then he became a young adult." That evening at Anfield, Ekitike was a boy again. He was happy because he scored a decisive goal in Liverpool and for Liverpool, and in doing so, he made a foolish mistake. As his manager and others were not the only ones to tell him.