During the mid-week European game, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers continued his policy so far of granting first-team opportunities to some of the club’s younger players as they triumphed 5-3 away from home against Young Boys Bern in an entertaining clash. With that in mind, what can we deduced about this latest batch of top young talent to come through the ranks at Anfield?
Firstly, it seems as if the changes made by former manager Rafa Benitez to the club’s academy are finally starting to bear fruit and plenty of good work has gone on behind the scenes by the likes of Rodolfo Borrell and the recently departed Pep Segura, both formerly of Barcelona, as an approach whereby every team at each age level plays with a broadly similar system and style to make integration into the first-team easier when they do eventually break through.
It’s been well documented how young the average ages of the team’s to play for the club in the top flight have been so far this season, with regulars such as Martin Kelly, Joe Allen and Sebastien Coates all under 23. However, there has been another batch of even younger players to have been given their chance in recent weeks.
Andre Wisdom caught the eye at right-back with a mature display in the Europa League during which he also managed to score a thumping header. While positionally, he remains raw, which is to be expected given that he’s just 19-years-old, but Rodgers praised him after the game, saying: “It was a wonderful header from Andre and a great moment for him in his first game for Liverpool and especially with it being in Europe. Andre has played a lot at centre-half in his career so far but I think he’s got all the qualities to be a top Premier League right-back” before going on to laud his ability to ‘serve’ the ball well to the midfield players. He’s quick, good in the air and is somewhat reminiscent of Micah Richards when he first broke through.
Suso is the next obvious man to talk about, and Rodgers stated that he “loved Suso’s arrogance on the ball” against Young Boys. While he may have helped to create the goal against Manchester United at the weekend, though, it was his suicidal cross-field pass that led to Daniel Agger getting injured and Glen Johnson conceding the penalty; it was a harsh lesson for the 18-year old and one that he will have to learn from. Nevertheless, his confidence on the ball is the first thing you take away from watching him and it’s rare for the club to have someone capable of taking on and beating a man with ease down either flank. He can look a little lazy off the ball at times, failing to track runners, but one suspects that this flaw will be ironed out soon enough by Rodgers.
Next up we have Raheem Sterling, the team’s most effective player so far this term and the recent recipient of a senior England call-up. Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville waxed lyrical about Sterling’s ability to play with his head up and pick a pass, a trait rarely seen in players so young, let alone wingers. He has been simply magnificent. He’ll need to bulk up a bit eventually, just so that he doesn’t get shrugged off the ball so easily but his awareness is exceptional and the club have a real gem on their hands with him.
Samed Yesil couldn’t have timed his move to the club any better given that it is currently woefully short of attacking numbers and he has a chance to prove himself in the coming months, particularly in Europe given Daniel Pacheco’s anonymous display. Boasting a fabulous record with the German national side’s youth teams, it’s that sort of predatory instinct that the side is crying out for at the moment. We’re still yet to get our first real glance of him, but the whispers are overwhelmingly exciting.
Adam Morgan is another young forward at the club who have been able to see a bit of, though, given his run-outs in pre-season and his performance against Hearts at home, while the overall team may have been frustrating, there were signs that he knew how to handle himself at that level and his work-rate is second to none. Of course, he will have to show a little bit more than that to make the grade, but legends such as Ian Rush have giving him their blessing from what we’ve seen so far and the academy prospect could be one to watch next season.
Of course, this isn’t to even mention the younger players that broke through last term such as Jonjo Shelvey, who is becoming an increasingly important member of the first-team and full-backs Jack Robinson and Jon Flanagan, while it’s worth remembering that Scottish centre-half Danny Wilson is still just 20 years old and with Daniel Agger looking like he’s been ruled out for the rest of the season with damaged medial ligaments in his knee, he could feature more as a result in cup competitions and Connor Coady is rated highly within the reserve team.
Liverpool have an extremely young squad at the moment which makes their slow start to the new league season somewhat forgivable. While his predecessor Kenny Dalglish originally showed an inclination to try out some of the club’s undoubtedly talented youngsters, this all changed after the summer signings of Downing, Carroll and Enrique and Henderson and their route to the first-team was blocked off.
However, since then, with Downing not even making the bench against Manchester United and Carroll out on loan to West Ham, there has never been a better time for a young player to try and make their mark at Anfield with a manager who genuinely seems to believe in their talent. It may be financially motivated, given that the club’s first-team squad is very small and that the funds to reinvest which were there last year and available now, but in the likes of Sterling, Suso, Wisdom, Morgan and Yesli, the club currently boasts some of the Premier League’s most exciting prospects in a squad bursting at the seams with potential.
Which young player currently on the books at Anfield are you most excited about?
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