Steel, Pace, Style, Skill, Commitment: Liverpool's New Kids Coming Of Age

All they need now is experience and to naturally 'fill out' with age

This could be the season remembered for when Liverpool's next generation came of age; a weird, double pre-seasoned campaign ravaged by injuries which meant that, from pretty much June to what's now nearly January, unexpected opportunities presented themselves to some special young players.

These include two players I've touted since first seeing them at 16 – Stefan Bajcetic (last year) and Ben Doak (in March) – but also ones I've been more surprised by, like Bobby Clark. This, before the trio of 19-year-olds brought in recently (less recent for Harvey Elliott); and the gifted and nearly-fit-again Kaide Gordon.

Indeed, it's interesting that all of the seven players I'm referring to here are 'purchases'; the on-loan Tyler Morton being the one true academy product.

Difficult seasons – injury crises and bad form (and now the demands of a weird World Cup) – are when kids often get their chance.

There are always excellent kids, albeit never quite at the same volume (and some will be more outstanding than others), but I increasingly realise how important the years from 17-20 (and then 20-22) are in terms of development, and how not playing, through injury or just because there are better senior players, will stunt careers.

The super-elite – such as Lionel Messi – will almost always remain super-elite, even if injured at 17 or 18 for a year, unless it's a career-ender or a speed-limiter. But excellent prospects can fall away if things go against them between 17-20.

(Barcelona's Ansu Fati will be interesting to track, after he was a sensation at 16, but more recently missed a year of football. Had that happened to a player who'd yet to make his mark and get a long-term deal, you wonder if that player would have faded away to a slightly lower level, such as seen with Rhian Brewster.)

Loans can really benefit, given the massive step up from U18 or even U23 football, but loans mean churn for the individual: the hit-and-miss of whether or not a manager will trust in their youth, when players will likely make more mistakes, as the lad tries to fit in with a team he doesn't know, and who don't know him; and home fans who may not be as generous as his parent clubs'.

It can be a great way to learn (a test of character as well as ability, as seen by Harvey Elliott and Blackburn, with Morton following suit), but sitting on the bench in the second or third tier because the manager can't afford to risk you is less use than training with the Liverpool first team and playing for the U23s.

Intense, envelope-pushing training (that stays the right side of being impossible) is what improves sportspeople, and in team sports, competing against elite players will make you better, if you are good enough to start with. (If you're hopeless, it may just demoralise you and decrease the quality of the group practice.)

And in 2022, at least half a dozen promising kids have trained a lot with the senior team; played preseason games in the summer; some then had league and League Cup minutes; and now they're in the middle of three more weeks' training with senior players – but where they, the kids, are more involved, as it's only 13 or 14 of the senior players (with 10-or-so away or injured); and now they've played two midseason preseason games against strong European opposition.

They might have played against Man City in the cup next week, but that’s likely to be more like a second Community Shield, where the senior players need the minutes.

Klopp said after the 4-1 victory over AC Milan:

“Of course, when you bring on the kids in the second half and you see the pass from Bobby Clark and the whole performance from Stefan, the performance from Mel [Frauendorf] as a right full-back and then Ben Doak comes on, 17 years old, and is this kind of natural force, it's really cool to see.

“In these 10 days the kids especially, everybody made a real step forward. That's why these things are so important, that we can involve them. And in general, tonight was the result of the last 10 days what we saw in training and tonight we could bring it on the pitch, which is obviously nice.”

At the age of 16 and 17, and even 18 and 19, a couple of months is a huge chunk of time in a football career. Players can double their experience in a short space of time; and they can grow in height, size and strength almost overnight.

An extra inch of height, an extra pound of muscle, in no time at all. Extra maturity, confidence, responsibility.

While new signings will still be made, it's worth examining the ways in which Liverpool's squad has already got stronger, during a strange and testing six months.

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