The whipped cross is eerily similar. As is the arrowing shot into the bottom corner. The combative defending may be even better.
Conor Bradley’s best Trent Alexander-Arnold impression is certainly coming on nicely. There really is something in the water down Liverpool‘s right channel.
The 20-year-old’s goal and two assists in Wednesday’s thrashing of Chelsea took him to five goal contributions in his last two appearances. More assists than Bruno Fernandes all season.
While he was keen to laugh off such a conundrum after the match, Bradley’s surprising ascent gives Jurgen Klopp a very Gareth Southgate selection headache.
Full-backs are supremely important to many teams in the modern game, but despite the England boss’s best efforts, you can only really field two.
Despite playing out of position, Joe Gomez is currently undroppable and surely very much on Southgate’s radar for his Euro 2024 full-back army. Then Klopp has to also try and factor Andy Robertson back in with the Scot returning to full fitness.
But it is Bradley who has really got Klopp pondering. Against Chelsea, he became the youngest Liverpool player to both score and assist a goal in a Premier League match since Raheem Sterling in August 2014.
The calibre of those goal contributions are what stood out most. Anfield was aghast as Bradley bombed forward and unleashed his unstoppable first-half strike for his first senior goal, with the second-half cross onto the head of Dominik Szoboszlai leading to the entire stadium singing the name of a player who was taking on Cheltenham this time last season.
The sort of moments you dream of
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 1, 2024@conorbradley03's first goal for the Reds was something special
pic.twitter.com/4C7iDBHJMk
Not everyone, however, is taken aback by Bradley’s seamless assimilation to life as a Liverpool full-back phenomenon.
“I’ve known it for a while,” Klopp said the match. “In my left ear is Pep Lijnders and in my right ear is (coach) Vitor Matos, telling me. I have loved him from the first days and didn’t need a lot of convincing.
“The thing is Conor showed up extremely good in pre-season, did extremely well at Bolton (on loan). He comes back, looks top and does well in pre-season and is out for four months.
“Thank God time could sort it. It is a joy to watch him since he comes back and all credit to the academy.”
Klopp cannot leave fit-again Alexander-Arnold out, not in the form he is in, so he has to get creative. It certainly helps that Liverpool’s midfield is perhaps the only area of the pitch where they are not overloaded with certain starters.
Up front, despite his comical struggles with the woodwork, Darwin Nunez’s all-round contribution has made him frontman of the Klopp farewell tour, Diogo Jota is back fit and scoring, Mohamed Salah will be on English soil again soon and Luis Diaz’s renaissance gathers pace week by week. Cody Gakpo doesn’t deserve to be left out in the cold either.
Curtis Jones is arguably Liverpool’s in-form midfielder, but he remains raw, Szoboszlai shows flashes of brilliance but consistency is an issue, and while Alexis Mac Allister excels as a No 6, his attacking tendencies can leave the Reds’ backline exposed.
Alexander-Arnold remains a rough diamond in midfield, with not everybody convinced he can be a permanent fixture in the engineroom, but the challenge is something Klopp will certainly be up for, as it represents his perfect parting gift.
With a passing radar like no other, Alexander-Arnold has the tools to become a generational creative midfielder from deep. The rough diamond just needs polishing.
Klopp has been reluctant to get out his polishing pads previously, as he did not want to lose what the local hero offers down the flank.
If the last two games are anything to go by, however, those fears can be allayed. There is a long way to go, but Bradley, with Gomez as a fine support act, finally gives Klopp the cover he needs to complete his long-planned Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/NxOm8sj
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