The history of pre-season football is littered with players who featured alongside first team regulars but never quite made the grade for one reason or another. To even make it to that point is an incredible achievement and beyond the reach of 99 per cent of wannabe footballers in any case.
There were young players who appeared in Liverpool’s recent matches in Dubai who have not yet made their competitive debuts for the club, such as Dom Corness and Jarrell Quansah. Maybe their opportunity will come in a cup game (the latter has already been on the bench for the first-team three times) or perhaps they won’t make the breakthrough. We shall see.
Other youngsters who were involved against Lyon and AC Milan have already featured in proper matches this season, mostly against Derby in the Carabao Cup. With how well they performed last week, further first team chances look distinctly possible before 2022/23 is out.
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The most experienced of the young crop is Stefan Bajcetic. The 18-year-old has already made five appearances this term, with three of them cameos in the Champions League. One of nine players who started both recent friendlies, it seems clear he could develop into the anchor at the base of the Reds’ midfield for years to come.
The Spaniard has shown his skills both on and off the ball this term. Bajcetic was Liverpool’s joint-best player against Lyon – at least according to the post-match ratings – and his tackling drew plaudits after both Dubai Super Cup games.
But he’s also decent in possession. It would be wrong to read too much into his data from his one Premier League appearance, as it was against a Bournemouth side who were already 7-0 down when he entered the fray. Nonetheless, Bajcetic only completed one fewer pass into the final third in his 21 minutes of action than Harvey Elliott did in 45 and Fabinho did in 90 that day.
It would also be foolish and unhelpful to expect the youngster to solve the issues in Liverpool’s midfield, yet he’s heading towards becoming the type of player who might in the future. With the endless clamour for transfers, it’s important to not lose sight of the options already at the club.
At the point Bajcetic was taken off in both recent friendlies, Bobby Clark came on. He also got a brief cameo against the Cherries in August, but his most eye-catching contribution so far undoubtedly occurred against Milan.
Picking up a loose ball just in front of the Liverpool penalty area, the 17-year-old strode forward and played a sublime long-range pass into the path of Darwin Nunez, who then scored. Jurgen Klopp was right to highlight the assist when discussing the performances of his starlets after the game.
"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,” he said.
It’s the latter of these players who is inevitably generating the most excitement among Kopites at present. It doesn’t mater how talented a defensive midfielder happens to be, a similarly gifted attacking player will always draw the eye.
Doak has already drawn many admiring glances too. He’s one of just 18 players to have recorded at least four goals and four assists in a UEFA Youth League campaign, and will aim to add to that when the competition resumes next year. For the first team, the young Scot made a lively cameo against Derby, and (like Clark) set up a goal for Nunez in the Milan match.
He also hit the post in the latter game, coming inches from scoring a fine goal. Bajcetic, Clark and Doak – the three youngest players to make competitive appearances for the Reds this season – show that the future of the first team is looking very rosy indeed.
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