Liverpool assistant coach Pep Ljinders has revealed the club’s tactic for bolstering the right-hand side of the first team.
The plan has been in front of them all along. Whilst the Reds have recruited in stretched areas including left-back and on the wing, Jurgen Klopp’s right-hand man has explained why there was no need to recruit in other positions.
The Trent Alexander-Arnold journey
“Nobody thought Trent Alexander-Arnold would have been in this position 3 or 4 years ago, as the most talented player in English football as a right defender,” Ljinders told the Liverpool ECHO. “But we trust the young players in good periods and bad periods, we know exactly what we can expect from every single one of them.”
Indeed, Alexander-Arnold has set an extremely high bar for all future Anfield starlets. After breaking through into the first team in 2016, he has become untouchable in Liverpool’s first team. This is clearly the same pathway the club can expect Neco Williams and Curtis Jones to follow.
“Instead of buying a second right defender, it’s Neco Williams. Instead of buying a new right midfielder, it’s Curtis Jones,” Ljinders continued. “If you are in the squad you’ll get game time and develop.”
Curtis Jones and his Liverpool rise
Jones in particular is rapidly establishing himself as one of Liverpool’s most bright-looking players. Since his senior debut, he has made 16 appearances for his boyhood club and has provided five goals and one assist. His overall tally, including his stints in the youth system, sees him boast 46 goals and 17 assists in 96 matches (via Transfermarkt).
Since the start of the new season, Klopp has trusted the native teen more and more with the high demand of first team action. Jones has featured in three of Liverpool’s five fixtures so far, scoring two goals in that time.
His eye for a goal and constant noticeable growth will soon make him an impossible asset to ignore. Similarly, Williams is also a player Klopp clearly sees potential in.
The two teenagers have been entrusted with a worrisome area within the Premier League title-holding team. That in itself is enough to spur on solid performances and develop the duo into Anfield icons.
In other news, Liverpool could wound Man United with swoop for Ousmane Dembele…