As a rule you can't treat pre-season games and performances too seriously, but for the young players I think it is as serious as it gets – this is pretty much their only chance to show they deserve consideration for playing time this season. This is probably why the more youthful lineups produced better performances than their senior counterparts so far in both games. Here is my little count-down of 5 young players who impressed me the most and 5 who somewhat disappointed.
BEST:
5. Randall (Tranmere and Fleetwood 2nd halves) – pleasantly surprised with his attacking endeavor in both games. You can see he is trying his absolute best to impress Klopp and win the role of Clyne's understudy.
4. Alexander-Arnold (Tranmere 2nd half and Fleetwood 1st) – produced a lovely game-winning assist in the first game and didn't look out of place among the "adults" in the 2nd game. Surely too young to make an impact with the first team this season, but definitely an interesting player for the future.
3. Woodburn (Tranmere and Fleetwood 2nd halves) – a 16-year old striker with bags of tricks, confidence and natural finishing ability. Denied his first goal by a goal-line clearance in the first game; bagged a goal and an assist in the 2nd. Really excited for this lad – I think it's been quite a while since we had a striker in the Academy which quite as much promise.
2. Ejaria (Tranmere 1st half and Fleetwood 2nd) – that first 45 minutes against Tranmere was, to borrow Klopp's words, BOOM! I never saw him play before and suddenly there is this Yaya-esque player who glides from one penalty box to another, winning duels and outrunning people without seeming to break sweat. 2nd game didn't disappoint either – now it will be interesting to see if he can show enough maturity in his game to really force Klopp to include him in this season's plans.
1. Grujic (Fleetwood first half only) – Could he or anyone have imagined a better debut? He was the best player on the pitch for the 45 minutes with the "senior" starting 11, winning a penalty for Ings and scoring once himself, going close a couple more times and moving about the pitch with purpose. Of course it was only Fleetwood and now we need to see him against much stronger competition, but it's clear we have acquired a real talent here. My biggest wish for him is to avoid injuries as much as possible.
Honorable mentions who did themselves no harm, but didn't quite make top 5: Brannagan, Kent, Ilori, Smith
WORST:
5. Stewart (2nd half Tranmere and 1st half Fleetwood) – perhaps it's harsh to include him on this list, especially since Klopp specifically praised his defensive positioning after Fleetwood. But at 22 he has he has more to prove than the teenagers and he didn't really show much in terms of the attacking side of his game and his passing was much too cautious for this standard of the opposition.
4. Chirivella (2nd half Tranmere only) – the only player dropped after the first game.
3. Wisdom – largely untroubled in defense, but visibly not as comfortable on the ball as the other CBs and did commit a couple of minor positional mistakes. Hard to see him staying, even given our dire need for CBs.
2. Markovic – surprisingly peripheral in both games, despite having the most to prove. Showed flashes of quality, but will it be enough to save his LFC career? Given the rumors of him being offered to clubs in Portugal, maybe not.
1. Flanagan – thoroughly outshone by Randall in both games, which can affect both his short-term and long-term prospects unless he can pick it up soon. I am starting to wonder whether he looked much better under Rodgers because he was the only true stay-at-home defender in that shambolic back 4, but is struggling with the pace and energy requirements of Klopp's game. He just doesn't have the pace to cover all the ground both in attack and defense on his flank and whenever he is caught out of position his only option is a cynical foul. Maybe I'm reading too much into the first couple of pre-season games, but so far it doesn't look too good for the "Scouse Cafu."
BEST:
5. Randall (Tranmere and Fleetwood 2nd halves) – pleasantly surprised with his attacking endeavor in both games. You can see he is trying his absolute best to impress Klopp and win the role of Clyne's understudy.
4. Alexander-Arnold (Tranmere 2nd half and Fleetwood 1st) – produced a lovely game-winning assist in the first game and didn't look out of place among the "adults" in the 2nd game. Surely too young to make an impact with the first team this season, but definitely an interesting player for the future.
3. Woodburn (Tranmere and Fleetwood 2nd halves) – a 16-year old striker with bags of tricks, confidence and natural finishing ability. Denied his first goal by a goal-line clearance in the first game; bagged a goal and an assist in the 2nd. Really excited for this lad – I think it's been quite a while since we had a striker in the Academy which quite as much promise.
2. Ejaria (Tranmere 1st half and Fleetwood 2nd) – that first 45 minutes against Tranmere was, to borrow Klopp's words, BOOM! I never saw him play before and suddenly there is this Yaya-esque player who glides from one penalty box to another, winning duels and outrunning people without seeming to break sweat. 2nd game didn't disappoint either – now it will be interesting to see if he can show enough maturity in his game to really force Klopp to include him in this season's plans.
1. Grujic (Fleetwood first half only) – Could he or anyone have imagined a better debut? He was the best player on the pitch for the 45 minutes with the "senior" starting 11, winning a penalty for Ings and scoring once himself, going close a couple more times and moving about the pitch with purpose. Of course it was only Fleetwood and now we need to see him against much stronger competition, but it's clear we have acquired a real talent here. My biggest wish for him is to avoid injuries as much as possible.
Honorable mentions who did themselves no harm, but didn't quite make top 5: Brannagan, Kent, Ilori, Smith
WORST:
5. Stewart (2nd half Tranmere and 1st half Fleetwood) – perhaps it's harsh to include him on this list, especially since Klopp specifically praised his defensive positioning after Fleetwood. But at 22 he has he has more to prove than the teenagers and he didn't really show much in terms of the attacking side of his game and his passing was much too cautious for this standard of the opposition.
4. Chirivella (2nd half Tranmere only) – the only player dropped after the first game.
3. Wisdom – largely untroubled in defense, but visibly not as comfortable on the ball as the other CBs and did commit a couple of minor positional mistakes. Hard to see him staying, even given our dire need for CBs.
2. Markovic – surprisingly peripheral in both games, despite having the most to prove. Showed flashes of quality, but will it be enough to save his LFC career? Given the rumors of him being offered to clubs in Portugal, maybe not.
1. Flanagan – thoroughly outshone by Randall in both games, which can affect both his short-term and long-term prospects unless he can pick it up soon. I am starting to wonder whether he looked much better under Rodgers because he was the only true stay-at-home defender in that shambolic back 4, but is struggling with the pace and energy requirements of Klopp's game. He just doesn't have the pace to cover all the ground both in attack and defense on his flank and whenever he is caught out of position his only option is a cynical foul. Maybe I'm reading too much into the first couple of pre-season games, but so far it doesn't look too good for the "Scouse Cafu."
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