Martin Kelly puts spine surgery behind him for club and country

[King Binny]

MARTIN KELLY dedicated so much time to chasing his dream as a kid that he almost broke his back.

Surgery on the problem forced him to miss two years of his teenage football development before graduating to Liverpool’s Melwood training HQ in 2007.

But Kelly has made up for lost time by forcing his way into Kenny Dalglish’s first-team plans by the age of 21.

He is also an integral part of Stuart Pearce’s young England set-up, and is being monitored by Fabio Capello about the possibility of jumping into the senior squad ahead of Euro 2012.

The challenge of overcoming a major injury hurdle while in the Liverpool Academy is huge credit to the defender, who seems destined to become a local hero.

Kelly explained: “When I was younger I suffered with a back problem, which was caused by playing too much football.

“I was told I had to stop playing or I would end up with a fracture in the bottom of my back.

“So I had an operation on that and didn’t play for a while and, touch wood, I haven’t felt it since. You are going to have injuries during a career and what defines you is how you get over them.

“And any time I have been called upon at Liverpool, I have shown what I can do.

“To have come through that and to have got to this stage of my career is a great achievement.

“But when you are a player at Liverpool you want to go on to bigger and better things.

”And now I want to pick up honours.

“I’ve had quite a bit of bad luck with injuries, but I am keeping on top of them this season.”

Over the past three campaigns, hamstring and groin problems have further threatened to hold back his progress.

But Kelly’s determination has seen him through. He has a bright future at Anfield – possibly as Jamie Carragher’s long-term successor – and will undoubtedly emerge as a dominant figure for the Three Lions over the next decade.

He scored a cracking goal for the Under-21s on Thursday night against Iceland, and ahead of another Euro qualifier in Belgium tomorrow, Kelly said: “At Liverpool it is ingrained in you that there are no egos around the club.

“If there was, they wouldn’t last five minutes. It’s quite rare and part of the reason we all get on so well as a team.

“And I think the same is true of the England Under-21 side.

“When you look at teams like Spain and Germany, they are gelled together – maybe we have struggled with that in the past.

“We all get on though and are getting the results at the moment.

“There are going to be chances to break into the senior side with England – either through injury or whatever else. So as long as you are playing well for your club you will get a shot.”

 

[King Binny]

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is planning a position change for Martin Kelly to help solve his selection dilemma at right-back.

With fellow youngster John Flanagan also competing with Glen Johnson at full-back, Dalglish claims Kelly may have to revert to playing centre-half, where he plays for England Under-21s, to get more games at club level.

“It’s brilliant for us,” said the Scot. “Kells played at centre-back for the Under-21s and that’s where he started here. That’s what he set out to be and maybe that’s where he will go back to.

“The two goals Martin got in the last two games for the Under-21s will not do him any harm.

"It will give him a greater appetite to play here, we know he has done well for us.”

 

[Mystic]

[quote author=Binny link=topic=47506.msg1430879#msg1430879 date=1322034318]

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is planning a position change for Martin Kelly to help solve his selection dilemma at right-back.

With fellow youngster John Flanagan also competing with Glen Johnson at full-back, Dalglish claims Kelly may have to revert to playing centre-half, where he plays for England Under-21s, to get more games at club level.

“It’s brilliant for us,” said the Scot. “Kells played at centre-back for the Under-21s and that’s where he started here. That’s what he set out to be and maybe that’s where he will go back to.

“The two goals Martin got in the last two games for the Under-21s will not do him any harm.

"It will give him a greater appetite to play here, we know he has done well for us.”

[/quote]

I like the sound of this because I like the idea of a team with both Kelly and Johnson(at rb) in.

Maybe against Chelsea we could play a backline of Flannagan-Kelly-Coates-Robinson, now there's a backline for the future!

 

[Modo]

[quote author=Mystic link=topic=47506.msg1430895#msg1430895 date=1322039015]
[quote author=Binny link=topic=47506.msg1430879#msg1430879 date=1322034318]

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is planning a position change for Martin Kelly to help solve his selection dilemma at right-back.

With fellow youngster John Flanagan also competing with Glen Johnson at full-back, Dalglish claims Kelly may have to revert to playing centre-half, where he plays for England Under-21s, to get more games at club level.

“It’s brilliant for us,” said the Scot. “Kells played at centre-back for the Under-21s and that’s where he started here. That’s what he set out to be and maybe that’s where he will go back to.

“The two goals Martin got in the last two games for the Under-21s will not do him any harm.

"It will give him a greater appetite to play here, we know he has done well for us.”

[/quote]

I like the sound of this because I like the idea of a team with both Kelly and Johnson(at rb) in.

Maybe against Chelsea we could play a backline of Flannagan-Kelly-Coates-Robinson, now there's a backline for the future!
[/quote]

I'd rather play Kelly at RB and Wilson together with Coates.

 

[spider-Neil]

kelly at CB would be excellent. strong, quick, comfortable on the ball. I'd love to see him play there but at whose expense?

 

[Mystic]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=47506.msg1430920#msg1430920 date=1322043523]
kelly at CB would be excellent. strong, quick, comfortable on the ball. I'd love to see him play there but at whose expense?
[/quote]

Exactly. I prefer Flanagan as a right back to Wilson as a centre back. Lets not forget Flanagan had 6 or 7 good games for us in the first team, one mistake and he's out on his arse. He deserves some more game time, he's only 18, he'll develop into a great player for us! As will Kelly, in the centre, and Robinson on the left, they're greatly poised to take over from Johnson, Agger and Enrique in a few years time!

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Mystic link=topic=47506.msg1430923#msg1430923 date=1322044129]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=47506.msg1430920#msg1430920 date=1322043523]
kelly at CB would be excellent. strong, quick, comfortable on the ball. I'd love to see him play there but at whose expense?
[/quote]

Exactly. I prefer Flanagan as a right back to Wilson as a centre back. Lets not forget Flanagan had 6 or 7 good games for us in the first team, one mistake and he's out on his arse. He deserves some more game time, he's only 18, he'll develop into a great player for us! As will Kelly, in the centre, and Robinson on the left, they're greatly poised to take over from Johnson, Agger and Enrique in a few years time!
[/quote]

you could argue kelly is a natural replacement for agger when the obligatory injury happens (that said kelly is hardly made of stone either).

 

[Mystic]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=47506.msg1430925#msg1430925 date=1322044313]
[quote author=Mystic link=topic=47506.msg1430923#msg1430923 date=1322044129]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=47506.msg1430920#msg1430920 date=1322043523]
kelly at CB would be excellent. strong, quick, comfortable on the ball. I'd love to see him play there but at whose expense?
[/quote]

Exactly. I prefer Flanagan as a right back to Wilson as a centre back. Lets not forget Flanagan had 6 or 7 good games for us in the first team, one mistake and he's out on his arse. He deserves some more game time, he's only 18, he'll develop into a great player for us! As will Kelly, in the centre, and Robinson on the left, they're greatly poised to take over from Johnson, Agger and Enrique in a few years time!
[/quote]

you could argue kelly is a natural replacement for agger when the obligatory injury happens (that said kelly is hardly made of stone either).
[/quote]

Yeh I'd agree with that. I'd like to see Coates play more, however I don't like the idea of Coates and Skrtel, so it would be Kelly, Agger and Coates I have no problem with though.

 

[reuque]

What kind of Cb is Kelly though? If he is similar mold as Agger, as in a ball playing CB, would it be as effective to play alongside another similar player in Coates?