Conor Bradley made a statement with his first start filling in for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the challenge now to prove himself, as a long-term option for Liverpool.
By Jack Lusby, ThisIsAnfield.com
By his own admission, Jürgen Klopp long had plans in the works to introduce Conor Bradley to Liverpool’s first-team fold.
“I was waiting for the moment we could give him the opportunity,” he explained after the 2-1 win that opened their League Cup semi-final clashes with Fulham. Raising his hand above his head, the manager added: “I was already waiting for it, because when he got injured in pre-season my opinion about him was already here, then he was out for a pretty long time.”
After a breakout loan spell at Bolton Wanderers that saw him make 53 appearances, score seven goals, assist another six, lift the EFL Trophy at Wembley and win the club’s Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards, the door was held wide open for the young right-back.
But a consequence of his key role, which saw him clock more minutes for club and country than any other teenager in world football throughout 2022/23, was an increased load on his body, which resulted in a stress fracture in his back during pre-season.
By that point, Bradley had already given a glimpse of his abilities in early friendly appearances in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s hybrid role at right-back, but it is not until now, fully fit and with Liverpool’s first choice out for at least three weeks, the Northern Ireland international is getting his chance.
Having come off the bench to great effect alongside fellow academy youngster Bobby Clark in the FA Cup third-round win over Arsenal three days previous, Bradley was then trusted to start in a major semi-final.
The 20-year-old responded emphatically, with an all-action display that only improved as the 90-plus minutes wore on at Anfield, largely shackling experienced Willian and helping to pin back the dangerous Antonee Robinson.
In a game that they dominated, with 67 percent possession and 21 shots to Fulham’s six, Bradley made more defensive actions than any other Liverpool player, with eight. He went in for six tackles and won six, while winning the joint-most duels for either side alongside midfielder João Palhinha with 10. He created the joint-most chances for either side, with two, recorded a respectable passing accuracy of 88 percent, and produced by far the highest tally of xA with 0.5.
It was a brave and expansive performance from a young player whose only previous start this season was a difficult night in the 2-1 loss to Union SG in December, with few, if any, left ruing the absence of Alexander-Arnold.
That is the highest praise Bradley could have hoped for, and the challenge now will be for him to build on that after the Premier League’s winter break, with the No. 66 still set to miss at least three more games including the second-leg trip to Fulham.
In his four-and-a-half years at Liverpool so far, the right-back from County Tyrone has shown no sign that he would baulk under the pressure of filling in for a player he described, in his post-match interview with LFCTV, as “probably the best right-back in the world at the minute, if not the best player in the world the way he’s playing.”
A boyhood Liverpool fan, Bradley first emerged on the club’s radar around the age of 12, having been fast-tracked through development within the Irish FA while on the books at local side St Patrick’s FC. A move to Dungannon Swifts came in 2016 and then, after a trial set up through the club’s academy connections in Belfast, he eventually earned a two-year scholarship with the Reds upon turning 16.
He made swift progress through the youth ranks, while being given an early taste of first-team training during the final stages of pre-season in 2020, before five senior appearances in the 2021/22 campaign. Starting against Norwich, Leicester and Shrewsbury in the cups and coming off the bench against AC Milan in the Champions League at the San Siro will have been the carrot Bradley needed, and he firmly grasped that with his remarkable spell at Bolton.
Like centre-back Jarell Quansah, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Bristol Rovers before returning as a genuine option, Bradley’s time in League One appears to have steeled him for the rigours of first-team football at Liverpool.
Though there are similarities to Alexander-Arnold – as shown during pre-season – the 13-cap international is more like a right-sided version of Andy Robertson: the straightforward, all-action left-back whose relentless energy, tenacity and flexibility have made him one of Klopp’s most important players.
Against Fulham, Bradley showcased a range of different deliveries, including a low, guided cross that almost laid Darwin Núñez on for a tap-in until it was blocked at the last second, while the youngster was also happy to drive towards the byline or cut inside and into the box, with a cheeky nutmeg on Palhinha late on earning Liverpool a dangerous free-kick.
Those qualities will make him a popular figure among fans and Klopp’s coaching staff alike, with the hope being that he can prove in these coming games that he is here to stay.
There is even a school of thought that, if Bradley does excel as hoped, it could facilitate a long-term move into midfield for Alexander-Arnold, who has not been shy in admitting his belief that he is now better suited to a central role that accentuates his range of passing.
Of course, that may be far in the distance at this stage, but for Bradley, it will be the ultimate goal.
(Images from IMAGO)
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