While in years gone by a loan move may have decreased a player’s chances of making it at Liverpool, looking over Arne Slot’s current squad shows that this trend is starting to change – and Ben Doak could be the next to benefit.
By Jack Lusby, ThisIsAnfield.com
Harvey Elliott, Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Vítězslav Jaroš and Tyler Morton have all taken in at least one loan spell before returning as part of Liverpool’s first-team squad.
In fact, the rise of Bradley and Quansah – from League One sides Bolton and Bristol Rovers respectively – has been held up as a marker of how the Reds look to use the temporary market to fast-track their players to top-flight football.
“The Liverpool boys, sometimes they miss out on the Championship and bang, they’re straight there in the Premier League,” Wigan manager Shaun Maloney, who counts both Luke Chambers and Calvin Ramsay among his squad this season, explained in October.
While before Liverpool’s loan strategy may have been more a case of readying their youngsters for a permanent move to the Football League or putting fringe players in the shop window, that has become more refined over the years.
Now, many of those heading out can harbour genuine hopes of returning as part of the club’s long-term plans, with one such player being Ben Doak.
The 19-year-old winger joined Championship side Middlesbrough on a season-long loan at the end of August, having played four times for Slot during pre-season only to then report back for training with Liverpool’s under-21s squad.
Liverpool had, in fact, set a price tag for the young Scot in the event permanent interest arose, with all avenues explored as a number of clubs tracked the situation.
But the challenge for Doak was clear: prove himself in the Championship and a place in Slot’s squad could be his prize.
“It’s a balance we need to find, do we want to play them on a regular basis or once in a while and stay with us?” the Liverpool head coach explained last month.
While injury to summer signing Federico Chiesa led Slot to joke that “maybe we should bring Ben Doak back,” the reality is that, with the Italian on board along with a world-leading right winger in Mo Salah, opportunities would have been scarce.
Fortunately, the opposite is true at Middlesbrough, where Doak has not only already established himself as a first-choice starter but is now one of Michael Carrick‘s top performers.
He has now started eight of the last nine games in the Championship – sitting out of the other due to concerns over workload injury – with three assists in his last two outings.
Plymouth winger Ibrahim Cissoko (3.1) is the only player to average more successful dribbles per 90 minutes in this season’s Championship than Doak (three), who is behind only two players in Europe when it comes to carries into the penalty area.
Real Madrid’s Vinícius Jr. (44) and Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola (40) are the only players to bring the ball into the 18-yard box more often than Doak has (39).
The Liverpool loanee is level with Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyökeres (39) and above both Salah (36) and Kylian Mbappé (36), while he is in the top one percent of players for progressive carries (8.57), progressive passes received (16.34) and touches in the opponent’s penalty area (7.91) per 90.
Put simply, Doak has been an unstoppable presence on the right flank, and with his end product now improving – his three assists in the last two games were also his first of the season – there is every reason for full-backs to fear him.
“He’s been exactly as described – a game-changer. With the exception of one game against Watford, he’s had left-backs in the Championship absolutely terrified,” TeesideLive’s Middlesbrough reporter Craig Johns tells FotMob.
“His direct dribbling style is a real throwback and it’s perfect for a Boro side who, until Doak’s introduction into the starting lineup, we’re finding sides sitting back behind the ball against them and they’d struggle to break that down.
“With Doak now a regular, they’re breaking sides down far easier, with the youngster undoubtedly key to that.”
His influence is not only felt at Middlesbrough, with Doak now a regular starter for Steve Clarke‘s Scotland senior side – the same trajectory playing out at international level.
The teenager tore apart Manchester City left-back Joško Gvardiol in two meetings with Croatia across the October and November international breaks, while he assisted the opener as Scotland beat Poland 2-1 to avoid relegation in the UEFA Nations League.
“He’s a threat, he’s very direct, he gets at defenders, and having been a full-back myself I know when you’ve got a winger like that who gets at you it makes it difficult,” Clarke enthused after the victory over Poland.
“He brings us something a little bit different.”
While before that ability may have made Doak more of a wild card, that he is translating that to performances week in, week out can only be encouraging for his parent club.
That is not to say that it is challenge complete for the £600,000 signing from Celtic, with a long campaign still ahead for him at Riverside, but with regular contact from those within Liverpool’s loan department these can only be positive signs.
It comes with doubts over the long-term future of Slot’s right flank, not only with Salah’s contract running out at the end of the season but with question marks when it comes to Chiesa’s fitness.
All involved will be hoping that Salah extends his stay beyond the end of his current deal, having proved he is still the world’s best in his position this season, but with the Egyptian turning 33 next summer there will be a need to manage his minutes more.
Having a player like Doak – who has not only showed his dazzling skill so far at Middlesbrough but also his work rate and composure in possession – in the squad should aid that situation.
It would be a just reward for a youngster who is already capable of thriving at the top level and could serve as another example of Liverpool’s impressive loan system in effect.
(Images from IMAGO)
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