Bradley praised after Reds deal confirmed
CONOR Bradley’s three-year professional contract at Liverpool has been rubber-stamped.
The right-back enjoyed a fruitful first season at the club’s Kirkby Academy and was rewarded for his efforts with the bumper deal, the longest the club are permitted to offer a 17-year-old.
Slightly too old for the Under-16s, Bradley went straight into the Under-18 panel on his arrival at the club last summer and by the time the campaign came to an abrupt halt, he had established himself as a regular starter, even making two appearances for the Under-23s.
His first goal arrived against West Brom in November and he scored a superb effort against Tottenham on his FA Youth Cup debut in December. One of his highlights was a late headed winner against Stoke in January.
The Dungannon United Youth graduate will now look to push on towards fulfilling his ultimate ambition of playing for the first team of the club he has supported all his life.
Confirmation of the deal is a boost to Liverpool’s Stormont-based Northern Ireland development centre, its head coach Stefan Seaton and scout Cliff Ferguson.
On the recommendation of IFA Primary School coach Steafan Deery back in 2012, it was Ferguson who first brought Bradley into the Liverpool fold.
Even then, he says, it was evident that a big future lay ahead.
“Conor was really, really easy to identify,” Ferguson told the Belfast Telegraph.
“He’s a great mover — a really athletic kid.
“The player’s talent gets them to Liverpool, that’s a given, but the rest is down to attitude and Conor’s will to win stood out even at nine-years-old.
“It wasn’t long before we had to move him up and play him in with the older kids, Under-12s and 13s, because the lad needs a challenge. He’s not happy unless you’re really pushing him.
“If he felt things were too easy, he wasn’t long in letting you know. That real work ethic, the mentality and the attitude, it beats ability. Of course he has plenty of talent, but his attitude is top class.”
Bradley could become the first player from Northern Ireland to play a senior game for the club since Sammy Smyth in 1954.
WHY will Liverpool retain the Premier League next season? Look at Jordan Henderson and you will find the answer. Appreciation has come late for the 30-year-old. For much of his career at Anfield he has been undervalued.
Brendan Rodgers tried to send him to Fulham as a makeweight in a deal to sign Clint Dempsey. Fenway Sports Group (FSG) would have shipped him out on a number of occasions and failed to understand his strengths.
Even now, as captain of a team that has won the Champions League and the title in successive seasons, Henderson has been the focus of derision after he received the Footballer of the Year award last week.
There have been comparisons with Scott Parker, who was handed the accolade in 2011. Parker was a jaw-dropping choice, particularly in a campaign where his team, West Ham United, were relegated.
The only thing that is surprising about Henderson’s selection is the level of misunderstanding about his role and impact. In wider terms, it represents a failure to grasp Jurgen Klopp’s tactics.
Viewed through the prism of what has come to be perceived as a typical Premier League-winning midfield, Henderson does not measure up to the standard.
He is not an attacking midfielder like Kevin de Bruyne, nor a scuffling defensive ball-winner like Wilfred Ndidi or N’golo Kante.
Liverpool do not play that way. The central three guard space when the opposition have the ball, allowing the trio of forwards to press rival ball-carriers.
They create balance for the side by filling in when the wing-backs steam forward to ensure the defence is not exposed. Henderson is the master hole-plugger in the side and the team does not function as well without him.
When the champions get possession, the midfield’s job is to move the ball quickly wide or to the front men.
None of these jobs are flashy but they are vital to the way Liverpool function.
Goals, assists and crosses are luxuries for Klopp’s middle men. They can be by-passed going forward as long as they are ready to put the brakes on any counter-attacks.
For more than half a decade, FSG were desperate to find a replacement for Steven Gerrard. Henderson always suffered by comparison with his predecessor as captain.
Now there is no longer an imperative to find an up-anddown, box-to-box player to fill the vacuum left by the Kop legend.
Gerrard, as brilliant as he was, would not work in Klopp’s team, at least not from the midfield.
He would have to slot into the front three or range up the wing from right-back — a role he could perform with aplomb, as he did when Liverpool were hanging on against Milan in the latter stages of the Champions League final in Istanbul 15 years ago.
The Scouser’s game was all about explosiveness, dynamism and match-turning moments.