FUTURE IS JURGEN’S PARTING GIFT
I DON’T agree that the manager who takes over from Jurgen Klopp at Anfield will be accepting a poisoned chalice. In fact, I think Liverpool’s next boss will have reasons to be cheerful about the legacy Klopp will leave behind. Conor Bradley is just the latest youngster to illustrate what a brilliant job academy director Alex Inglethorpe and his staff are doing. I was thrilled to see the 20-year-old Northern Irishman score his first senior Liverpool goal in the midweek victory over Chelsea after recently being given his big chance by the manager. But there are loads of youngsters successfully making the leap. Curtis Jones has become a mainstay of the team and is staking his claim for a place in England’s Euros squad with performances that make a mockery of the fact he’s still only 23.
He is playing as well as anyone in the country in that position and has a real chance of making the plane for Germany.
Jarell Quansah, Bobby Clark, Owen Beck, James Mcconnell and Luke Chambers have all broken through this season after graduating from Kirkby.
Throw in young signings like Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak, Kaide Gordon and Calum Scanlon – even Ryan Gravenberch is still only 21 – and it’s clear that Liverpool’s future is bright.
Usually when a manager exits a club they leave behind a team that is struggling. Rarely does the next incumbent inherit a squad that is geared for success.
It illustrates the kind of manager Klopp is that he has not turned a blind eye to bringing through the next generation. It would have been easy for him, knowing that this was his final season at Liverpool, to rely on the same select group of experienced players.
Klopp might still walk away with a Quadruple, of course, but whatever happens between now and May what is certain is that the next manager will also reap the benefits of his labours.
It has got to a point where lads like Jones and Bradley are in the team not because of injuries, but because their performances deserve it. They are making themselves undroppable.
These are huge calls for any manager. But those lads now know the boss trusts them in the biggest games, and that backing will feed into their confidence and long-term development.
Jurgen Klopp may be leaving Anfield at the end of the season – but his positive influence on Liverpool’s team could last for years into the future.