Football News: Liverpool Players Assessment

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Liverpool Player Assessment

I am sorry this article has been sat on my to do list for a long time and I forgot to note down who suggested it, so I am unable to credit the particular poster who came up with the idea.

1. Loris Karius

Strengths:
Karius is one of those keepers who is comfortable coming out and sweeping up and does not mind having the ball at his feet. Essential for a team intending to play a high line.
Holds a good starting position for a sweeper keeper, slightly more forward than a standard keeper. It may open up the possibility of a lob, but the rewards outweigh the risks when the play is usually too far out for him to be caught out by a lob.
Quick for a keeper at least. He is able to sweep up balls that a slower keeper would not get to.
Physically imposing which can be offputting for an attacker.
Weaknesses:
Struggles with crosses. Watching him come out for a high ball is always a heart in mouth moment.
Does not organise the defenders in front of him. Lack of communication as he allows them to dictate things, rather than taking charge himself.
Positioning on the line. He is fine when he is sweeping up behind a high line, but when he is on his goal-line his positioning is very suspect.
Improvements Needed:
Positioning on the line, better to be too tight to the post and ensure you are not beaten at the near post than to constantly set yourself for the cross. You have to trust your defenders to deal with the crosses.
Communication has to improve. He has to talk to the defence, tell them when players are unmarked centrally, bawl them out when they make mistakes and be on their backs constantly. It is not all about saying well done when they get things right, you have to let them know when they get it wrong too.
Reactions. His reactions are not the quickest for a keeper and top class keepers need lightning-quick, cat-like reflexes to just fling out an arm and stop a shot they have no right to get to.
Stronger wrists. Like so many keepers these days, he has a tendency to not get enough on the balls he does get to. There have been shots conceded that he got a hand to but was not strong enough to push them round the post.

2. Nathaniel Clyne

Strengths:
Pace. Clyne is very quick, able to keep up with most team's wingers and so very rarely beaten in a footrace.
Stamina. I do not think I have ever seen him struggling to complete the 90 minutes, despite being asked to get up and down the line covering a hell of a lot of ground.
Tackling. When he is in the right position to make a challenge he does tend to make a good one.
Weaknesses:
Positioning. It is hopeless, utterly hopeless. He does not seem to even know the basics of defending, such as getting goalside etc. He allows himself to get dragged across the pitch far too often, leaving huge gaping holes where he should be.
Technique. Not so much his first touch, though that is not perfect, it is passing and crossing he is poor at. His striking technique is so inconsistent that you have absolutely no idea where the ball will end up when it leaves his foot. Which probably explains the next weakness, as he tries to avoid his poor technique turning the ball over.
Constantly slows down the play by playing the ball backwards when in a good position to play a ball in. Always looking to cut inside when the space is out wide and takes far too many touches.
Heading. He may be quick and energetic but his leap is non-existent and he is a real Achilles heel when balls are played across the box from the other side. Even when unchallenged I have no faith in him to make a header when it is required.
Concentration. I have lost count of the number of times when there has been space in front of him, a player in midfield looks to play him into it and he is just stood watching and then suddenly realises far too late to get to the ball which rolls out over the sidelines for an opposition throw. How none of his team-mates have been sent off for smacking him awake when that has happened for the 3rd time in the space of a few minutes I will never know! He should have been already on the move when the ball is played but he is not even aware the ball has been passed to him for far too long for it just to be that he lacks the necessary football brain to spot the run.
Improvements Needed:
Basics of the game. Clyne needs to work on the things he should have had in his game by the time he turned pro. Positioning and technique are basics that he needs to improve.
Marking. It is probably far too late for him to figure out defensive positioning and how to leap, but he can instead work on getting tighter to his man when defending and making it difficult for him to head the ball. That also goes hand-in-hand with the next improvement.
Alertness. This is the most important of all, as all aspects of the game are better if you are alert and concentrating. If out of position and alert, you can spot the danger and move to it. If you are lacking concentration then you are left wondering where the hell did he come from, while the keeper picks the ball out of the back of the net. Going forward you are more likely to spot the right time to run and see the ball is being passed to where you should be and get to it.

4. Virgil van Dijk

Strengths:
Size. Van Dijk is what is known in the trade as 'a unit'. The guy looks like a giant compared to team-mates and opponents and that can knock the confidence of the opposition.
Pace. He is deceptively quick, though he looks to be barely moving, his long stride eats up the ground.
Strength. He can bully most forwards with pure strength.
Aerial Ability. He does win most headers.
Technique. Has excellent technique which allows him to be very comfortable either passing the ball out of defence or bringing it forward.
Weaknesses:
Lack of responsibility. He does not take enough responsibility for anything on the pitch. When a ball needs dealing with, he will be far too busy pointing and shouting at someone else to deal with it, rather than just doing it himself and then discussing who should have actually dealt with it afterwards. He should be taking charge of the situation by doing what needs doing, rather than shouting at someone else to deal with it.
Wandering. There are times in the game when he just goes wandering, usually after an attacking set piece or he has run the ball out of defence, and he does not get back quickly enough. As soon as the ball is turned over, a centre back should be busting a gut to get back, but he just cruises back totally unhurried. Partially more signs of a lack of taking responsibility, as he should be thinking 'that is my job I need to get back' and racing to the danger.
Positioning. He gets distracted by the wrong things so much that he is often yards away from where he should be. It was often the cause of Southampton conceding goals when he was there, as he was, for some unknown reason, stood on the edge of the box while a striker was totally unmarked in the 6 yard box to tap in a cross. It is not about playing offside, as it is usually happening when the ball goes to the byline and he just runs out to mark someone in a position that is completely non-threatening while leaving the 6 yard box unguarded. It was seen again when Liverpool were beaten at Old Trafford, as Juan Mata found himself in acres of space to kill the game with a third but missed.
Defensive mentality. Added to his lack of haste getting back, there is the lack of seeing the game from a defender's eye. His thoughts should always be focused on keeping the ball out of his net. When his partner goes to head a ball, he should be dropping in to cover in case the other centre back is unable to get a clean header on it. Instead he is just hanging the other guy out to dry in the event of a mistake.
Improvements Needed:
His first thing should be to learn that the biggest threat is the one closest to the goal, not the one 18 yards out on the edge of the box. Take care of that man, not dither midway between the two.
Take responsibility for everything. Stop pointing fingers at others, just deal with the problem, when the video review session is done afterwards then you can point out whether or not someone else should have been doing it.
Cover your centre back partner. It is meant to be a partnership, if he goes to contest an aerial ball, your first thought should be to drop in and cover, not stand and watch to see what happens. You have to be anticipating danger, not reacting to it.

5. Georginio Wijnaldum

Strengths:
Technique. Excellent feet and good close control.
Strength. When he uses it, he can use his strength to help shield the ball or take from an opponent.
Pace. He can shift when he opens his legs and goes for it.
Forward runs. Has the ability to break into the box to get on the end of balls and score, like all his strengths, he just does not use it enough.
Weaknesses:
Plays within himself. Never makes the most of his strengths, every game it always feels like he could have done more.
Vision. I have never seen him play the killer pass, despite being an attacking midfielder for most of his career. He just never seems to spot that final pass that can open the play up.
Too safe. Tends to pick the safe option everytime he has the ball or when making runs. He has the ability to make the right runs, but he very rarely chooses to.
Improvements Needed:
Put more effort in. He has the ability to be top class, as a youngster he had all the top clubs in Europe chasing in but he has let it all pass him by due to simply not putting in enough effort. Get stuck in and cause havoc.
Take more risks. Whether it is with a pass or run, take a chance and make things happen.

6. Dejan Lovren

Strengths:
Desire and effort. Never once has he ever walked off that pitch and I thought he was not trying, even when he has a bad day, it is clear it is a bad day rather than a 'can't be arsed' day. He is a trier.
All round ability. While he lacks any outstanding attributes, he also lacks any real physical or technical weaknesses to be exposed.
Weaknesses
Mentality. This is his big problem. There are days when everything goes wrong for him as he makes an error and crumbles mentally.
Errors. With his mentality, that sliced clearance that every player makes becomes a major problem as his whole game falls apart after one little error.
Improvements Needed:
Mentality. He has had a really tough life and things in his private life have been really difficult, but he has to learn to use football to escape his problems. To shut them problems out and enjoy playing the game for its own sake, so mistakes are just a mistake and not the cause of his game collapsing.

7. James Milner

Strengths:
Workrate and energy. He is constantly running everywhere, always looking to get forward and making sure to chase back to help out defensively.
Crossing. His crossing on the run, with either foot, is usually very good.
Penalties. A very good penalty taker who does not seem to suffer with nerves.
Attitude. No sulking, no stupid pronouncements on social media, just plays the game to the best of his ability.
Weaknesses:
Runs. Especially when played in the centre, he can be a headless chicken, running here, there and everywhere but achieving little. Often he can be a hindrance as his forward runs tend to be into space that another player is already occupying.
Positional Sense. Defensively when playing central he is often miles out of position on one wing or the other leaving a gap.
Corners. Why on earth he takes some of them I will never know as they are woeful. Just please let someone else take them!
Improvements Needed
Efficiency of effort. He needs to learn to run less and have more effect. When there is a winger and a full back in a 5 yard space, running into it as well does nothing but clog up space and lessen options. However, if he holds himself a few yards inside them, making an angle to receive a pass, he opens up more options for the play.
Positional sense. He should spend more time lurking around the edge of the box when we have the ball wide, so he can pick up loose clearances, rather than being out wide looking to be the man to deliver the ball in. Milner needs to realise he is a central mid and the centre is the key part of the pitch for him.
Communication. He does not shout and talk enough. When his team-mates are having an off day, he should, as the squad's most experienced player, be there to have a word in their ear. Whether that word be of encouragement or a kick up the behind is something he should know through his experience.

9. Roberto Firmino

Strengths:
Technique. Some of the things that he does with the ball can take your breath away. His ability on the ball is amongst the most underrated in the game today.
Vision. He can spot a pass, hell he can spot a pass while looking the opposite way sometimes, that very few players would see.
Workrate. His press from the front is well known, but it is more than that. It is the chase back 50 yards to ensure a player never gets a moment's peace to look for a pass. He will often be the one retrieving possession deep in his own half that launches attacks.
All-round game. There is little that you can pick at with him, such as his pace, while not searing, it is quick enough to trouble any centre back. He is no target man, but he is good enough in the air that he cannot be ignored by the defence. He is strong enough to give defenders a torrid time too.
Weaknesses:
Losing possession. Sometimes he will give away possession easily with a loose pass, though he will then chase back to win it back and make up for it.
Too good for the rest. More so in the past than now, but sometimes he is playing at a level above his team-mates. Playing passes they have not realised are even on so they stand there stupified, rather than making the run that would have seen them collect the ball. It is still a problem when he is playing the ball to the midfielders, as they just not at his level in the main.
Improvements Needed:
Better team-mates. Now he has added goals to his game, there is little that can be done other than to give him players around him at the same level as he is. Particularly in midfield, which is not up to the same quality.

11. Mohamed Salah

Strengths:
Pace. His speed of foot is frightening.
Composure. It is very rare he gets flustered when a chance presents itself and he will usually get a shot off.
Strength of mind. Never lets his head drop, even after missing easy chances. All players miss them, but some will go into their shell afterwards and you can see they are bothered by it. Salah never does, he just carries on.
Strength and heading. There have been games he has performed like an old fashioned target man. His pace scares defenders so much they get flustered and he can then use his leap to beat them in the air as they are so busy concentrating on him, rather than the ball. He can also hold the ball up using his strength and quick feet to protect it.
Touch. Generally he has a very good first touch which is why he gets so many chances. The ball is usually controlled in a position he can strike it from.
Goal scoring. Obvious one, he scores goals and knows where and when to make his runs to get on the end of balls.
Weaknesses:
Defensive work. I understand that he is under instruction to play further forward and not to get back so much, but it does not stop it being a weakness opposing teams can exploit. I also understand that getting back too much would take away from what he offers on the attack, so it is a weakness that is necessary.
Head down. Sometimes he does not look up to assess his options.
Right foot. It is terrible, a swinger.
Improvements Needed:
Improve that weak foot. That would make the world of difference if he could just improve it beyond the realm of park football level even to being a Sunday League player's level, it would open up the game to him.

12. Joe Gomez

Strengths:
Size. While playing at full back he often has the advantage over his opponent physically, enabling him to outmuscle them and shield the ball from them.
Technique. He is very good technically, which will stand him in good stead when he moves central as expected.
Weaknesses:
Reading aerial balls. So often he gets caught out by the ball flying over his head as he misread the flight of it. Makes me wonder if he has a problem with his eyesight, as it happens almost every aerial ball.
Attacking play. He is improving but he still struggles in the final third and often seems like he is about to get a nosebleed.
Improvements Needed:
That aerial weakness is the big priority or he will struggle to make it as a centre back. He has to learn to judge the flight of long balls.
Reading of the game. That usually improves over time anyway, but right now he is often caught out by things he should have been expecting.

14. Jordan Henderson

Strengths:
Breaking up play. He is the one central midfielder in the squad that seems able to do the job of protecting the defence.
Passing. He has an excellent range of passing, while fully capable of the 'Hollywood pass', he uses it sparingly to great effect, rather than looking for it constantly and just ending up giving the ball away. Always looking for a ball forward when it is on as well.
Technique. You very rarely, if ever, see him having to chase a poor first touch.
Weaknesses:
Injuries. His last few seasons have been blighted by injuries and they have clearly hurt him. His pace has been sapped and his excellent workrate and willingness to charge forward have been massively lessened.
Improvements Needed:
The only thing that matters for Henderson right now is getting fully fit and staying fit.

17. Ragnar Klavan

Strengths:
Defensive mindset. Klavan is a proper old school central defender who just does his job with no frills.
Experience. He has experience at international level as his national captain, as well as club level.
Weaknesses:
Pace. He struggles badly to defend against pace because he lacks any of his own.
Turning circle. He has the turning circle of the QE2, which is a big part of his problem with pace. A simple ball in behind him causes him problems as he takes much longer to turn than almost all opposing strikers. He can be left floundering by a simple push and run.
Improvements Needed:
To be honest, I think it is too late for him to improve in any meaningful way. He is a very decent back up defender as he is and that is all he needs to be.

18. Alberto Moreno

Strengths:
Pace. He has pace to burn.
Energy. A really willing worker who never wants to stop running.
Attitude. He never stops trying and gives his all every game.
Link up play. He usually links up the play well on his side of the pitch.
Weaknesses:
Patience. He never waits for the right time to go forward, he is constantly edging too far forward ready to burst into the attack.
Lunging tackles. They have been effective sometimes but they are dangerous and a red card waiting to happen. So often he chases back, after being caught too far up field and then leaps into a lunging tackle.
Intelligence. He lacks any.
Weak mentality. He regularly goes to pieces under pressure, particularly when facing former club Sevilla.
Positional play. Moreno's positional play can be politely described as all over the place. He is inept when it comes to understanding defensive positioning and not the best at going forward either.
Improvements Needed:
Timing of his runs. Not only would it help defensively if he learnt to time his runs, as he would be caught up field less often, it would also help him attack. He should be making a forward run to coincide with a ball, so he receives it at pace, as he has devastating pace that can be a real weapon.
Not to just stand there. If the ball does not come to him, he often just stands high up the pitch, where he is neither use nor ornament. Drop back and wait for another chance to make a run.
Keep it simple. He is never going to have a Cruyff-like tactical brain and understand tactics. What he needs to do is stop trying so hard and keep things simple. When he gets the ball in the final third use it quickly and simply, an early cross is usually more dangerous than one played after looking around for options first. Get it, give it and then get in position to get it back.

19. Sadio Mane

Strengths:
Dribbling. Mane is a very tricky player on the ball and is fully capable of beating his man.
Acceleration. This is a big part of why he is so dangerous when running with the ball, his burst of speed from a standing start is phenomenal. There are very few players in world football who can live with his acceleration.
Shooting. He may have been a bit off key for a portion of this season, but he still scores goals from positions he has no right to score from.
End product. The thing that sets him aside from many players is that he generally has an end product to his work. He usually provides a chance for someone, often himself, at the end of his runs.
Weaknesses
Injury. He does tend to miss a few months of each season injured.
Rashness. He can be a bit rash.
Whinging. Mane looks for a free kick and if he does not get it he will spend too much time moaning at the ref about it, rather than just getting on with the game.
Improvements Needed:
Aerial ability. More getting into the right place to get on the end of a cross than his actual heading, which is decent.

20. Adam Lallana

Strengths:
First touch. His control is almost always faultless and keeps the ball tight so he can use it immediately.
Technique. He is one of the best players England have technically with the ability to dribble in tight spaces and take the ball out of danger.
Two footed. Very good with either foot.
Workrate. He is very hard working and often starts the press for Liverpool.
Weaknesses:
Injury prone. He is picking up more and more longer term injuries as each season goes on.
Mouth. His constant gobbing off in the media about what he and the team will do is ridiculous. First do something, then you can talk about what you have done, making proclamations about what you are going to do just bites you on the backside when it goes wrong. And it will go wrong.
Too many touches. He dwells on the ball and slows down the play, in particular doing Cruyff turns over and over. He does love a Cruyff turn a little too much.
Improvements Needed:
Move the ball more quickly. For a spell last season he, and the team, were excellent as he got the ball and moved it quickly. Everything was done at pace, rather than constantly turning this way and that for five minutes. That is what he needs to do consistently. Either run at pace or pass it quickly, but twisting back on yourself repeatedly helps no one.
Shut your mouth! Apart from the fact it is embarrassing and makes me cringe each time he talks about what he is going to do, it is a sure-fire way of firing up the opposition. Just stop talking please.

21. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Strengths:
Power and pace. He is built more like a rugby player than an association football player, and he can use that brawn, mixed with his pace, to drive past and through opponents, as well as to chase back and retrieve the ball.
Workrate. Has no fear of hard work and is willing to put himself about and chase up and down the pitch.
Passion. You can see the lad is hurt by poor performances and loves it when it is going well. He cares about playing well.
Interviews. He is excellent in coping with a mic being stuffed in his face straight after a game. Clearly intelligent he is also able to help out team-mates who are struggling for answers.
Weaknesses:
Inconsistency. For every good performance there is a poor one as well. That might purely be down to him being fairly new and still adapting to the system and style of play.
Positional play. Unsurprisingly, as he has never been able to settle down into a position to call his own before arriving, he struggles with his positional play.
Improvements Needed:
Consistency. That is the most important thing right now, he needs to develop a consistent level of performance to gain the trust of the manager. It is difficult to pick a player who can be anything from awful to sensational, especially as there is no way of knowing which games he will struggle in.

22. Simon Mignolet

Strengths:
Nice guy. Yes I was really struggling here to come up with one single aspect of his on pitch play that he does particularly well. Or even slightly well.
Weaknesses:
Shotstopping. He really is lower league level at shot stopping. The obsession he has with trying to reach everything with his hands does not help. When the ball is coming at your leg, do not move it out of the damn way to try and get your hand to it, just block it with your leg for heaven's sake!
Kicking. Abysmal is the nicest way to describe his kicking. It is like the ball turns into a rugby ball when he goes to kick it or something. He is like a really really bad golfer taking a swing at the ball, you just never know where the ball will end up.
Dealing with crosses. He had a few games at the end of last season when he actually looked competent because he was dealing with crosses. He soon reverted to type though and went back to bottling it out of fear of getting a whack from someone as he comes out.
All round game. I could be here all day typing up his weaknesses, so may as well just stop here and point out that his entire game is poor and not one part of the sport of football is he competent in at a Premier League level.
Improvements Needed:
Leave. Harsh I know, but he is just nowhere near good enough to even be a back up keeper. Better to let him go elsewhere and give someone better a chance.

23. Emre Can

Strengths:
Long range shots. He can smack a ball from range with a decent amount of accuracy, when he chooses to.
Strength. He is a big unit with a fair amount of strength and can bully opponents when he is up for it.
Weaknesses:
Sloppiness. At times he can be ridiculously sloppy with the ball, continously turning it over under no pressure at all.
Reading of the game. He never sees what is developing until it actually develops. There is no anticipation in his play, he is always reacting to what has happened rather than thinking a step or two ahead.
Improvements Needed:
Concentration. A bit more thought and care about what he is doing would cut out those sloppy errors.
Tactical work. Can needs to learn to understand the game and read the play better. More time devoted to analysis of games would help him a lot.

26. Andrew Robertson

Strengths:
Energy. Man he can run, and run, and run, and run. The Duracell bunny wishes he had the energy of Robertson. That allows him to press and close down players throughout the 90 minutes. No opponent is going to get an easy ride against him.
Crossing on the run. Not so much his aim, but the shape of his cross is excellent and he does put them in good areas in essence.
Attitude. His head never drops when things go wrong, he has shown great desire to reach where he has from non-league Scottish football and he clearly has not forgotten where he has come from, as he showed with his gift to the kid who donated his pocket money to a foodbank. He showed humility by sending him a signed Firmino shirt rather than one of his own and nice humour with the accompanying note. It showed a real sense of understanding his role in the team, that he is not the central star but part of the supporting cast.
Tackling. When called upon to make a tackle he tends to win them.
Weaknesses:
Positional Sense. Like most modern day full backs, he does tend to be better going forward and can be caught up field. Worse though is his tendency to be out of position when he is back, though his workrate, desire and energy do partially make up for it as he busts a gut to ensure any player who has sneaked into a gap left by him gets no time and space to exploit it properly.
Heading. He is very weak in the air, which can be exploited by long diagonal balls.
Decision making. This is probably his biggest weakness, he crosses to no one but chooses to play the ball back when the box is packed. He often makes runs when he should hold and holds when he should run.
Plays with his head down a lot. This is a big part of the problem with his decision making, as he does not get his head up and pick people out when crossing. It is just played into an area, without looking to see if there is a player with even a tiny chance of getting near it. Just putting the ball into a good area is great for set pieces or if the team has an old fashioned centre forward, without one it just becomes a wasted ball.
Improvements Needed:
Get your head up when on the ball. That is key for a team that wants to control possession.
Pick out a man with a cross. Just hitting an area is not going to work with the players up front, it needs to be a cross to a forward to give them a chance, as they are not going to be able to leap over big bruising centre halfs.

28. Danny Ings

Strengths:
Hard work. Ings is all hustle and bustle and pressing from the front. He never stops running and gives 100%.
Goalscoring. At least before his injury problems, he was always liable to get in to position to score. Since then he has not really had the time on the pitch to see if he has lost that instinct.
Weaknesses:
Injury history. He has had a few long term injuries that have severely held back his career.
Heading. He is not particularly effective in the air.
Improvements Needed:
Full Fitness. Ings just needs to get himself back to full fitness and sharpness right now after his latest long term injury. Nothing else is important.

29. Dominic Solanke

Strengths:
Heading. He is good in the air and can work as a competent target man if required.
Versatility. Can play wide as well as up top.
Weaknesses:
Goals. He has yet to score for Liverpool and that is something that is an issue for a player brought in to put the ball in the back of the net.
Inexperience. Sometimes you can see he lacks experience by the way he plays. He makes errors due to it.
Improvements Needed:
Time. He needs to get more time on the pitch to develop. He is not going to add goals and experience while watching from the bench.

32. Joel Matip

Strengths:
Passing out from the back. He is very good on the ball, probably due to having gained experience playing as a midfielder in the past. He is not good enough on the ball to play midfield, but, for a centre half, he is very good on the ball.
Carrying the ball out. Matip can run the ball out of defence very well to make use of space in front of him.
Weaknesses:
Defending. He is a hopeless defender. Weak, slow, lazy, poor in the air, rash in the tackle, positionally clueless.
Panicky. The moment he is put under pressure he panics.
Improvements Needed:
Most importantly he needs to put some effort in when running back defensively. He moves so much faster when carrying the ball forward than he does chasing back without it.
Learn to defend. The basics of positioning, tackling, heading are all alien to him.

34. Adam Bogdan

Strengths:
I honestly can not think of one strength he has to his game.
Weaknesses:
His all round game. Bogdan is just not Premier League level, even as a back up keeper.
Injury. Currently out with an ACL injury, which, as has happened with Danny Ings, often leads to future problems, even when the player makes a full recovery.
Improvements Needed:
Move on. He is surplus to requirements and never going to be good enough to challenge for a place. It would be best for everyone, once he is fit and playing again, if he found somewhere he can be a regular and moved on.

52. Danny Ward

Strengths:
Distribution. His distribution is excellent.
Weaknesses:
Inexperience. Unfortunately the decision to keep him back at the club this season has really hampered him. After a couple of excellent loan periods where he had improved, he is now stuck as 3rd choice and not developing as he should. It was a big error not of his making or choosing. Hopefully he will use the setback to drive him on.
Improvements Needed:
Experience. He needs to get more time on the pitch to develop his game, reserve games will not do it. He needs a good loan move.

58. Ben Woodburn

Strengths:
Enthusiasm. He has that youthful enthusiasm and drive that can catch experienced internationals out.
Scoring. He can score goals when given a chance.
Vision. He has good vision to spot passes.
Link play. Woodburn is very good at linking up the play, keeping the ball moving and the opposition chasing it.
Weaknesses:
Strength. He is still a little lad and can be bullied in the adult game.
Aerial ability. He is not going to win many headers being about 3ft with lifts in his shoes.
Improvements Needed:
Range of passing. Physicality will come in time, as he grows naturally, what he lacks in that area will come on its own. It is the technical side of the game that is in need of development. He does struggle with longer passes, it is fine being good at the quick, short link up play, but sometimes you need to open up a press with a longer ball in behind or crossfield.
Put it about more. With his lack of size, he needs to get more in opponents faces, give them no peace and get at them so they are unable to bully him physically.

66. Trent Alexander-Arnold

Strengths:
Deadball delivery. He is an excellent set piece taker, which makes me wonder why he does not take more of them?
Pace. He is quick. Very quick. There are very few players who are going to take him on for pace and succeed.
Weaknesses:
Defending. The defensive aspects of the game do not come naturally to him and it shows when he plays at right back. He is often caught out by not reading the play or just being caught napping.
Inconsistency. Like all young players before they get experience, he is inconsistent. Sometimes excellent, sometimes awful.
Improvements Needed:
Take charge of deadballs. He delivers the best deadball in the team, so take them. Speak to the boss and explain it to him if need be. Have some faith in your ability and take command of those situations.
Concentration. He is never going to be a commanding defender, but a bit more concentration and awareness will go a long way to making sure he makes less basic errors. Cutting those silly errors out will mean he will no longer be a hindrance defensively, as he can be at times currently. Then his quality on the ball can shine.

Written by Tris Burke March 15 2018 17:12:57