A view to the future -Tyler Morton

This season TLW is once again looking to keep an eye on the younger members of the squad who are continuing their football education on loan. Last season we brought you the insight from Blackburn Rovers fans as Tyler Morton spent the campaign at Ewood Park. While it started brightly for the defensive midfielder, just like the team in general there was a notable drop-off come the end of the 2022/3 season. But all in all, playing a full campaign in one of the most physically intense leagues in Football would have done the 21 year-old the world of good.

Now Morton is currently at Hull City, a club who are having a fine season under manager Liam Rosenior, exceeding expectations to sit seventh just one point and place outside the playoff spots. And one of the reasons for that improvement has been the play of Morton who has fitted like a glove into Rosenior’s starting lineup and in his 21 appearances for the club has averaged 1.5 tackles and one interception per game but also looked to develop a attacking side to his game with three goals and three assists.

@AntNorthgraves (from @Hull_and_Back) gives our readers a half-season report card on the academy graduate.

Tyler Morton has been absolutely fantastic since joining on loan from Liverpool. Liam Rosenior needed to add players to this Hull City side that could enhance the style of play and identity that he has been encouraging the squad to play since his appointment as Manager in November 2022. We like to play out from the back, get the ball into wide areas and dominate possession and since his debut, Tyler has fit straight into what was asked of him. Sitting alongside experienced and classy midfielder Jean Michael Seri, he has gone from strength to strength, growing in confidence each week.

As the season has progressed, Tyler has become more of a box-to-box midfielder dropping deep to collect the ball, passing it out wide and then putting himself high up the pitch to create chances and score goals.

So, what are Morton’s strengths?

Spatial awareness & positioning are a particular highlight as he is always scanning the midfield for open spaces to put himself & provide a passing option, helping link defence to attack and keeping us possession. Passing is another of his strongest aspects. His range of pass & vision are superb, playing pin-point passes to team mates all over the pitch and rarely misplacing one. His assist for Ozan Tufan’s goal against Cardiff was a perfect example of what he can do. These all essentially fall under a similar category but his tenacity, desire, work-rate & willingness to track back make him a manager’s dream off the ball. For all he offers us in possession, he helps us win the ball back & contributes defensively too making him an asset in all areas of the game.

What does he have to work on?

I’m finding it really hard to think of any weaknesses at the moment, so I guess I’ll scrape the barrel as much as I can. Tyler could perhaps work on his timing when making runs into the box. In a really good week for him in which he made his England U21 debut, scored for them and scored for us in the following game, it looked like Tyler was beginning to flourish in the extra encouragement of going higher up the pitch. His style of play certainly deserves more goals and I can imagine he’ll get a few more before the season is over. This is also really harsh, but maybe delivery from set pieces could be hung into a more dangerous area in the box because his ability to play a superb cross is evident in games, but perhaps not seen enough from dead-ball situations (although this could be down to the positioning of our players too).

Overall, Tyler is a fantastic player and from what I’ve seen, he is destined to play in the Premier League. I’m not sure what Klopp’s plans are for him but if I was Rosenior I would certainly at least enquire as to his availability on a permanent basis as, although he is young, he’s at a point of a young player’s career where he needs to decide if he wants to continue being loaned out & hope to get a first team place eventually, or find somewhere to call home and settle playing every week in the same surroundings. Maybe a buy-back clause would be the best way to convince Liverpool, but it will be interesting to see how his career progresses nonetheless.