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High praise for Flanagan

Daniel Sturridge has joined skipper Steven Gerrard and boss Brendan Rodgers in singling out young full back Jon Flanagan for special praise. “I thought Jon Flanagan was man of the match against Everton and everyone was so happy for him" said the striker.

 

“He works tirelessly every day in training. He’s a top class lad off the field. I love the guy. He’s been patient waiting for his opportunity and he has taken his chance."

 

Gerrard had earlier heaped massive praise on his young team-mate too, telling the Liverpool ECHO: "Our star man for me was Jon Flanagan by a country mile. He doesn't get many headlines but as captain of the team he was the player I am most proud of."

 

“I thought he was unbelievable," Gerrard continued. "He's been fighting hard in training just to get in the 18, never mind the starting 11, but the manager threw him in at the deep end against a top class player like Kevin Mirallas and I thought he was sensational. It was one of the best derby performances I have seen for many years."

 

“I didn't have to say anything to Jon before the game,” explained the captain. “He's a local lad and you don't need to tell them what the derby means. He's known what to expect from an early age. Jon was on the front foot, he was aggressive. He did exactly what the manager told him to do before kick-off. He asked him to be positive and anticipate the danger. He was brilliant. All of the players gave him a round of applause when he came in the dressing room afterwards.”

 

Rodgers had talked up the young full back in his pre-match press conference, saying: "Jon has been outstanding in training and he seems to be getting better and better. He did very well against Arsenal. He didn't do anything wrong in that game. When he came off, it was simply because we wanted to be more offensive as we were chasing the game."

 

"Jon is a young player who will never let you down. Of course it's disappointing if you lose your No.1 left-back but it's an opportunity for someone else to come in and do well.

 

And do well he did, as after the game Rodgers was equally as glowing about the young scouser. “Jon Flanagan was immense" he said. "A young kid from the city, given the chance to play in a derby game that will be on Sky Gold in about 30 years’ time, and given the chance because of his desire to put himself out there every day.”

 

With several of Flanagan's under 21 team-mates having been allowed to leave on loan, there had been talk of the 20 year old also being sent out to get some games under his belt, but Rodgers hinted that he won't need to leave Anfield to find first team football and that he could be set for a run in the side with Jose Enrique ruled out for 10 weeks. “He needs to play football, but if he plays like he played today, he is going to get football".

 

Surprisingly, Rodgers revealed that clubs have not exactly been beating down his door to enquire about the tenacious full back, who burst onto the scene as an 18 year old when Kenny Dalglish selected him to play in high profile games against Manchester City and Arsenal where he excelled with truly outstanding performances. “It’s been remarkable, really, that we haven’t had any clubs come in to take him on loan" Rodgers said.

 

"We will always facilitate the wages, but we have had just one club come in for him, and that was a League One club. He’s a young player that needs to play. There have been a couple of enquiries about him, but nothing concrete. I just felt that I needed to have him about, and in the end I needed him to play in the Arsenal game. He’s done brilliantly, and that gives me something to think about.”

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Glad to see all the plaudits, particularly the applause given to him by the rest of the team - lovely touch that.  I've previously thought he might not have the quality to succeed here, but I'm happy to say he played really well, and I'm delighted for him.  

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Guest Numero Veinticinco

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I'm far from convinced, but his other attributes more than made up for it on Saturday.

I'm not knocking the lad, he has commitment and is fearless in the tackle. Unfortunately, he is missing much of what's required from a modern fullback.

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Yes he was beaten a few times, but so were the rest of the defence. What was noticeable was a complete lack of the sort of rashness we've seen from Flanagan in the past. He reigned it in extremely well considering he was playing in a passionate derby game.

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He's a good back up player to have.

 

Doesn't offer too much going forward. However, in away games, and given the amount of gaps left by Johnson on Saturday when he thought he was Cafu, he could be an option if we want to keep things tighter at the back.

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I'm not knocking the lad, he has commitment and is fearless in the tackle. Unfortunately, he is missing much of what's required from a modern fullback.

 

Well, he's still developing, and he will likely improve.  His performance on Saturday was better than I would have expected from either Enrique or Cissokho in that game.  I'm not saying that he is the answer, but it sounds like his commitment in training warrants further investment in him.  Let's see where he can get to.

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Guest Numero Veinticinco

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Well, he's still developing, and he will likely improve.

He's never going to develop pace, skill on the ball, or the ability to beat a fullback and deliver a killer ball into the box. He doesn't have the attributes to be a top quality fullback for a top club, which is what we need.

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Guest Numero Veinticinco

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just let him have his moment in the sun, you miserable fucker.

Oh aye, let him lay in it as long as possible. We just shouldn't start thinking he'll be our number one fullback.

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His fearlessness is welcome and mirrors that of relatively recent acquisitions in Suarez, Sturridge, Coutinho, Sakho and The Mig.

 

We're slowly building a team with the right kind of temperament and testicular fortitude and on Saturday's evidence Flanagan's got every chance of being part of that.

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I'm not sure he's good enough to carve out a career with us. I have to say though, I didn't think he had it in him to produce a performance as good as the one on Saturday. If he keeps improving at the same rate who knows? I know he isn't blessed with blistering pace, but we've produced/bought a fair few top defenders who weren't lightning. The jury is definitely still out.

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Oh aye, let him lay in it as long as possible. We just shouldn't start thinking he'll be our number one fullback.

Well, he will be for the next month at least so no harm in the manager and captain trying to boost his confidence. He's played in two very tough games and acquitted himself well, deserves a chance to stake a claim now.

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We need players like Flanagan to come through and take those squad places allowing us to concentrate on the first team. Man utd for years have had solid but average players making up the numbers in their squads and thats what Flanagan can be. If he continues to develop and becomes more than that great but if he is able to cone in and do a job when needed then all the better for us.

 

If we could get players like robinson, wisdom suso and ibe to step up then we can get that one player we need rather than the 5-6 in andbout we seem to do every season.

 

Fair play to him and hopefully his heart and desire will rub off on some of those around him. Hopefully he will crack on and get better.

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He's never going to develop pace, skill on the ball, or the ability to beat a fullback and deliver a killer ball into the box. He doesn't have the attributes to be a top quality fullback for a top club, which is what we need.

I can't think of too many fullbacks that have all those attributes either though to be honest

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He was excellen . Better even than his Man City debut at Anfield under Kenny.

 

Think the tempo and the physical nature of the game suited him and I'm sure that's why Rodgers was confident. 

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I have no idea how people can say he's not going to make it or he's not good enough to play for us. When has he let us down? I'd trust him to play against any team in this league.

 

This isn't a video game where all of his attributes can be measured against other players, he clearly has the sort of mentality that can separate him from the average players. That much was obvious on his debut.

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He had one absolute mare of a game against Blackburn 2 years back, which just erased him from the side. Fought his way back and deserves another start against Hull.

 

Johnson was total shite against the bitters. He deserves a place on the bench - it's about time Kelly got his chance, too.

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