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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