Liverpool’s young players ‘must be ready to take their opportunities’

Former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor says there’s real talent in the club’s youth ranks, but that the players must seize any chances handed to them.

Big new additions to the Liverpool squad, such as with Mohamed Salah, can naturally excite the fans—but provide an obstacle for younger players to overcome.

It can at times mean the pathway from youth to senior football is blocked, but if the club ethos is to help incorporate quality from within, talent should always find a way.

And Mellor has offered his view that despite a regular influx of new signings at Anfield, Klopp will always look to promote his youngsters when possible.

“Jürgen is a manager who will give youth an opportunity and he’s got some exciting young players coming through,” Mellor wrote in his LFC magazine column.

“They know there will always be players coming in at a club like Liverpool and these are the challenges they have to deal with to have a career at Anfield.”

Mellor, who himself graduated from the Academy to make 22 appearances and score six times for the first team, says there will be every possible help given to the current starlets at Liverpool—but they have to earn the right to impress.

“It’s up to them to be the best they can every day, to make the necessary sacrifices and to listen to the coaching staff.

“Down at the Academy, Liverpool have a fantastic coaching staff. Alex Inglethorpe, Steven Gerrard, Neil Critchley, Mike Garrity—great people who can help young Liverpool players fulfil their potential if they are listened to.

“More new players will arrive, but the young lads will get opportunities under Klopp to make their mark. They must be ready to take them.”

With a strong core of teenage and early 20-something talents having already made a mark under the current manager, 2017/18 could be a big year for some of them to make an even bigger impact on the first team.