With a new manager and a reported new outlook on loans, has Mario Balotelli been given CPR and a new breath of life pumped into his Liverpool career???
No.
But what if–
No.
Could there be a striker that less personifies Jurgen Klopp’s mythos than Balotelli? Even if modern medicine continued its arc of evolution to the point that you could Build-a-Striker, I’m unsure it’s possible to create one from scratch less fitting to Klopp. But, the GIF possibilities for Klopp reactions are endless if he ever had to manage a meaningful match with the Italian on the pitch. Make us dream.
Balotelli’s loan wasn’t the brand of “go somewhere else to get regular playing time so you can come back and be better for us.” It was more along the lines of “another example of AC Milan being too cheap and frugal to buy a player they want.” For some other first teamers on loan, such as Lazar Markovic, is there a Liverpool career underneath the beautiful flow on his Serbian head?
Yes. And it’d be useful for Klopp to have another natural winger in the fold. And it’d be useful for Markovic to not play as a left wingback.
Luis Alberto’s loan was similar to Balotelli’s that the view was to make the move permanent, but what about Andre Wisdom and Tiago Ilori? The pair of defenders were sent out to Premier League clubs, Norwich City and Aston Villa, respectively. Neither have featured much for their clubs with Wisdom starting just one game this season and Ilori failing to feature at all.
Wisdom could be a poster boy for why Klopp wants to overhaul his system, a player who’s been sent away on loan each of the past three seasons after impressing under Brendan Rodgers in 2012-13. The following season he was shipped out on temporary basis in seek of regular play, and regular play he found at Derby County then West Brom a year later, but it’s just not happening at Norwich this year. His loans to Derby and West Brom went as well as they realistically could have.
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Ilori signed on deadline day in the summer of 2013 and didn’t make an appearance for Liverpool before being loaned out in January to Granada in Spain. He picked up niggles and knocks after his arrival there, but his time at Granada was headlined by his role in the team keeping a clean sheet against Barcelona. He only made 9 appearances in Spain.
The following summer there was hope he might stick around as an option to rotate in defense and provide injury cover, but instead he was loaned out again abroad, this time to Bordeaux. In France, the young defender made just 12 appearances in the league.
Ilori hadn’t spent years coming up through Liverpool like Wisdom did, but the pair of young defenders could have had different fortunes in 20115-16 had they stayed at Liverpool under the tutelage of the coaching staff this entire time. That’s what Klopp is weighing up.
The argument stems from Klopp having a German view on how to handle youth players, where they don’t loan much. It’s commonplace for English teams to utilize the loan system, so Rodgers can hardly be blamed for his good hearted intentions to send players that he didn’t see in his plans out on loan to play regularly. Players will only grow with playing time.
So what now for the new crop of youngsters catching the eye of Liverpool fans? Ryan Kent has been recalled from Coventry City to train in front of Klopp for a few days before the international break while the manager has denied the request for Harry Wilson to feature in the FA Cup so, if recalled, he won’t be cup tied. Coventry insist the return of Kent is temporary, but who knows, maybe he doesn’t go back.
Wilson and Kent are two of Liverpool’s highest rated young players, but they’re not the only ones on loan. Another player that management and fans alike have high hopes for that’s out on loan is Sheyi Ojo at Wolverhampton. Ojo has featured in 14 games across all competitions for Wolves in the Championship but when Klopp turned up to watch him play recently, Ojo was on the bench.
Brazilian attacking midfielder Allan Rodrigues de Souza was signed in the summer and the 18-year-old was loaned out to Finland for the back end of their season and has returned to Liverpool. Allan, like Wisdom, Jordon Ibe and others did in the past, was lauded for his performances. It’ll be interesting to see what the next move for Allan, Kent, Wilson, Ojo and others with Klopp.
Naturally, not many of the kids hoping to burst through the academy into the first team will make it. Not many people in the world can say that they’re good enough to have a career at Liverpool Football Club and if you talk to some supporters, there’s not that many actually on the team that are good enough. Some youngsters simply weren’t good enough or driven enough that, regardless if they stayed in the academy or were loaned out, they wouldn’t have made it. Klopp is looking to figure out the best and most fruitful way to nurture young players to give them the tools to succeed at his club.
Whatever he and his staff decide, the fans will be right behind him.