Liverpool lost 5-0 to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-final but the criticism of midfielder Herbie Kane is totally unwarranted.
The Reds were forced to feature a team of U23 players and Kane was one of the most experienced of those, but still came in for a vocal slaughtering on Twitter as he failed to impose himself on the game in the manner some expected.
After spending last season on loan at Doncaster Rovers in League One, where he impressed, we all thought that Liverpool would find a Championside side for the 21-year-old. But that transfer never happened and now he’s left with these rare opportunities to impress.
Jurgen Klopp has clearly kept the Academy prospect around the squad for a reason, although he wasn’t picked for the win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup – even if he did play nine minutes against MK Dons.
Whether or not he’s going to be a long-term prospect for the Liverpool first team shouldn’t matter. This is a youngster trying to make his way in the professional game, and after his breakthrough debut season, is finding the going a lot tougher in 2019/2020.
Making a bow against a Premier League side is never easy, especially when there is no experience around, nobody to fall back on and nobody to motivate the side properly. We can’t know how Herbie Kane would have played had he been flanked by Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum, but it would have been much easier for the 21-year-old had he been able to fall back the combined experience of those two.
Kane probably won’t make a career at Liverpool, the pathway doesn’t really exist through midfield at the moment. He probably will reach the Premier League at some point, but while he’s at Merseyside the rest of us should be more supportive of his journey.