Liverpool youngster Adam Lewis is a serial Champions League winner.
At least, that’s what happened when I took over as Liverpool manager (sorry Jurgen) on Football Manager 2020.
If you don’t play as the Reds, Jurgen Klopp often brings in someone to play as Andy Robertson’s understudy. But we don’t need to splash the cash when there’s someone sitting in the U23 squad who is perfect in the back-up role.
Step forward Adam Lewis.
In real life, the left-back wasn’t promoted to first team action as quickly as I did, but I was swiftly rewarded with some good performances from the young Scouser. He improved quickly and after four season has some decent attributes.
13 crossing, 11 dribbling, 13 first touch, 12 marking, 13 passing, 14 tackling and 12 technique make him a good player. He’s not brilliant and never will be, but for the role I want him to play it’s perfect.
18 for determination also means he’ll keep fighting until the very end, which is what every manager wants from their side.
The rest of his mental stats aren’t amazing, but when played in a strong side he gets away with it. His positioning is poor, and the rest are largely average – but again, that comes with the territory of being a back-up.
In four seasons, he’s played 58 Premier League games with an average rating of 7.38. Six goals and 13 assists is a decent return from my attacking full-back, and it means he has a direct impact once every third game or so. Not bad.
Lewis has played a big enough role in the team to pick up four Champions League winning medals as well as the Premier League titles Liverpool accumulated along the way.
As well as that, it’s also a story that should warm the heart of everyone on the Red side of Merseyside. We all love to see Academy graduates in the first team and this is a fine example of how they can be used to create a successful outfit.