Liverpool could have a new star.
Life has shown us that someone’s misfortune is somebody’s opportunity. Just ask Rhys Williams.
About two months back, Williams would have been delighted with the opportunity to train with the first team. However, he has certainly gotten more than he would have hoped for.
Williams has made a total of four appearances for Liverpool. In each of those games he has been astute and a worthy deputy for Virgil.
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There is some crazy juju or voodoo against Liverpool’s center backs. Van Dijk is ruled out for the season, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are injury prone. Fabhino who has deputised at center back also seems to have pulled his hamstring during the Champions League game against FC Midtjylland.
The ever present transfer rumours of Kadiou Koulibaly is back. Other than him Kabak and Upamecano are some of the names doing the rounds. However, Klopp is known to put faith in the youngsters. Williams has been plugging the gap very well whenever he has been asked to step-up.
When I look at Williams, the song from Jungle Book, ‘I wanna be like you’ comes to mind. The 19 year old looks a lot like Virgil. They both have a similar hair do, a similar physique in terms of body frame and play the same position.
Background of Rhys Williams
Williams is an academy graduate at Liverpool. He joined the club academy at the age of 10. During his time with the youth academy he won the FA Youth Cup in 2019.
To get game time under his belt, he went on a season long loan to Kidderminster Harriers.
He did decently well there and was rewarded with a long-term contract at Liverpool in September 2020.
Little did he know that the moment he signed the contract, he would be playing alongside players that he has idolised growing up.He made his Liverpool first team debut in the EFL Cup against Lincoln City. In that game he played alongside Virgil van Dijk in the first half and Fabinho in the second half.
On 21 October 2020, Williams came on as a 90th minute substitute against Ajax in the UEFA Champions League. He was called upon as a first half substitute in the game FC Midtjylland as a replacement for an injured Fabhino.
Many believe that he is rather lanky and thin for a center back. But looking at his composure on the ball and aerial ability, he shows great promise. In fact, from all the current academy graduates, he seems to be one of Klopp’s favourites.
Williams’ good form comes at a timely moment. Many will agree that he has impressed in both Carabao Cup matches against Lincoln and Arsenal. Williams has taken his chance and demonstrated to Klopp that he has what it takes to step-up whenever required.
His good form has not gone unrecognised. He also got his first call up to the under-21 English international team. He made his debut for them in a game that ended 3-3 against Andorra.
Analysing Rhys Williams game against FC Midtjylland
He was unexpectedly called upon to replace Fabinho. He was not flustered by the occasion. His positional play was on point barring a couple of instances. His passing range was decent too. His statistics in the game look like this via WhoScored:
- Aerial Duals Won: 2
- Touches: 60
- Passing percentage: 86%
- Tackles and Interceptions: 2
- Overall Rating: 6.62
In my opinion, Liverpool have a serious player on their hands. He shows the required grit to be a regular in the future. Also, given FSG’s model, he might end up saving them millions!
Do you think Rhys Williams is ready for the first team?