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Oh, ya know, just two captains chatting. | Photo by Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images
We really are a club of captains.
Throughout Jurgen Klopp’s tenure at Liverpool, an emerging reputation of strong mentality and united leadership took hold. At one point, Liverpool had Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson, and Jordan Henderson all in the XI and all as captains at their respective international teams. It was, quite literally, a team of captains.
That thread of leadership continues today, with Van Dijk, Salah, and Robbo all retaining their armbands. More recent signing Dominik Szoboszlai is the captain for Hungary. And now, joining the ranks is Conor Bradley who wore the armband for Northern Ireland in their UEFA Nations League tilt against Belarus.
Bradley’s Northern Ireland ended up with a nil - nil draw against Belarus. While the result may have been one to forget, I’m sure the occasion will always be treasured by the young right back, who continues to progress and, earnestly, might be forcing the hand of Arne Slot and Liverpool decision-makers when it comes to the future of the club and a certain Scouser’s role in it.
To be clear, no one’s suggesting that Bradley is ready to take over the right-back spot in Liverpool’s line-up. And especially not in favor of losing Trent Alexander-Arnold as opposed to maybe finding more ways to get Trent in the game and in positions to make the best use of his elite ball-progression and playmaking abilities.
But it must be noted that where Bradley is - like the rest of the world - well-behind Trent in terms of what he offers to the overall foundation of Liverpool’s attacking structure, the Northern Irishman offers something different: the ability to play fullback in a more throwback vein, where the role of defending in the overall balance of the position was still rather primary. The way Bradley flies down the line feels like a version of the position that is familiar, if slightly more rare in contemporary football.
No, I don’t think Bradley has displaced Trent - and the minutes distributed so far this season absolutely bear that out. But this is a big step for a young player whose ceiling seems to be pushing further and further out into the sky. Here’s hoping he keeps getting chances and, more importantly, that he takes them.
