7 months ago
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Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Jarell Quansah has quickly established himself as a high quality first team option for Jürgen Klopp’s Premier League leading Reds.
In a season that has seen Liverpool’s youth ranks helping to push them into not just title contention but pole position with nine games to go in the 2023-24 Premier League season, no youngster has stood out more than Jarell Quansah.
The centre half, who turned 21 at the end of February, has gone beyond simply contributing and in a matter of months established himself fully as a first team option, and he eclippsed the 2,000 minutes played mark in his start against Brighton on Sunday.
“He was amazing,” was teammate Alexis Mac Allister’s reaction to his performance in the Reds’ 2-1 victory. “The job he did with Virgil [van Dijk] is so important for the team because it gives us that calmness that we need to play football.”
Despite being targeted repeatedly by Brighton, who sought both to channel their attacks down his side and also to use their press to force Liverpool to build up play on his side of the pitch, Quansah was calm and quickly settled into the match.
A second minute opener for Brighton could have unsettled the youngster, but Quansah showed his maturity, held his nerve, and helped Liverpool to limit Brighton to creating just 0.38 xG worth of attacking threat the rest of the afternoon.
He also led the day with the most pass attempts and pass completions, with 110 and 99 respectively, and there can be no higher credit to the youngster than the fact that nobody is the slightest bit nervous to now see his name on the teamsheet.
Next up for Quansah, Mac Allister, and the rest of their teammates will be Sheffield United. The Blades visit Anfield on Thursday, and again the young defender will be expected to start—and Liverpool will be expected to take all three points.
“We need to go game by game,” Mac Allister added of the challenges to come. “We need to focus on ourselves, not other teams. The team is there—we want to win trophies this season, we are in a good way, and we want to keep it like that.”
