Why 2015/16 Is the Season Jordan Rossiter Will Break out at Liverpool
Brendan Rodgers is a manager renowned for his work in youth development, and the next player to break through into the Ulsterman's Liverpool side could well be midfielder Jordan Rossiter, with the 18-year-old looking forward to a promising 2015/16 campaign.
With the prospect of following the likes of Raheem Sterling, Jordon Ibe and Jon Flanagan into the Reds' first team looming, Rossiter faces a task to prove his worth—with many of his under-21 contemporaries leaving on loan this summer.
Rossiter is a separate entity to Sheyi Ojo, Danny Ward and Jordan Williams, however.
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The 2015/16 season will be a significant one for the Scourser, with a strong chance of him breaking out at Liverpool over the next eight months.
Jordan Rossiter
Rossiter joined Liverpool as a six-year-old in 2003, and he has spent the past 12 years rising through the ranks as one of the most promising young talents—transcending what has been a rapidly shifting academy setup at the club.
During his time as a Liverpool youth player, he has seen four managers at the Reds' senior helm, and—from former Head of Academy Coaching Rodolfo Borrell to current under-21s manager Michael Beale—has performed under the stewardship of a host of experts in youth development.
Beale in particular has been central to his progress onto the fringes of Rodgers' first team.
"I saw that the very first week I came to the club that he’s got a fantastic mentality," the coach recalled in conversation with Phil Kirkbride of the Liverpool Echo last year.
"He's got a lot of work to do physically with his body and technically he will want to improve, because he’s that sort of boy. I thought he did really well in the game against Middlesbrough this season, him scoring was fantastic, but he wants to do more."
Beale was speaking about Rossiter's dream debut in last season's League Cup penalty-shootout win over Middlesbrough, with the midfielder scoring after just 10 minutes of normal time with a well-placed effort from the edge of the penalty area.
However, as Beale continued to note the player's mentality, he highlighted his humility:
"As an Academy coach the feeling was unbelievable because the manager trusts the players. That is everything.
In the interview afterwards, I thought Jordan Rossiter spoke fantastically. It wasn’t scripted and we hadn’t said anything.
When asked if he would be in the squad for the derby his answer was that he had a long way to go and that he was just hoping that he’d done enough to get another minute.
"
As a native Scouser, there is natural, steely determination in Rossiter, and it didn't take long into his burgeoning career before comparisons were made between the midfielder and former captain Steven Gerrard:
While it is easy to compare the two in terms of mentality, on the field Rossiter is far from the rampaging powerhouse that Gerrard made his name as at Liverpool as a young player. This is despite the club's official website describing him as "an authoritative central midfield presence" who "boasts an extensive passing repertoire with either foot and has an eye for goal too."
Rossiter is best in a deep-lying midfield role and marries this passing ability with a tough-tackling game as well as great close control and composure on and off the ball. To make a more astute—but less flattering—comparison, Rossiter is more like current Reds midfielder Joe Allen.
Disappointingly, Rossiter's 2014/15 season was curtailed with a serious ankle injury, as reported by James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo, but having returned for Liverpool's pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia, and having tasted first-team action last term already, he will be hoping for a chance to prove himself under Rodgers in this campaign.
But where does he fit in within the manager's midfield ranks?
Liverpool's Midfield
"Rodgers seems pretty happy with the options he's got in there," Pearce told Liverpool Echo readers with regards to the Reds' midfield. He continued:
"Obviously Milner, Henderson and Coutinho will start the vast majority of Premier League games, and then he's got Can, who he believes can play that holding role when it's required.
With Allen to come back and Rossiter coming through, Lucas may be replaced if the right deal is out there but it's not viewed as a necessity.
"
While Liverpool's attack was a major cause for concern as Rodgers headed into the transfer market this summer, the departure of Gerrard also necessitated a swelling of his options in the midfield, and this came with the arrival of new vice captain and No. 7, James Milner.
Milner joins Allen, Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Emre Can within Rodgers' senior ranks. While Pearce alluded to the precarious future of defensive midfielder Lucas Leiva, the fact that the club are prepared to sanction the Brazilian's exit without first securing a replacement highlights the manager's faith in his current options.
With Pearce also mentioning Rossiter, it is clear that the 18-year-old can play a part in covering for the sale of Lucas this summer.
In Liverpool's first game of the 2015/16—a 1-0 victory away to Stoke City—Rodgers deployed two different systems: 4-3-3 and 4-1-4-1.
In the former, Milner and Henderson were utilised as a deep-lying double pivot, with the former Manchester City man given more license to forge forward; in the latter, Can was introduced in the defensive-midfield role, with Milner and Henderson pushed further toward the Potters' penalty area.
Both systems seem to have a place for Rossiter, either as a part of the pivot or as the Reds' least-advanced midfielder, and in the other system Rodgers used in pre-season—a 4-4-2 diamond—he could be deployed as either a diamond flank or as a defensive midfielder.
With Liverpool currently contending on four fronts, there is every chance Rossiter could be rotated alongside his senior colleagues.
But does he have the quality to excel this season, and to replace Lucas?
Can Rossiter Replace Lucas Leiva?
If Lucas is to leave this summer, it will be with Liverpool's blessing: Rodgers has held on to the midfielder for three seasons previous, despite regular links with a move to Serie A.
Though the Brazilian is a strong character in the dressing room and arguably a unique player within Rodgers' squad in that he is a specialist, destroyer-type defensive midfielder, his quality is not of the level of Can—the German 21-year-old, as Pearce suggests, will rightly be Liverpool's first choice in the defensive-midfield role this season, and he can only continue to progress.
Lucas' role is largely as backup to the likes of Can, Milner and Henderson—a player who, like Chelsea's John Obi Mikel, can come in and shield the back four when required but will spend more time as an ambassador off the field than as a regular feature in play.
As with the club's decision to terminate former backup right-back Javier Manquillo's loan in favour of long-term options such as Flanagan, Joe Gomez and Andre Wisdom, there is sense in opting to sell Lucas and bring Rossiter through.
Rossiter is younger, cheaper and has a higher ceiling than the 28-year-old Brazilian.
The raw quality that he has shown in the Under-21s and in sporadic appearances for the first team—either in domestic competitions or in pre-season—as well as the composure he has shown in play and the maturity he has shown within the academy, suggests that he can be successfully moulded into a strong player for Liverpool.
This can start in 2015/16, and playing backup to Can as Liverpool's deep-lying midfielder will see him begin to break out as a Reds star this season.
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