When Will Liverpool and Wales Starlet Ben Woodburn Be Ready for Premier League?
Reasons to smile for Liverpool fans right now may seem hard to pin down. The international break destroyed the momentum gained from smashing Arsenal 4-0, and their return result saw them beaten even more heavily by Manchester City, 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium in a remarkable, bellies-up display.
However, while some point to the international break as problematic for the Reds—many of their stars flew a long way, from South America and Africa, to return for the early kick-off on Saturday—it can also serve as a crumb of comfort for them in this difficult time.
Teenage starlet Ben Woodburn may not have even made the bench for the trip to City, but just days earlier he made his first few significant steps into the world of top-level football while on duty for Wales in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The 17-year-old made his debut off the bench against Austria with the scores locked at 0-0, and he proceeded to control a loose clearance expertly and fire home from 20-plus yards. It was the only goal of a tense game that dramatically changed the makeup of Group D.
Days later he entered the fray in Moldova off the bench—again with the scoreline level—and then sprinted 30 yards, beat his man and delivered a powered cross that Hal Robson-Kanu converted. It was his second breakthrough moment in as many full international caps.
Woodburn has flashed his potential at us before—notably at Liverpool under-23 level and when he was given the nod against Plymouth Argyle early in 2017 in the FA Cup—but he has never taken a senior match by the scruff of the neck before and made it his own. Never before has he been the deciding factor, particularly in such tense circumstances.
These are the moments that force you to recognise him in a different light; they prove not only does he have the guile and ingenuity to mark him out as a super technical talent, but he can also execute when it matters the most. "Look at his composure; he's only 17!" Craig Bellamy said on Sky Sports following the victory (h/t the Liverpool Echo).
Everything we saw in his short, destructive cameos in Welsh red, we have seen before, in the Liverpool under-23 variant of the colour.
A clever playmaker, Woodburn does his damage by drifting into pockets of space and outsmarting opponents, then working shooting space or laying it off to others. He has quickness, and he moves decisively, but his top speed isn't all that, and he's had to learn to beat markers in other ways.
Even in the agonising 0-0 draw against Plymouth in January, Woodburn shone. An instigator of one-touch passing combinations that kept the speed in Liverpool's passing, he created chances, exhausted the opposition with his constant movement and should have scored himself after slipping in down the left.
Give him a relatively free wing role—from either side—and he'll cause problems. He takes up intelligent positions, slides in reverse passes and uses his body well to feint one way and duck the other. He's constantly searching for space to tee himself up in from distance and can be difficult to halt when doing so.
The fact he's both-footed is probably his biggest strength. He has scored his only two senior goals (one for Wales and one for Liverpool against Leeds United in the League Cup) with his right foot, but he buried a number with his left at youth level and delivered the cross against Moldova with his left, too.
He played off both wings for Wales during the break and has also utilised more central roles for Liverpool, even straying as far forward as a striker (against Wigan Athletic in 2016), and as far back as a No. 8 (against Tranmere Rovers in 2017) in pre-season.
A slight, spindly figure for now, his immediate path to glory won't start from central midfield, but picking up minutes there only benefits a player's growth, as it enhances the understanding of other roles.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp understands his responsibility and role in Woodburn's development, and he has committed to a mix of exposure and bubble wrap that will, hopefully, lead to a successful career at the top level.
"There are so many stories from the past when very young boys showed up and later you didn't hear anything of them anymore," the German said, per Sky Sports. "It will not happen with Ben."
"We will do the right thing: He will play youth; he will play under-23s; he will play first-team football. The main message is he needs to play football...He is a really patient boy; that's really good. He doesn't expect too much."
The external pressure on Klopp to sling Woodburn into the first team is mounting, and it will only increase once the games begin to pile up due to multiple commitments.
If he does anything positive in the next international break for Wales, a tidal wave of expectation will follow that Klopp will struggle to fight against.
Fortunately, if it comes to that, Woodburn is ready.
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