You don’t have to tell any Liverpool fan that the Reds have lacked numbers up front in the last year or so. With Fernando Torres out, David Ngog was the only real option other than Dirk Kuyt after Andriy Voronin was sold in the January transfer window. Now looking at Roy Hodgson’s pre season training camp squad that flew out to Switzerland yesterday, the lack of strikers is even more amplified with the absence of World Cup stars, and Dani Pacheco who is currently on international duty. Milan Jovanovic has been included in the tour party but as I will mention in an article later today, Roy Hodgson is more likely to use him as a left winger rather than a striker.
The lack of options up front becomes even more evident with such a revelation and it will no doubt give some of the young players a great chance to impress the new manager Roy Hodgson. At the front of the queue will be Nathan Eccleston. The 19 year old had a mixed campaign last season and it will be interesting to see how Roy sees the young striker’s chances of getting into the first team. Eccleston said in an interview with Liverpoolfc.tv today about his inclusion in the squad:
“It’s exciting and a new challenge for me. It’s a great chance to impress the new manager – everybody is in the same boat now and we’re all out to impress. Hopefully if I do a good job in Switzerland I will be in his plans for the future. . . Things have moved quickly. I was in the youth team and then, last year, I was in the reserves at the age of 18. I then made my first-team debut at Arsenal, signed a new contract and went out on loan. A lot has changed in the past year and I’m happy with it, but hopefully there will be bigger and better things to come.”
Eccleston will hope he is included in the starting eleven for Roy Hodgson’s first match in charge on Saturday against Al-Hilal and it gives him an ideal chance, with the World Cup stars absent, to hit the ground running and give the new manager something to think about. Especially with the lack of recognised strikers, Eccleston should believe that he has a chance to break into Roy’s first team plans.
The 19 year old’s progression at the club has been promising. After impressing in the Under 18s, partnering Lauri Dalla Valle up front in the Reds run to the 2009 FA Youth Cup final, he was quickly thrust into reserve team action at the start of last season where he impressed and caught the eye of Rafa Benitez. He signed a new contract and made both his debut and league debut against Arsenal and Fulham respectively. To gain first team experience, he was loaned out to League One side Huddersfield Town but his time with the Terriers wasn’t very successful.
After scoring on a promising debut against Yeovil, he was sent off against Gillingham in his third game and never quite recovered the energy and style from his debut performance after his ban. Played out of position on the right or left wing, and generally coming on as a sub, he never got a run of games to really get an understanding with other players. Although he has pace and good finishing ability, he still is a raw talent that needs to learn how to link up play better and develop a better understanding of the play around him.
He may be better served going out on loan to gain regular starts over the course of a season to see how he progresses as a player, but currently, with the lack of striking options, his place may well be with the Reds first team. This pre-season will give him the chance to shine, let’s see whether he can take the opportunity.
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I thought he was more of a winger too.