Is it this young defender’s time to shine already?

Every time I have watched Martin Kelly, he has not failed to impress me. Strong, relatively quick, good positional awareness and crossing ability, the young Liverpool defender seriously looks to have a good future in the game. Although we should be careful not to get our hopes up too far, his performance playing out of position against FK Rabtonicki last Thursday shows that not only that he is adaptable but also that his physical and technical attributes are pretty well advanced.

With the injury to Daniel Agger, Kelly was thrust into another situation, like his debut against Lyon, which was outside his comfort zone, and although he had very little to do in the defensive third of the pitch, he still made telling contributions from the left hand side putting in some decent crosses and contributing good width in tandem with Glen Johnson on the opposite flank, despite the fact that he is not only naturally a centre back but also right footed.

In many senses in this regard, Kelly can be compared to Jamie Carragher. Carra played a number of positions early in his career, playing defensive midfield, before switching to left back under Gerard Houllier as well as right back before settling as an assured centre-half under Rafa Benitez. I see the same sort of process happening to Kelly. At such a young age, he has the legs to play in a number of positions, and while his physical presence, positional awareness and tackling ability make him a prime candidate to be a centre back, for the time being he has the pace and ability necessary to play in the full back positions.

In fact, with the departure of Philipp Degen on loan to German side Stuttgart, and the likely departure of Emiliano Insua sometime during the transfer window, Kelly has an excellent chance of becoming second choice at either left or right back. His adaptability makes him an ideal utility player for Roy Hodgson, and the fact that he is also still under 21 means he will be allowed to play in any Premier League match this season regardless of the new quota system.

The return of Fabio Aurelio was welcomed by nearly every Reds fans, and so it should be as he is a solid, reliable full back when fit. The operative word there though is “fit,” there are question marks whether the Brazilian can make it a full season without getting injured, leading to concerns of a lack of cover. Insua may now well stay after moves to Italy collapsed, and for the time being there is not any real money to go and buy a decent full back without Insua first leaving.

The concern of adequate cover in the position will rear its head again though but I would be confident, if I was Hodgson, to give the responsibility to Kelly if the situation demanded it. Roy has been impressed by Kelly so far, and I believe he is a player who could improve greatly through experience in the first team. Jamie Carragher started out life as a defender at full back, and although it is not yet clear whether Kelly can reach Carra’s ability, giving youngsters a chance such as this 20 year old should not be shied away from. There are few enough talented youngsters in this country as it is at the moment and players like Kelly must be given chance to shine. Is it his time already?

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