Who is he?
John Flanagan is an 18 year old Liverpool defender who has graduated from their famous academy, and is comfortable playing at full back. He is highly rated by the Anfield club and it is hoped that he will be part of an English revolution at Liverpool with the likes of Spearing, Kelly and Raheem Sterling.
What kind of player is Flanagan?
If Flanagan was being described on Match of the Day it is likely that the phrase ‘proper defender’ would be used as an analogy. He is tough in the tackle, defensively sound and isn’t vulnerable in the air due to his height and aggression. The Liverpool official website describe the youngster as ‘tough tackling’ and they would know better than anyone.
What’s his history?
To the delight of the Kop Flanagan is a scouser through and through. He was born and raised in Liverpool and has supported the club his whole life. He has graduated through the youth teams and the reserves at an astronomical speed and made his first team debut at the tender age of 18. The game was against big spending Manchester City at Anfield, where Flanagan was assured and steady in a 3-0 Liverpool win. Soon after this Liverpool travelled to the Emirates Stadium and again Flanagan was an able debuty in a game where he and fellow young fullback Robinson were able to tame the talented Walcott and Nasri. He has been called up to the England U19s, yet had to withdraw due to injury, and thankfully for Liverpool has signed a long term deal earlier in the summer.
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Jack Robinson is better than Flanagan. At all.
Flanagan may only be 18, but he needs to kop on (eh!). He lacks game intelligence, in particular the rash nature of his tackling echoes of a certain Paul Konchesky….. Seems to me that at times he wants to prove how tough/hard he is rather than make good decisions on the pitch.
He reminds me of a young Danny Mills – so maybe the England Cap is not unrealistic, but whether he is actually good is another matter.
I hope he improves but I’m not sure. He makes what can best be described as ‘stupid’ tackles – does this mean he is stupid – or more politely, not too intelligent? Does he recognise this flawed, reckless side of his game? Time will tell.
Still a decent 3rd choice right-back to have though. If he can work on his poor decision-making and learn to stay on his feet he could be a good player.
Kelly is streets ahead of him, despite missing years of his development with injury and as many would argue – not being a natural right-back.
When belief. tenacity and ‘raw skill’ (does that mean shoddy/underdeveloped skill?) are listed as a players best attributes I would start to worry.
I know he’s only 18, and Carra didn’t look a world beater when he started out either – His effort and work-rate cannot be questioned but atm he has quite a way to go to be good enough for our first team.
Good luck to him but I refuse to exaggerate what I see when I watch him play. Future England and Liverpool regular is a bit much.
There are a lot of better options at right back coming through for England. He’s not even the best young right back at Liverpool! Micah Richards and Kyle Walker are a couple of other good options for England too.
Not trying to be harsh. Just honest. He has good coaches around him and I’d hope he is aware of his flaws. I hope he improves.