SCOUTING REPORT-CAMERON BRANNAGAN
Age-18
Height- 1.80m
Position- Attacking Midfield/ Right Midfield/Left Midfield
Foot- Both
Nationality- England
Liverpool youth academy is an institution that always keeps on giving. They have had a long list of talents starting from Steve Mcmanaman to Raheem Sterling. Cameron Brannagan is next in line to break into the first team. At 18 years of age Brannagan is one of the finest technical players in the Liverpool U-21 team. Few months back Barcelona scouts watched him in a number of games and Liverpool needs to quickly renew his contract as it runs only till June 2015.
In Liverpool and Manchester United academies, players are known to develop an inherent hate towards each other so it is a bit awkward when a United fan ends up in the Liverpool academy. Yes, Cameron Brannagan is/was an avid United fan before he joined the Liverpool academy. At the age of 7 he was moved to the Liverpool academy as his father felt it had better facilities and coaches. Cameron Brannagan progressed from the Under-9s and debuted for the U-21s in the 2012-13 season and he was a permanent fixture for the U-21s in 2013/14 season. He raked up 19 appearances and 4 goals in the process. He also made it to the first team bench in the FA Cup match against Oldham and featured in the match against Shamrock Rovers. Brannagan has excellent right and left foot, as a result of which he can also play in the right and left midfield. He initially started his academy career as a right back but his superior vision and passing led Alex Inglethorpe and Neil Critchley to shift him to the center of the midfield to maximize his strengths.
In a country where physicality is preferred over technique, Brannagan is a player who has plenty of both. He is a sturdy midfielder who lacks pace but makes up for it in the form of fantastic game intelligence. Brannagan is mainly utilised as a creative midfielder and is utilised just behind a pacy striker like Jerome Sinclair. Brannagan’s leadership qualities have also been praised in the Liverpool circles as he is a player who rises to the occasion when the team is in trouble. One of his main attributes is his ability to bring the ball from midfield to the final third and provide the required penetration in the attack. He is an excellent play maker and controls the tempo of the game. He also has excellent tactical and positional sense as many of his goals were the end result of excellent movement across the 18 yard box. Brannagan’s ability to use both foots equally well has bought him the role of a set piece taker. He regularly takes corners from either side and is a free kick specialist for the U-21 team.
One of the major problems that affect the youth players is poor decision making and Brannagan’s game is affected by this aspect. Though it will improve with experience and good coaching, a player like Brannagan who lacks pace needs to improve his decision making. Another key weakness Brannagan must improve upon is his lack of power and shooting ability. Though Brannagan has excellent positional sense which enables him to score a number of goals, a number 10 is always expected to make a long range effort when he gets the space.
Brannagan is one of the best midfield talents in the Liverpool academy and is probably the next in line to break into the Liverpool first team. Though midfielders usually break in at a later stage as compared to wingers, we can expect Liverpool to loan Brannagan to a Championship side in order to give him some valuable experience. There is also a possibility Brannagan will be given a first team role in the cup games as Barcelona scouts have been keenly watching him and Rodgers want to give the player the incentive of playing for the Liverpool first team.