Liverpool have been struggling with a thin squad for roughly two seasons now and thankfully in the process we have seen some of the youth players stepping up and fill some very big shoes. Notably we have seen the likes of Shelvey, Flannagan, Robinson, Wisdom, Coates, Sterling, Suso, and Henderson. All have had their good and bad days at the office.
Henderson who was severely played out of position under the management of Kenny Dalglish was absolutely slaughtered by fans in social medias. The midfielder has pulled up his socks ever since and has managed to silence his critics with some excellent performances and playing in his favorite deep-central role has certainly helped the youngster a lot. Brendan Rodgers has used Henderson effectively this season and suddenly the Anfield faithful loves him.
It seems attentions of the Twitter warriors have now shifted to new victims; mainly Shelvey and Wisdom. Jonjo Shelvey is, can, and will be a great player with proper guidance, playing time and fitness. Yet for an unfortunately large “we want world-class performances and we want them now” crowd, he among others, have been absolutely slaughtered with criticism. Clearly they are passionate fans with not much of a footballing knowledge.
Youth players are extremely delicate. Babies, if you will. They need to be fed with game time, taught with experience and harness their own abilities to the fullest. It’s funny because when an exciting 15 year old is noticed in the academy, everyone wants him to make a debut. Yet when those very same players are 18-22 years of age, they groan their every mistake and seek them out on Twitter and attack them with abuse. How are today’s youth going to progress, if people are constantly behind them for their every move and social networking has certainly made it easier for the fans to have a direct go at the players forcing them to quit their social presence.
Believe it or not, Gerrard had bad games and still does on occasion. But do you think he would be the player he is today without learning from his mistakes during his younger years? Of course not. People should stop riding the young lad’s on Twitter and leave the management to Brendan and his staff.