Jarell Quansah, a centre back for Liverpool, has received praise from manager Jurgen Klopp for his growth.
Even though it is still early in the season, Quansah already appears to be a rising star for the Reds. The 20-year-old made history last night when he played his first game for Liverpool in Europe.
Quansah didn’t let us down either. The Reds’ 2-0 victory over Union Saint-Gilloise may have appeared to be a walk in the park, but there were really a few tense moments. To all of which Quansah masterfully responded. In response to inquiries about his performance, Klopp was effusive in his appreciation.
“That’s part of development; if you are not ready for that [the physicality], then it’s difficult to play, to be honest, in adult football,” the manager remarked.
“However, I had no doubt that he was prepared for that. Because of him, deciding to line him up tonight was not a difficult choice for us.
“Still young, we have a really good football team together, [so] it means he will get minutes, he will play U21s as well, and stuff like that, but it’s nice to see,” said the coach.
“It’s fun to watch him grow now that he’s living with us normally. He excels in that area and is an extremely talented ball player. Mo would have received the assist if he had been given the opportunity in the first half due to the excellent defending, quick thinking, and stepping in. He probably feels really fantastic tonight, in my opinion. Correctly so.”
Quansah maintains excellent form.
Quansah has had to wait his turn to succeed at Liverpool. Despite being predicted to achieve great things in the past, it had begun to seem as though it might never happen for him at his boyhood club.
This season, though, a small breach in the defence has allowed the center-back to step up tremendously.
Liverpool may or may not have chosen to ignore the demands for them to recruit a defender this summer because of his presence. But those requests to expand the team have absolutely halted, whether on purpose or by happy accident. That is entirely Jarell’s fault.
Of course, the excitement needs to be moderated a bit. The last thing we want to do is put too much pressure on the England U20 star to perform well.
Quansah appears prepared to be relied upon whenever necessary following six games with the senior team.
That was very evident last night. There was a lot of defending to be done; Liverpool wasn’t on a cruise here. And though Ibrahima Konate was possibly the best defender in the match, his young teammate wasn’t far behind.
It’s not necessary to start using Quansah in Premier League matches just yet; the Reds currently have more than adequate coverage. However, the youngster has proven he can be counted on, so if the need arises again, he will be able to step in. Excellent work, Jarell; keep it up.