Liverpool’s struggles this season have created an opportunity for Stefan Bajčetić to seize, just like Bukayo Saka at Arsenal and Marcus Rashford at Manchester United.
The simple goal in football is to dominate 100 per cent of the time, even though such a goal is virtually impossible to achieve. Once reaching the pinnacle of the sport by acquiring meaningful silverware, supporters expect to stay there by winning over and over again.
The reality is football tends to run in cycles — as stated once by Manchester United legend Alex Ferguson — with different teams experiencing what it feels like to reach the top at different times. It is almost a case of taking turns, in many ways.
Over the past five years, Liverpool has experienced the blissful life at the summit. Under Jürgen Klopp, the Reds won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Club World Cup, Super Cup and everything in between as they conquered the world.
As Liverpool prospered, the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United struggled, often forced to compete in the Europa League as they clamored to deliver overdue improvement on the pitch. Those dark days are dreaded and hated by supporters but often, times of hardship can deliver openings for promising talents to grab the spotlight and showcase what they are made of.
Pressure makes diamonds, as the saying goes, and that has been the case for the once-dominant Arsenal and Manchester United in recent times, with youngsters emerging from times of trouble.
Marcus Rashford, for example, was only presented with an opportunity by Louis van Gaal all those years ago because the Red Devils couldn’t secure consistency on the field. Rashford stood up and installed new hunger at Old Trafford, seizing the moment to impress ahead of more seasoned performers such as Ángel Di María, Radamel Falcao and various others who struggled to shine in Manchester.
Over at the Emirates, Arsenal’s problems on the attacking side of the game opened up chances for Bukayo Saka to impress, and he’s now regarded as one of Mikel Arteta’s key pillars.
This season, Rashford and Saka are both thriving on the pitch, and each of their respective teams is prospering. The development of the English pair is relevant once assessing the landscape at Anfield this term, as for the first time in Klopp’s tenure, it seems Liverpool has regressed.
Players have aged and moved past their prime years of performance, and it seems the Reds are in need of a new midfield department in particular, with Jude Bellingham tipped for a transfer this summer.
Liverpool sits ninth in the Premier League table right now, and they have essentially swapped places with Arsenal and Manchester United in that sense, but as a consequence, Klopp might have found his very own Rashford or Saka.
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On Monday night, Anfield hosted Everton and Stefan Bajčetić was presented with a start in the middle of the park, replacing Thiago Alcântara as the team’s left-sided number eight. He’s made a number of starts since the end of the World Cup in December, but this was very much a coming-of-age display that offered an insight into what he could become in a red shirt.
Would Bajčetić have been presented with as much game time of late if Liverpool had been competing at the top of the Premier League table yet again? It seems unlikely considering the club’s demand for success.
The teenage starlet has a long way to go, but he is looking like more and more of a gem with every passing week. Klopp will push the Reds out of their troublesome period in the next few months and when he does, he could have the latest wonderkid by his side.
Source: liverpool.com
