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This may include advertising from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you.It was the EFL Trophy when Ben Doak made his next move for Liverpool in October.
After joining Celtic for £600,000 last summer, he impressed at U18 and U19 level.
A trip to Accrington Stanley was the winger’s first taste of men’s football since arriving at Anfield. When the final whistle blew, it was clear that this would not be the last match.
Liverpool’s U21 team were knocked out ahead of their final group game at the Wham Stadium, with the 2-0 deficit extended to three within two minutes of Doak’s 68th-minute substitution.
Nonetheless, the 16-year-old’s night was sure to be one to remember as he made it 3-2 in added time after Calvin Ramsay had scored moments earlier.
A first start for Barry Lewtas’ side came a few days later when Doak scored the winner in a 2–1 victory over Everton Under-21s.
Just over a fortnight later, Jurgen Klopp marked the winger’s first-team debut in the League Cup against Derby County, before the teenager made his first professional debut later in the week after celebrating his 17th birthday.
Doak finished last season with five appearances for Klopp’s first team, including two in the Premier League.
If you add up his appearances in Premier League 2, EFL Trophy, UEFA Youth League and U18 Premier League, he has provided 11 goals and eight assists in 27 appearances at youth level.
Doak scored in his first two Under-18 appearances, against Middlesbrough and Leeds United, and Doak’s stay at Marc Bridge-Wilkinson would last just five games before he was called up for the Under-21 job.
Of course, that promotion was aided by his performances in the UEFA Youth League, as he recorded four goals and four assists against Napoli and Rangers alone.
No wonder he was the center of attention at the Academy, weeks before Klopp first approached him.
After another Premier League appearance on the opening day of the season against Chelsea, after impressing in pre-season and even scoring against Leicester City, more senior opportunities should follow this year.
Which is why it would be a surprise to see Doak return to EFL Trophy action on Tuesday night when Liverpool Under-21s travel to Morecambe.
After failing to make the squad for a single matchday under Klopp this season, he instead faces a Europa League trip to Austria to face LASK Linz.The 17-year-old was named in the Reds’ 23-man squad earlier this month as he had not been at Liverpool long enough to qualify for UEFA competitions as a player.
the U21 B list.
As a result, Doak could be handed his longest competitive appearance under Klopp, which lasted 22 minutes, although the German may have played down expectations of a possible first start.
“The kids’ presence depends on the level they can show at that moment,” Klopp told TNT Sport about this season’s Europa League.
“We have some real talent there, but it’s not experimental.
“I think unless we are hit by an injury crisis we should have enough players to field a top team on Thursday and Sunday and that’s basically the idea.
”Next, we will see how to build a team…“We’ll see, but we have good kids.
”This is the advantage of the [recent] international break when all these young people are in training.
We had 16-year-old boys here and they are incredibly good, incredibly talented.
I can’t wait for them to arrive, but the moment we leave them where they are, they’ll develop and everything.
But there are some good players in the Academy and for all the Liverpool fans I’m pretty sure the future is bright.
“Doak may be the best of the bunch, but Liverpool will continue to manage him carefully, with Klopp having no intention of simply handing out sentimental starts.
After all, as exciting as his first-team performances have been so far, there is one thing that has been missing and it underlines how he still has raw potential now that his senior career has been limited to brilliant cameos.
His best moments for the Reds are when he has the ball at his feet, running and past terrified defenders.
It is these qualities that excite supporters and oust bums.
But what’s the point of beating a man if you don’t show enough composure to spot your teammate or score for yourself? It is not surprising that the final ball is still a little missing from the winger with his head down after finding himself in these dangerous final third positions.
This is obviously timely of the 17-year-old, with his returns at Academy level emphatically proving that he obviously has it in his locker.
But after scoring in his first games as a starter for the Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-21s, this remains the next thing he needs to prove at senior level to make a more significant step forward.
It must not be forgotten for the right winger that, should he be chosen to start against LASK Linz, the man whose place in the starting XI may have contributed to him scoring goals in each of his last 11 Premier League games.
Is Doak ready to “bring it to that moment”? Only time will tell, with the Europa League offering at least more rotation options than Champions League fixtures.
Liverpool fans may want to watch Scotland’s Under-21s start in Austria, but while no one expects him to copy Mohamed Salah any time soon, Klopp won’t let the youngster run without first showing him that he can walk.
