Liverpool defender Jon Flanagan suffered yet another injury blow during the LFC's 1-0 U21 victory against Southampton on Monday, and he's now set to be out for the next two months.
Flanagan made fourteen first team appearances under Kenny Dalglish, but since Rodgers took over, he's found opportunities increasingly limited by competition and injuries.
This season, Flanagan travelled with the squad to Switzerland for the Europa league game against Young Boys, but didn't make the final squad.
However, the youngster made the he made his first appearance of the season in the starting line-up for the Anzhi Makhachkala defeat in Moscow, and played the full 90 minutes. Flanagan also made the bench for the recenttotally unfair handball victory FA Cup victory over Mansfield.
It's a shame for Flanagan, but unfortunately for him, Andre Wisdom, Martin Kelly and Jack Robinson appear to have moved ahead of him in the pecking order, and then there's Jose Enrique, Glen Johnson and even Stewart Downing to compete with for full-back positions in the team.
Jamie Carragher has described Flanagan as 'outstanding' player, and after his debut against Man City, he told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"I'm delighted for him and I think it gives the whole club a lift when you see a local lad come through - the supporters love it."
Liverpool legend Alan Kennedy also rates Flanagan, and also praised him for his first few performances in a red shirt:
"“John was fantastic on his debut against Man City and has carried that on against Arsenal and Birmingham. He’s strong in the tackle and good with the ball".
Does Flanagan have a long-term future at Anfield? Does he have what it takes to break into the team and stay there...?
LFC U21 1-0 Southampton
Jaimie Kanwar
Flanagan made fourteen first team appearances under Kenny Dalglish, but since Rodgers took over, he's found opportunities increasingly limited by competition and injuries.
This season, Flanagan travelled with the squad to Switzerland for the Europa league game against Young Boys, but didn't make the final squad.
However, the youngster made the he made his first appearance of the season in the starting line-up for the Anzhi Makhachkala defeat in Moscow, and played the full 90 minutes. Flanagan also made the bench for the recent
It's a shame for Flanagan, but unfortunately for him, Andre Wisdom, Martin Kelly and Jack Robinson appear to have moved ahead of him in the pecking order, and then there's Jose Enrique, Glen Johnson and even Stewart Downing to compete with for full-back positions in the team.
Jamie Carragher has described Flanagan as 'outstanding' player, and after his debut against Man City, he told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"I'm delighted for him and I think it gives the whole club a lift when you see a local lad come through - the supporters love it."
Liverpool legend Alan Kennedy also rates Flanagan, and also praised him for his first few performances in a red shirt:
"“John was fantastic on his debut against Man City and has carried that on against Arsenal and Birmingham. He’s strong in the tackle and good with the ball".
Does Flanagan have a long-term future at Anfield? Does he have what it takes to break into the team and stay there...?
LFC U21 1-0 Southampton
Jaimie Kanwar
He is decent, but there are quite a few players in our squad that are better than him (IMO).
ReplyDeleteBut he is young hopefully he will improve. Shame about the injury.
Always a shame when any player get injured. Does he have a place still? Well currently no, too many in front of him right now, but I still think he is worth keeping hold of. Maybe when he is back give him a loan? Until he gets game time week in week in somewhere, it will be hard for us to judge properly if he came make it
ReplyDeleteHe seems to have lost the initial hunger that saw him won those praises in his earlier appearances
ReplyDeleteIf he can recapture that form and avoid silly mistakes that he's prone to, I think he has a future here.
cant understand why you had to dliute a worhtwhile story about a young up and coming footballer suffering an injury with a cheap and unnecessary shot at suarez ? any opportunity to turn the knife in your own player eh ?
ReplyDeleteYes Greg, It's quite childish I agree.
ReplyDeleteYes, uncalled attack when we all know what happened. By the way, does anyone know when Kelly would come back?
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like it, leave.
ReplyDeleteMisleading headlines as usual. Gave me a fright!
ReplyDeleteTotally unfair handball victory! Ruined the rest of your story. Your constant heckling of suarez is unfair, not just to him but there were 10 other players out on that pitch that day who's to say had Suarez not handled in the box that we wouldn't have won anyway. You could argue that his discrepancy urged Mansfield on further to score they're one and only goal. I normally don't agree with the other fans that your not actually a Liverpool supporter but its becoming increasingly difficult not to your either not a Liverpool supporter or boy can you hold a grudge. Tut tut.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree. Very petty and childish.
ReplyDeleteSorry 10 other Liverpool player out there, no disrespect to Mansfield meant I do remember seeing them during the game honestly lol.
ReplyDelete"fantastic", are those your own words or someones else's ? get real will you !
ReplyDeleteflanagan is average at best, if he was'nt a scouser he would have been let go a year go
With respect, please read the article properly. Alan Kennedy used the word 'fantastic' to describe Flanagan.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness Flannagan did have a fantastic start to his senior team career with Liverpool his first 4 or 5 games he looked a real good prospect. Unfortunately since those first few games he has looked increasingly error prone and distinctly average, but time is still on his side so there's still hope for the boy yet.
ReplyDeleteFlanagan is a very good youth player and his style of play is like jamie caragher when he plays on the pitch.bt liverpool still needs esperience players,youth players is not the solution to lfc if they want to go to Top 4.Go for lloriente for the striking role and for the attacking midfield,wesley will fit in or cabaye.if u get any one of them,they can easily pear the talisman gerard and lucas.we want to go to champions league back and nt signing any youth player bt esperienced matters.
ReplyDeleteIf your going to put controversial things in your stories, why can we not comment on them? Surely if your removing our comments Jaimie you should also remove the line "totally unfair handball victory" that way you don't leave yourself open to criticism and nobody feels the need to comment on it! Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI have never rated Flanagan to be honest. He just seems average to me.
ReplyDeleteWisdom and Kelly are good but I think they should be played as CB instead of FB.
he is a mediocre player, always gets booked and i would say the young right back for the u19s is a much better player.
ReplyDeleteYou are the master of dredging up old quotes to add punch to your weak attempt at a discussion which is always laiden with a sneaky, dirty, underhand attempt to belittle Liverpool fc and most of all Suarez! Please go and discuss things about your own beloved team, as it is not liverpoolfc!!!
ReplyDeleteKelly is injury prone and I suspect will fail because of that - cabn never play 5 games on the trot
ReplyDeleteCalm down mate
ReplyDeleteHe is just expressing his opinion towards suarez
Some will agree (me included) , some will disagree
It doesn't mean he doesn't support liverpool
and it doesn't mean suarez is a bad player
I love suarez for his extraordinary talent, but also despise him for the fact that he cheats a lot. Simple as that
My comment about the line regarding the handball also disappeared as I said it was childish to put that in there seeing as this was an article discussing Flanagan. So the author can put a comment like that into a totally unrelated article and we have our comments removed when we criticise it. Just proves my original point about being childish. Some of the articles on the site are good and I may not agree with all opinions of fellow fans who post on the site, I can still find their views interesting. Apparently if we disagree or criticies Jamie, our views are no longer relevant and can just be deleted. Seems a strange way to have a discussion with your fellow fans.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is Siavash, is that Jaimie continue to add little snarky comments to his stories but when questioned on it just deletes the posts! I can tell you he's already deleted 3 posts asking why he felt the need to add that one little underhanded line to his story. If he doesn't want us to voice our opinion on the matter and discuss it then why is he adding it to his story? I understand that he has a very poor opinion of Suarez but to constantly rub it in our faces every story is just derogatory. Sure we could go else where and read different stories but that's not what Jaimie claims to be about. This is supposed to be a forum where we can all voice opinion as long as it reasonable and not offensive. So if that's the case why does Jaimie feel the need to delete our posts about his underhand comment but not remove his comment? Because its Jaimies way or no way at all! No doubt the response if I were to get one would be that I don't have to read his stories the problem is I have however now that I want to voice my opinion I'm gagged by editing and removal of perfectly legitimate posts! Rant over!
ReplyDeleteRead the comment policy: stick to the topic. Don't waste thread space bitching pointlessly. If you can't hack views that differ from you own, go elsewhere. People like you who support, encourage and praise Suarez's cheating are not welcome here.
ReplyDeleteTotally agreed - I was shocked at the players Dalglish was choosing from the reserves and with that kind of an eye for talent, it just gave me more reason to believe that we would unfortunately continue to have a pretty low ceiling as long as he remained in charge
ReplyDeleteFlanagan a star. Erm, maybe one day, but right now he's far from it. This season he's been out of the team mainly because of injuries and to be honest, even if fit I think that Johnson is a much better right-back.
ReplyDeleteI also can recall last season where he made two so big mistakes in one match, that Kenny brought him of immediately. Have nothing against the lad and hope he comes good eventually, but there is a long road to walk for him until he can be considered a star. Being continually hampered by injuries obviously doesn't help his progress either.
Currently I see Johnson way ahead of him. Wisdom shows more promise and so does Kelly. Granted, they are natural centre backs, but they are doing a fine job when asked to play at right back, especially Wisdom.
ReplyDeleteEarly March, but he surely won't play right away after a cruciate ligament injury.
ReplyDeleteYou call flano fantastic? Cmon now hes good but made terrible mistakes at times that costed us many points last year when he played, so hes not fantastic we hope he will be one day though
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty laughable seeing as you were the one who went off topic by adding the line about Mansfield. I am sure this won't get posted though as it appears I may be banned now for disagreeing with the author. Suarez shouldn't be defended for his antics on the pitch sometimes but I have a lot more respect for somebody who can admit that they did wrong rather than these spineless cowards making excuses like I am just avoiding contact. The same went for when Roy Keane openly admitted to ending that guys career (sorry, his name has escaped me). It wasn't the right thing to do but at least he was honest about it and explained why he reacted the way he did. In my eyes, that is better than coming out and lying. We may not like it but at least it is honest.
ReplyDeleteI would put Ryan McLaughlin ahead of him in the pecking order. He needs to move on a.s.a.p so his career doesn't stall any longer, the boy needs games!
ReplyDeleteWhere in that statement have I praised Suarez? It is you who is blinded by your hatred from the man. All I have said is if you don't want people to discuss it then don't put it in your article. It's hypocritical to say we can discuss these things then remove posts and say I'm sniping because I don't necessaraly agree with your view.
ReplyDeleteI would also add that in the post you removed, the point I was trying to put across is that there were another 10 Liverpool players out there that day and although Mansfield did pull a goal back they very well might not have and I believe your comment is unfair to the rest of the players who worked there socks on that day! Granted it was not a vintage performance but who's to say we wouldn't have seen the game out at 1-0?
ReplyDeletetime to get rid
ReplyDeleteoh no !!!!!!!!!!! its the end of our season !!!!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things I've heard. Utter woeful and a walking red card. Shocking player.
ReplyDeleteAre you not going against your own words Jamie? You say " If you can't hack views that differ from your own go elsewhere" but yet all you do is go against and argue against people who have different views on the topic of Suarez than you. As shown when you say "People like you who support, encourage and praise Suarez's cheating are not welcome here". Is it not fair to say that this site was meant to get people engaging and debating their views on topics about LFC and football in general? It seems that it is true only when you agree with you Jamie.
ReplyDeleteloan him out or get rid the kids stagnating
ReplyDeleteVery young but already with a wealth of experience. I don't think we have anything to worry about. Flanagan is in no hurry to leave the club and we have no reason to let him go. When he's fully fit and ready to compete for a place in the side then that's brilliant for us. This is only a couple of months for a player who has a potential 15 years to contribute to the club. If he turns out to be good enough then he'll get a spot in the first team.
ReplyDeleteHow you are able to bring up Suarez in a post about a youth player getting injured is disgusting.
ReplyDeletePs - say what you want about Suarez on the field, but he's a great human being off the field. He's an amazing husband, father, and is never it trouble with the law. In a world where professional athletes live like normal laws of society don't apply, he is a down to earth family man. He's also competitive as hell, and since you have don't understand this aspect of sports, I'm guessing you're an overweight armchair pundit. Congrats man
I agree it will be difficult for Flanno. Johnson is clearly ahead of him and so is Wisdom. Kelly too but he's injured so often I doubt that he'll be at the club much longer. Robinson is a left back so they don't compete. That said, how much sense does it make to have two 19-year-olds as understudy for Johnson. Someone's gotta give and unless Wisdom moves inside to center half quickly, I'm afraid it's going to be Flanagan. This injury obviously doesn't help.
ReplyDeleteBad luck for the lad, but unfortunately he doesn't add much value to our first team [yet].
ReplyDelete