Conor Bradley showed he's ready to fill Trent Alexander-Arnold's boots at Liverpool after taking his chance against Arsenal, writes LEWIS STEELE
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- Conor Bradley was handed his fifth league start of the season against Arsenal
- The 21-year-old showed he's ready to take over from Trent Alexander-Arnold
- LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Are Arsenal even close to achieving big things?
Before the home fans turned on Trent Alexander-Arnold it had all been rather nice.
There was a smattering of jeers for the soon-to-be Galactico when his name was read out at kick-off but from there until Alexander-Arnold’s introduction aptly on minute 66, this day was more about appreciating the next in line rather than lambasting the departing star.
Plenty has been said about his impending exit — and it has reached saturation point. But we should not overlook future Reds star Conor Bradley.
Had he been fully fit, Bradley would have played the full 90 minutes here. No doubt about it. But the Northern Ireland international took a knock in training a fortnight ago so could only play for around an hour and forced manager Arne Slot into the awkward decision to introduce Alexander-Arnold.
Then the party turned sour.
Before that, though, Bradley had been handed a golden opportunity to prove whether or not he is ready to take the reins from Alexander-Arnold. Did he take his chance? Absolutely.
Not that he needed to do so. He was not going to be judged on this performance alone — but it certainly helped that he put in a shrewd first-half display.
The 21-year-old set the tone just 46 seconds into the match when he made a crunching tackle on Gabriel Martinelli.
The Kop reacted by singing his name, some recognition considering he was playing in League One on loan at Bolton two years ago.
Yet this is now reality for the boy from Castlederg, County Tyrone. He can now be the main man, even when noting the fact Liverpool will pursue a new right back to compete for the regular starting berth.
They would be fools not to, given Bradley is just 21 and has fitness issues. He cannot play every game even if he was the ‘Castlederg Cafu’.
But Slot has compared Bradley to Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi and says, with consistent minutes, he will get over his muscular problems. Hakimi may not be a household name but the comparison is a big compliment.
The positions Bradley took up in this match were interesting, too, often playing higher than anyone but the front three, popping up in pockets right alongside Mo Salah. On another day, he might have had an assist or two.
His running style reminds Mail Sport of a chat with the man who discovered a young Bradley on the Northern Ireland youth scene, Joe McAree, last year.
He said: ‘This boy can get from box to box like a reindeer… tremendous stamina, he can thread passes into places you wouldn’t know were there.
‘From the first day I met him in a cafe, he looked me in the eye and smiled, it just felt different. For an 11-year-old boy it was just different, the focus he had. He knew what he wanted to be.’
There is no doubt Bradley will want to create an imprint on the team in a similar vein to the great full back duo of Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.
So forget, if you can, the anger thrown at Alexander-Arnold… this is Bradley’s time to shine.
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