Conor Bradley’s reputation has not suffered in the slightest during this international break. The gifted Liverpool full-back is still making an impression for both his team and for Northern Ireland, and he is starting to appear more and more important to both.
The 20-year-old put on yet another outstanding performance for Michael O’Neil’s team on Friday night in a 1-1 tie with Romania. His manager, who mentioned the defender by name, praised him for being the epitome of the vitality and vigor he wants his younger side to possess. “That right side of the pitch is very, very young, but what they showed was great quality,” O’Neil stated in remarks made following the match. Conor is the perfect example of the strong running ability we do have on the team.
There has also been a lot of discussion regarding the man Bradley is attempting to unseat at Anfield at the same time as Bradley’s sustained success at the senior international level. Despite Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury, which has kept him out of England’s current training camp, speculation has been rampant about the Liverpool star’s precise role in Gareth Southgate’s plans.
There are still unanswered questions about Alexander-Arnold’s position on the national team as the Three Lions struggle to find Declan Rice a suitable partner in the center of midfield and their right-back group struggles with injuries.
And Liverpool may face an increasingly intriguing problem if Bradley continues on his dizzying rise. The idea that Alexander-Arnold would not be in Jurgen Klopp’s starting lineup would have seemed unthinkable not so long ago, and it won’t be long before we can say the same about his Northern Irish colleague.
Joe Cole, a pundit for TNT Sports and a former midfielder for Liverpool, brought attention to this fact during the broadcaster’s recent coverage of the Reds’ thrashing of Sparta Prague in the Europa League. “Having two excellent players is a great problem,” he said. “It’s obvious that Trent Alexander-Arnold is a world-class player, and Conor Bradley is quickly approaching that status as well.”
Furthermore, despite the fact that it would normally be audacious to argue that a defender with just 23 senior club appearances is on course to become “world class,” the overwhelming weight of the data points to the possibility. Ultimately, Bradley has the highest average match rating of any player who has played five or more Premier League games for the Reds this season. In 18 appearances across all competitions, he has six assists and one goal.
He also passes the famed eye test. Watching him play is like witnessing a jubilant offensive talent who loves to drive runs and well clipped balls into empty spaces. Bradley is vibrant, honest, and invigorating; he appears to be the next big thing to come out of Liverpool’s illustrious youth program.
Pundits may have a penchant for exaggeration, viewing everything in stark contrasts with little opportunity for complexity or nuance. But in this instance, Cole’s exaggeration is entirely warranted—Conor Bradley appears to have the potential to be among the greatest in the world.
