Rodgers raves over summer signing…
Brendan Rodgers has lauded the talents of young German utility man Emre Can, reports ESPN.
Can was brought on at half-time versus Burnley on Boxing Day, and was surprisingly used as a central defender in the 3-4-3 formation.
He did very well however, having been previously deployed as a midfield anchorman, and even as an attacking midfielder as well.
“Emre Can played centre-half in one of the games I took in when I went to see him last year, in a 4-2-3-1,” Rodgers began.
“He’s got a big future here. It’s just been curtailed a little bit from the summer, when he was trying to gain his fitness, and was injured.
“He had an ankle issue that meant he missed training, and was in and out. But he’s got great athleticism, and you could see his presence on the pitch.
“He’s an outstanding footballer. He’s a very young player acclimatising to the game here. But his favoured position is more defensive.
“I’ve played him in an attacking role because I think that’s something he can do more of. But he’s certainly a player who, if you asked him his profile, he would say that he likes to play in that sitting role, where he can dictate the game as well as be physical in the challenge and the duel.
“I thought he was outstanding yesterday. We needed to build the ball better. Yesterday our possession wasn’t so good. We lost the ball too quickly, which didn’t give us a chance to get into good positions on the field in order to keep the ball.
“Him coming on gave us that assurance in possession and the physicality when we didn’t have the ball. He’s a player I know can play in a number of positions, and play well, and someone whose influence will become greater as the season goes on.”
Aged 20, Can does have the potential to develop into an excellent footballer, although he’ll likely need to discover his best position on the football field.
His physicality is a particularly strong attribute, which suits him perfectly to the Premier League.
So far, Can’s made just three top flight starts, and come off the bench four times. He bagged his only goal so far in the home defeat to Chelsea early in November, but has only played 78 minutes of football since.