This seems pretty obvious when it’s written down, but it’s still pretty interesting, nonetheless.
Liverpool’s Academy football operations officer Nick Marshall has given an interesting interview, in which he explains the attributes our club looks for when considering a potential signing – both at youth level in terms of potential and at senior level.
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Marshall reckons the multiple aspects and characteristics can be boiled down into four categories when analysing suitability.
“There are four attributes and attitudes generally that clubs and coaches will look for, and I have always used these to identify the progress and success of a player,” he told TheTransitionPhase .
“To be successful, you will generally need to be able to possess three out of the four, and you are going to have to be at least a 9/10 in at least one of them for you to really stand out.
- Technical attributes for your position
- Tactical awareness (football intelligence)
- Psychological, social and mental attributes
- Physical attributes
“If you look at top performers in any sport, you will generally see they have at least three of these, and be really strong in them.
“If you have all four, then you are laughing.”
Recently, Liverpool have signed physically and technically superb footballers – but also men who seem grounded, ambitious and family-orientated.
This has helped them settle into the group immediately. In fact, we can’t really remember the last time Jurgen Klopp signed a dud. Loris Karius is probably the last obvious one, but we actually made a serious profit on the German upon his exit to Turkey.
If we can make a few more smart additions at the end of this season, our squad could become almost on a par with Manchester City’s in terms of depth. We need another high-end striker and a creative midfielder, while another centre-back and a backup keeper and left-back would also be nice!