Over the past couple of days, I have been surprised to see criticisms been thrown around about our new full back Javier Manquillo amongst Liverpool fans on social media.
Yet I can’t help but think these criticisms are a little harsh. Manquillo was solid in his defensive work and was okay going forward against Tottenham, and does not deserve the criticism he has been on the end off. This is a lad who has only had 18 senior appearances in his professional career.
Manquillo has shown incredible maturity since coming into Liverpool and has shown he is exactly what Liverpool need at the back. He is quick to cover for his mistakes and is a great tackler of the ball. You compare this to Glen Johnson who heavily relies on Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson to cover for the many errors he makes in the game. Manquillo is a thorough improvement on Johnson just because of his defensive qualities.
On the point that he has only made 18 senior appearances, for somebody who has had such a short career in a first team, I think Manquillo has qualities way above his years.
Manquillo is developing the way an old fashioned full back would, defensive solidarity first and then improve on his technical ability going forward. I just think that him and Moreno can learn a lot from each other in training and they possess physical qualities. Both of them are quite strong, however Moreno does have a little bit more pace in his game.
I think Manquillo should look at Moreno as the ideal full back at the moment. I know Moreno is not a complete player, but if Manquillo reaches 22 and is at the same level as Moreno at the moment, the £5million could turn out to be a bargain for Liverpool.
He is the type of project that Brendan Rodgers will relish developing because he is such a raw talent and Rodgers has shown he is an expert at turning talent into class already, with Sterling, Sturridge and Coutinho all good examples of this.
If Manquillo continues to develop at the current pace he has been, then I think Liverpool may well have the future Spanish full back pairing in our first team which will a real source of pride for the club. But it is a testament to the work done by Ian Ayre and the recruitment team as well. Well done lads!
Do you rate Javier Manquillo? Would you have him in your starting line up? Let us know your thoughts below.
No doubt about it the lad is a huge improvement on Glen