Liverpool were afforded a luxury most teams in Europe could only have dreamed of, being able to play a weakened side in our final Champions League game and Arne Slot took full advantage.
Speaking after the game about whether the younger players in his team may go out on loan, our head coach stated: “There’s always a chance in life.
“At the moment we have most of our players fit, so we will have this discussion tomorrow, me and Richard [Hughes], about these players.
“There is definitely one of them that will not go on loan – and I think you know which one I mean. James McConnell.
“I wouldn’t say definitely, but I liked him a lot today, so maybe now the end result today would be it’d be good for him to go somewhere and play.
“He was also a player that hasn’t played in the last six or seven months 90 minutes because he was injured for a while. He impressed me a lot today.”
It’s some praise from our head coach who was clearly impressed with most of the players he provided a chance to but seemingly none more than James McConnell.
James McConnell took his Champions League chance in Eindhoven
Many suggested that the decision for the 20-year-old not to be handed minutes in some of easier games of late, like the victory over West Ham, suggested that he may have been saved from injury ahead of a potential move.
Given his summer antics of joining Bobby Clark and Harvey Blair in posting a black and white picture ahead of a seeming departure this summer, it’s been quite the u-turn.
Now being named the best youngster in a team of his peers, it shows how impressed our Dutchman was the Sunderland-born midfielder.
Let’s hope that he can kick on from here and become a key part of the first team in the coming weeks, months and years.
You can watch Slot’s comments on McConnell via Liverpool FC on YouTube:
Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile
One year on: EOTK’s tribute to Alex South – the former LFC defender who played with Liddell & Paisley
