Neco Williams has had a difficult start to his first full senior season at Liverpool. Here are three reasons why that might be the case.
Neco Williams isn’t having an ideal season. He’s looked shaky in several games, both in defence and at the back.
Here are three reasons why the player may be having such a difficult time.
Pressure is on
There is far more pressure on Williams this season than he’s ever dealt with before. It’s night and day compared to last season, of instance.
Williams first broke into the public eye with performances in the cups. He played alongside fellow youth players with very little expectation – and played well.
His first Premier League games came when the title was already Liverpool’s. Again, there was very little pressure on him.
This season, however, is different. Now he’s playing big games with the first-team and the pressure is very much on him.
It means Williams didn’t have a gradual shift from one to the other. He’s gone from near-relaxed football to the top of the game. Surely that will affect any young player?
Injury problems
Williams is in a team dealing with bad injury problems – particularly in defence. He usually has the security of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk to his left but that isn’t the case this season.
But injuries all over the pitch are a problem. They mean Liverpool aren’t at their free-flowing best, nor is the team settled in any reasonable way.
They’re all things that will hurt Williams as he continues to learn. He’s used to playing in incredibly settled teams, after all, both at youth and senior level.
This season, though, could be a culture shock.
Just not ready
It could well be that Williams just isn’t as ready for first-team football as we’d hoped. The types of games he played in last year, for instance, may not be a great indicator of his readiness.
As we discussed in reason no.1, the pressure wasn’t there. As we said in no.2, he had an elite team to slot into.
Now, though, with everything what it is, Williams just may not be as far along in his development as he seemed – and that’s fine.
He’s still only 19 and full-backs don’t peak until their 30s. Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t the best example in that regard, as he’s a total anomaly.
So Williams certainly deserves time and patience. This has been a rocky start but there are several reasons why that could be.
And in the end, it may simply be that he needs a little longer to truly find his feet. After all, Jurgen Klopp believes he’s a ‘machine’ with how he can improve.
If he’s right, it won’t be long before the Welshman is as good as he looked last year.
For more on Neco Williams, click here – we think he has the ideal player to help him.
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