Arthur Melo completed 60 minutes for Liverpool Under 21s on Tuesday evening. The Brazilian is trying to get up to speed for the senior side.
Liverpool Under 21s suffered a 1-0 defeat on Tuesday away at Rochdale. It wasn’t a good game and the Reds struggled to get anything going, despite Arthur Melo playing 60 minutes.
The Brazilian is building up his fitness and the Reds took the opportunity to give him time here. He sat in midfielder alongside Stefan Bajcetic, who also departed on the hour mark.
Arthur didn’t really have too much of an impact, it must be said. Still, this is a player still trying to find his top speed – and playing in a side full of kids he doesn’t know.
We won’t judge him too harshly, then, and Liverpool did ‘lose’ this game once he left the pitch. Hopefully, Arthur will hit greater heights over this international break now he’s got an extended period to train.
Arthur Melo features for Under 21s
Liverpool do have big plans for Arthur, reportedly seeing him as a similar player to Thiago. Given the Spaniard’s injury record, having their new signing up to speed quickly feels important. Thiago is now such an essential player in the side that Arthur could drastically ease the pressure on him.
And so even 60 minutes here and there for the Under 21s is vital. It’s training that will be particularly crucial, though, as Liverpool can give Arthur something of a pre-season over the next two weeks. They’ll hope to have him up to speed with the team’s style, even if his fitness isn’t on the level of some others.
If that happens, Arthur should be on the pitch an awful lot more post-international break. And then it’s only six weeks for him to make an impression before the January plans take hold.
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