Going up against Fulham with such a threadbare squad, even with the power of Anfield, was going to be a challenge for Liverpool tonight.
One of the players tasked with the most difficult job was definitely Conor Bradley. It’s not easy to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold for any player in world football but it’s even more difficult for a player who does not have much experience at this level.
In all fairness to the Liverpool youngster, he hardly put a foot wrong, even if he did have somewhat of a lapse in concentration for Fulham’s opening goal of the game.
Speaking at half-time that is what Jamie Redknapp highlighted in his analysis.
Jamie Redknapp on Conor Bradley
Speaking on Sky Sports, Redknapp was quick to highlight that the goal was not entirely Bradley’s fault. In fact it was Liverpool’s most experienced centre-back who made a mistake which allowed Fulham to capitalise
“Uncharacteristically, it’s Virgil van Dijk [who makes an error]. You are always told as centre-backs if you are not sure head it towards the touchline. He decides to head it infield, Pereira then pounces and heads it back to Willian, who does so well,” Redknap explained.
The former Liverpool midfielder then went onto say that Bradley then looked like he had a moment of panic.
“Conor Bradley then gets himself in a real mess, he’s scared of tackling, loses his footing. Willian hurdles him, manages to keep his feet, and then slides it past Kelleher.
You can see just Conor gets caught. He goes to dive and then realises I can’t because you don’t want to make a lunge in case you give away a penalty.”
In all fairness to Bradley, there was not much left he could do with Fulham’s goal. And to give credit to the young full-back, he redeemed himself with a solid performance for the rest of the half – including making the most tackles (5) on the pitch in the first half.
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