Liverpool youngster Conor Bradley was excellent during Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Fulham.
Stepping in for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bradley put in a superb display to create hope that he can fill in effectively over the coming weeks.
One man who was delighted by the 20-year-old’s impact was former Ireland striker Tony Cascarino.
Speaking on The Game podcast Cascarino, who’s a Liverpool supporter, went as far as saying that young Bradley bore a striking similarity to Reds icon Steven Gerrard. The pundit said that he can also see Bradley doing a Alexander-Arnold and inverting into midfield.
“Give Fulham full credit, they were terrific, but I have to mention Conor Bradley at full-back, he runs like Steven Gerrard,” Cascarino gushed the. “I know people get annoyed when you compare someone to Gerrard, but I looked at him and thought ‘he’s a midfielder, he’s going to play in midfield for Liverpool’.
“He has relentless energy, he covers every blade of grass, and he’s absolutely perfect to play in the midfield position the way Klopp plays.”
Cascarino backs Bradley for big things
This is a really big shout from Cascarino and one that will no doubt evoke a few tuts from Liverpool supporters.
Over the years we’ve seen numerous young players be burdened with being the next this or the next that. Inevitably, few of those players ever live up to the hype.
As a result, we don’t think it’s especially wise to be throwing around these kinds of comparisons for a player with only 10 Liverpool appearances to his name.
Having got that out of the way, we can actually see where Cascarino is coming from in one sense.

No, we don’t think Bradley is a midfielder. With his pace and direct style, he perfectly suits the right-back role right now. That may change in the future, but he doesn’t look to have quite the passing range you might need in midfield.
But we can see a tiny little bit of Gerrard in the way he plays at right-back. Full throttle and heart-on-the-sleeve, Stevie G was exactly the same when he first burst onto the scene.
A little bit gangly and yet to fully develop, you can see physical similarities between the two, definitely. But that’s possibly where it ends.
So, we don’t think Bradley is the next Gerrard or even the next Alexander-Arnold. Just let him be himself and grow into his place in the Liverpool first-team naturally.
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