Alan Shearer was blown away by ‘outstanding’ Liverpool player in the first half vs Chelsea

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From the first minute Liverpool were up against it in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea. There are very few football teams in the world who would be able to cope with the amount of injuries and players missing that Jurgen Klopp has had to deal with. Liverpool didn’t just miss one or two key players – that alone would have been a blow – but they were missing six or seven.

Klopp pretty much had to field a Liverpool ‘B’ team in a cup final at Wembley. If there was any other team they would have capitulated. Especially, because things only got worse for Liverpool. Midway through the first-half, Ryan Gravenberch was stamped on by Moises Caicedo, and the Dutchman had to be carried off on a stretcher. This only compounded Liverpool’s problems further.

It meant Klopp had to introduce Joe Gomez, and push Conor Bradley into an unorthodox right-wing position. A far from ideal scenario. But Liverpool were not fazed. The Reds rode a wave of Chelsea attacks after Gravenberch’s substitution, and kept the Blues at bay.

Alan Shearer impressed by Conor Bradley

Speaking on BBC 5 Live, Shearer was really impressed by Bradley’s performance, and described him as ‘outstanding.’

One of the Liverpool players who caught Alan Shearer’s eyes the most was Liverpool’s 20-year-old right-back. Conor Bradley began the game with sensational rhythm and took to the final like a duck to water.

“He had to get that tackle right and he got it spot on, Conor Bradley has been the outstanding player on the pitch so far,” Shearer said live on air.

“Conor Bradley has had a really good start to this game. Similar to what Trent would do, he’s got into midfield and he’s seen a lot of the ball already.”

Of course, this wasn’t Bradley’s first appearance at Wembley. He already played there while at Bolton Wanderers last season. So he wasn’t entirely a rookie when it comes to appearing in big matches on the hallowed turf.

Nonetheless, the way he adapted to the challenges that came his way and even caused problems on the right-wing speaks testament to his talent. There is a bright future ahead of the Northern Irishman.