Topic: Ben Woodburn.

[swoopy]

Congratulations lad!

Wish it was me

[rojo para la vida]

great moment for the kid but in this day and age to become top-class with this type of physique you have to have incredible technique

right now I think it is more likely than not that he won't get there. Hopefully I'm wrong.

It's 0-0 and I said to the missus, 'don't think he should be putting a 17 year old on unless he wants us out the competition.' She says, 'so you know more about football then Jurgen Klopp?' That put me in my place.

If Jurgen thinks he's good enough, he's good enough.

[OOS]

Hopefully the first of many

[Mdrummey]

Congrats. Very excited for him! Great story!

The comments on his physique are ridiculous. Take a look at Sterling on his debut Vs gladbach. Not exactly a big guy.

[JackWard33]

'The Era' begins and we are all witnesses

[Kekule]

ah throwback to the days when you would get stoned to death if you mentioned that there was a chance Ibe wouldn't be the best player in the UK by 2016

I'm sorry my friend, I forgot that EVERY youth player Klopp uses will become a superstar

I quite clearly didn't say that though did I. I was taking the piss out of you for making a snap judgement about the lads prospects based purely on his physical appearance aged 17, compared to what Klopp, who sees him play and train regularly, has had to say about him.

But it's okay, you can write the lad off after 20 minutes of first team football and if he does fail you can come back to tell everyone you were right and we'll all give you a round of applause. Of course if the lad is any good you'll be dead pleased you were wrong. It's win-win being a pessimistic cynical bastard, isn't it?.... Except for the not enjoying anything bit.

[JackWard33]

bUT HE DOES NOT HAVE A COOL NAME SO HE WONT MAKE IT.

Errrrr how the fuck is Benny Bonfire not cool ??!!

[Redcap]

Club will need to have a long hard discussions on whether we should be pursuing wide-forwards in January or summer as it could potentially block the pathway for Ben and Ojo. Ideally we should maybe consider a short-term solution in that position to give these guys another year before they are truly ready to take on the mantle.

Would you really miss out on Pulisic and potentially leave a hole in the squad in January with Mane out, and risk dropping valuable points towards a title challenge, to clear a pathway for Woodburn and Ojo?

I mean, they're both very talented players to be sure, but if they're going to have a path clear, they need to actually be good enough to step up and deliver if called upon.

[DefJack]

ah throwback to the days when you would get stoned to death if you mentioned that there was a chance Ibe wouldn't be the best player in the UK by 2016

I'm sorry my friend, I forgot that EVERY youth player Klopp uses will become a superstar

The opinion of most of us who actually watch the youth sides was that Ibe was always going to struggle to make it with us, his lack of a brain was evident even at U18 level.

Woodburn is on a different level to Ibe.

[JackWard33]

Would you really miss out on Pulisic and potentially leave a hole in the squad in January with Mane out, and risk dropping valuable points towards a title challenge, to clear a pathway for Woodburn and Ojo?

I mean, they're both very talented players to be sure, but if they're going to have a path clear, they need to actually be good enough to step up and deliver if called upon.

The idea that we shouldn't buy talented players because we already have talented players is one of the weirder LFC fan base arguments that does the rounds these days

[SerbianScouser]

Would you really miss out on Pulisic and potentially leave a hole in the squad in January with Mane out, and risk dropping valuable points towards a title challenge, to clear a pathway for Woodburn and Ojo?

I mean, they're both very talented players to be sure, but if they're going to have a path clear, they need to actually be good enough to step up and deliver if called upon.

I think with all the experience Klopp had in his career dealing with young talents who went on to become world-class players I imagine he'll have a really good gut feeling on whether Ben and Ojo are worthy of us believing in them at the expense of some super young talents available in the market. In some cases it doesn't take long like with Ibe where pretty early Klopp figured out he doesn't have what it takes to be our player. It's an extremely difficult situation to balance so it will be interesting to see how Klopp deals with it over the next year or so.

[Aceldama]

Would you really miss out on Pulisic and potentially leave a hole in the squad in January with Mane out, and risk dropping valuable points towards a title challenge, to clear a pathway for Woodburn and Ojo?

I mean, they're both very talented players to be sure, but if they're going to have a path clear, they need to actually be good enough to step up and deliver if called upon.

If that's your mindset you should be backing going for a much more established player than Pulisic. Spend the big bucks on Reus if you want to go all out for that title challenge because Pulisic is just a teenager who needs opportunities to progress not a big time difference maker.

[Fordy]

Made up for the lad.

It was a pleasure to witness him break the record.

[elsewhere]

Only a year younger than Pulisic who's being touted at Ł20m.

i'm pretty sure he is already worth over 30m in this market.

[Redcap]

ah throwback to the days when you would get stoned to death if you mentioned that there was a chance Ibe wouldn't be the best player in the UK by 2016

I'm sorry my friend, I forgot that EVERY youth player Klopp uses will become a superstar

Everyone knows most youth players won't make it at Liverpool.

There's every chance Woodburn won't make it at Liverpool. Others have promised but failed - Pacheco, Suso, Ibe, Nemeth, Insua.. the list is endless. That doesn't mean we should stop getting excited about youth prospects. Especially when they're the best one we have right now, and doubly so when he's just become the club's youngest ever goalscorer.

Everyone knows most kids don't make it, and maybe Woodburn won't either. You may think you're being level-headed or realistic, but actually, everyone knows deep down that the chances of a promising youth player making it are not high. You're not adding value with your rapier-sharp analysis. You're just tone deaf and bereft of emotional intelligence.

[Armless Joe Gambino]

[rafathegaffa83]

Happy for him. Nice way to start his career.

[DutchRed]

See what it means to the boy. Hope he makes it to the very top.

[Redcap]

If that's your mindset you should be backing going for a much more established player than Pulisic. Spend the big bucks on Reus if you want to go all out for that title challenge because Pulisic is just a teenager who needs opportunities to progress not a big time difference maker.

Well no, because we're not linked with Reus. We're linked with Pulisic. And "teenagers who need opportunities to progress" to me describes Ojo and Woodburn. Pulisic is a teenager, but he has 2 goals and 4 assists in 9 games this season for one of Europe's top clubs. To me that means he's reliably a level above Woodburn and Ojo currently. That's not to say Woodburn and Ojo are can't be as good quickly, but we haven't seen them deliver consistently. We have with Pulisic.

[DefJack]

The obvious answer is to have both of them.

Pulisic often plays from the right, Woodburn from the left.

Having both of them on our books is FM wet dream stuff.

[Frizzo]

Great moment. No matter what happens now he'll always have that!

[Aceldama]

Well no, because we're not linked with Reus. We're linked with Pulisic. And "teenagers who need opportunities to progress" to me describes Ojo and Woodburn. Pulisic is a teenager, but he has 2 goals and 4 assists in 9 games this season for one of Europe's top clubs. To me that means he's reliably a level above Woodburn and Ojo currently. That's not to say Woodburn and Ojo are can't be as good quickly, but we haven't seen them deliver consistently. We have with Pulisic.

What? You said you wanted a player for a title push, Pulisic is not that player. You've identified a round hole and are trying to put a square peg through it just because we're being linked with that square peg. And exactly right that sounds like Ojo and Woodburn, that was my intention. He is like Ojo and Woodburn. Stats from a nine game sample size is no demonstration of delivering consistently, to think so is laughable.

[G-Dragon]

Agreed. It is laughable people think Pulisic is good enough to push us for that title. He is a good young player but he is not even 50% the player Coutinho, Firmino and Mane is. He just had has little more opportunity due to the team he plays for atm (Look where Dortmund are in the bundesliga table). Osumane Dembele is a much much better player than Pulisic too.
 

[Redcap]

What? You said you wanted a player for a title push, Pulisic is not that player. You've identified a round hole and are trying to put a square peg through it just because we're being linked with that square peg. And exactly right that sounds like Ojo and Woodburn, that was my intention. He is like Ojo and Woodburn. Stats from a nine game sample size is no demonstration of delivering consistently, to think so is laughable.

I see Pulisic as a much more complete product than Ojo or Woodburn. I think you'd have to have some bright red lenses to put them in the same category as Pulisic at this stage. And don't get me wrong, I rate Ojo and Woodburn. I just rate Pulisic higher, at this stage.

It's not complicated. One is a guy that the second best team in Germany is regularly relying on to win games, and the other two are players that have played the odd game for us and delivered some promising/decent performances. To me, that means Pulisic is a guy we could far more easily rely on fill a hole in our squad while Mane is away and maintain our level of performance, than Woodburn or Ojo.

[abs-ibs]

Well Done that young man!!!!

Truthfully he didn't do much during the match as most of the play by that time was going down the right side. But he was in the right place at the right time for Wijnaldum to pass it to him for his first (hopefully of many) goal for LFC.

Hope his career is a long and successful one with us

YNWA

[Redcap]

Agreed. It is laughable people think Pulisic is good enough to push us for that title. He is a good young player but he is not even 50% the player Coutinho, Firmino and Mane is. He just had has little more opportunity due to the team he plays for atm (Look where Dortmund are in the bundesliga table). Osumane Dembele is a much much better player than Pulisic too.
 

So's Douglas Costa. So's Kingsley Coman. So's Neymar. You know what the difference is? Pulisic is a very promising player that we're linked with. The other three are not. We don't necessarily need a complete world beater, but we do need a player who'll slot into the team and keep up the good team performances. I think Pulisic is that, AND he has huge potential.

Anyway, this is a thread about Woodburn, so let's focus on that. It's very exciting to see how far he's come along and I think he'll get plenty more opportunities throughout the remainder of the season to continue to set markers.

[The Final Third]

He reminds me of another Welshman that scored a shit-tonne of goals for us, if he's half as good as him he'll be ace. Well done Ben.

[Coolie High]

F**k Pulisic Ben Woodburn is better.

What a talent.

[Chakri]

Congrats Ben

[Number 7]

Made up for the lad. He didn't even think about it, just put it top bin. Sign of a goalscorer that.

Looking very promising for him.

[diegoLFC7]

He's barely 17! This is massive for Liverpool. Usually these types of players breakthrough in small clubs and are bought when they reach the age of 18,19,20,21. We can have something really special on our hands, but we need to stay calm and patient. Ben Woodburn doesn't need the pressure of being compared to the likes of Owen and any others that had a similar route to the big time.

[Messiah]

Woodburn - a goal every 24 minutes.
Messi - a goal every 68 minutes.

I'm not saying anything. 

[G-Dragon]

So's Douglas Costa. So's Kingsley Coman. So's Neymar. You know what the difference is? Pulisic is a very promising player that we're linked with. The other three are not. We don't necessarily need a complete world beater, but we do need a player who'll slot into the team and keep up the good team performances. I think Pulisic is that, AND he has huge potential.

Anyway, this is a thread about Woodburn, so let's focus on that. It's very exciting to see how far he's come along and I think he'll get plenty more opportunities throughout the remainder of the season to continue to set markers.

You are not making sense now. Why bring in older and much more experienced players into this? No one has said we need to sign Messi to push for the title. Pulisic isn't even a starter for a team who are 7th in Bundesliga atm. And somehow he is going to slot right into our team which is 2nd in the premier league and keep the good performance level? Lets not talk about Pulisic like he is Dortmund's Aubameyang/Reus.

The point is  we shouldn't sign just another "promising" talent when we already have two similar players with "promising" talent at our disposal. Two players who will need to be involved with the first team in the coming seasons. If your defense to the argument is X player being linked while others not then surely Julian Brandt is a better option? Linked with us and miles better than Pulisic.

Anyway lets agree to disagree. Personally, can't wait to see how Woodburn develops under Klopp.

[MolbyLovesGravlax]

Only on RAWK, we have a thread started about a kid who just became the youngest goal scorer in our history and 50% is replies to some numpty who wants to take this occasion as the time to declare he'll never make it or pissing matches about an American teenager who plays in Germany.
History just happened people. Enjoy it for fucks sake...

[MerseyMania]

Well done Ben..

[ThisIsMickey]

Made up for the lad. First of many Ben!

[Kovai Red]

Well done lad... Hopefully more to come at this club.
I am glad that medal thief is not our youngest goal scorer anymore

[bird_lfc]

Not seen much of him, as usual for youth players I (sometimes foolishly) base my opinion on those on RAWK

Chuffed to bits for him. A 'god' like finish. Hopefully he gets a few more chances this season To impress and show us alllwhat he can do!

[Frank Becton]

Took his goal well, the look on his face! Fantastic.

[vagabond]

Really hope his teachers let him off for his homework this evening.  Be terrible for the lad if he had to go home and write an essay on Keats's poetry or some shit. 

Everyone can always do with more Keats in their lives.