Topic: Stefan Bajčetić

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

He's off to Al Nassr?

[StL-Dono]

Thought I'd give this a bump just to remind everyone how good he was in his few matches. 

Is it possible with a healthy Badger and a healthy Jones (BIG if), that we could get by with only ONE new young athletic midfielder for next season?  Especially with TAA sort of slotting in as a false MF? 

[Coolie High]

Thought I'd give this a bump just to remind everyone how good he was in his few matches. 

Is it possible with a healthy Badger and a healthy Jones (BIG if), that we could get by with only ONE new young athletic midfielder for next season?  Especially with TAA sort of slotting in as a false MF?

We still need two, a dm and an 8. Fabinho has been ok recently, but we shouldn't be content with ok, we need a physical presence in there who can compete with the best athletes in football, and still play a bit with the ball, we faced a good example of one today in Declan Rice.

[L.Suarez]

Can't seem to find what is the expected time he's gonna be sidelined with his injury, only that he won''t feature until the end of the current season, but will he be good to go for the pre-season?

[RedG13]

Can't seem to find what is the expected time he's gonna be sidelined with his injury, only that he won''t feature until the end of the current season, but will he be good to go for the pre-season?

I would think that plan for him to be ready for the preseason but it a stress type injury so might take some time.

[Aldo1988]

If this kid was playing at Barcelona or Dortmund, the press would be putting a price tag of over £100 million on his head.

[royhendo]

Just gonna give this a bump. He’s phenomenal I reckon.

[skidz73]

Just gonna give this a bump. He’s phenomenal I reckon.

Great composure, and finds space where you think there is none. Any incomings need to balance against his development.

[So… Howard Philips]

Just gonna give this a bump. He’s phenomenal I reckon.

Thought he’d had an injury set back when I saw his name - just goes to show how this season has bred pessimism.

It’ll be interesting to see how he develops, particularly if we bring in a number 6.

[Songs to Sing]

Just gonna give this a bump. He’s phenomenal I reckon.

Agree

He was our best mid for that stint he was playing.

[kavah]

Just gonna give this a bump. He’s phenomenal I reckon.

Yes he had a great little run, very special indeed, early days and that but fingers crossed for him, hope he gets to learn a bit more from Tiago next season

[Too early for flapjacks?]

Should be the first name on the team sheet for the Europa League, League Cup, and FA Cup. Also rotated into the PL team for midweek games to rest our first choice DM. There should be 20-30 starts for him across all competitions next season.

[Sheer Magnetism]

Could potentially be our first choice defensive midfielder for a decade as long as he stays injury free. I'd also like to see him gradually brought into the side, simply because we don't want to overplay him at a young age, but he looks like he has the grit, technique and composure to be our number one DM by this time next year.

[pascoli]

Another bump for the lad who could save us millions.  . .tremendous talent and was a starter in most games before his injury.

[Eeyore]

How about giving the kid a chance?

He is a young kid a million miles from being a first-team starter., let the kid develop

[GreatEx]

Agreed, should be at the bottom of our midfield depth chart next season if we know what we're doing. Will still see plenty of action in Europe and cups.

[royhendo]

Mario Gotze used to get a lot of starts.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

A million miles you say, didn't look like that when he played and I believe were he not injured, we'd have qualified for the CL.

[Aldo1988]

If he was at Barca we'd be wishing he could start for us every game (how old is Bellingham by the way??).  Age doesn't matter, if you are good enough, you are good enough!

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

How about giving the kid a chance?

He is a young kid a million miles from being a first-team starter., let the kid develop

Definitely top 10 on the incredibly long list of Al's mental takes.

[Aldo1988]

Definitely top 10 on the incredibly long list of Al's mental takes.

Dortmund gave 17-year-old Jude Bellingham a chance and now some of our fans are pissing their pants that he lead our club a merry dance last summer (apparently)

[Draex]

How about giving the kid a chance?

He is a young kid a million miles from being a first-team starter., let the kid develop

You think he’s that far away? I thought he was one of our best midfielders last year, can’t wait to see him develop next year, I think he’ll get a fair amount of minutes and not look out of place.

[TepidT2O]

You think he’s that far away? I thought he was one of our best midfielders last year, can’t wait to see him develop next year, I think he’ll get a fair amount of minutes and not look out of place.

Surely he just wants little pressure on a young player so they can develop naturally?

[Draex]

Surely he just wants little pressure on a young player so they can develop naturally?

He specially says a million miles away from the first team, pretty black and white. I disagree completely, it’s not about giving him time to develop, that’s a given under Klopp, but about what he’s shown at 18 already, which based on the evidence to date, is he’s not far away at all.

[Aldo1988]

Surely he just wants little pressure on a young player so they can develop naturally?

Bellingham was starting for Dortmund at 17 and look how he turned out.

[TepidT2O]

Bellingham was starting for Dortmund at 17 and look how he turned out.

Yes, and players are different and develop at different rates.

Bajcetic has just suffered a stress injury from physical over load at a young age.

Give him time.

He has bags of potential, but we mustn’t  force it.

[Draex]

Bellingham was starting for Dortmund at 17 and look how he turned out.

It is a lesson in caution as he’s played so many minutes he could burn out early etc. see Owen and many others.

But I agree, if you’re good enough Klopp will give you your chance.

[Mister Flip Flop]

Our best midfielder for me. The "let him develop" calls are bang on as long as development is done in the starting 11. Doesn't need to play 50 games a season but he should be starting our most important games. The kids got it all.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Surely he just wants little pressure on a young player so they can develop naturally?

Saying give the kid a chance is absolutely fine, as is not wanting to put pressure on him.

Then in the next breath to say he's a million miles away from being a starter (when he clearly isn't) is doing the exact opposite of giving him a chance.

[Knight]

Saying give the kid a chance is absolutely fine, as is not wanting to put pressure on him.

Then in the next breath to say he's a million miles away from being a starter (when he clearly isn't) is doing the exact opposite of giving him a chance.

Physically it's possible he's a long way away given what just happened.

Talent and mentality wise he was comfortably our best performing 6 last season.

[JP!]

You don't develop with splinters in your arse.  I'm sure Klopp and the team will carefully manage the physical load on him post-injury but I'm sure he will be playing plenty.

[Eeyore]

Surely he just wants little pressure on a young player so they can develop naturally?

Exactly look at what happened to Jones and Elliott last season, both were written off.

Bajcetic is a wonderful talent but he needs to be nurtured. He is still learning his role in midfield after playing as a centre-back. A year ago he was playing U18 football. The brutal reality is that if we are building a squad to compete at the highest level then Bajcetic will be lucky to make the bench never mind being a regular first-team starter.

Look at how long it took Phil Foden to become a regular starter at City.

We need to be patient and allow Bajcetic to develop his game and above all become physically strong enough to compete in the Premier League.

[RedG13]

Physically it's possible he's a long way away given what just happened.

Talent and mentality wise he was comfortably our best performing 6 last season.

Having him in a position to play also physicality get used to the demand that is top flight football is important and get playing time.
I would think Klopp wants to play him but also manage his minutes, which would likely mean more reserve role over the season doesnt mean he wont start etc.

[Too early for flapjacks?]

I think the aim should be to give him 20-30 starts over the domestic cups, Europa League, and PL. That's plenty to aid his development without putting too much strain on his body.

[mrantarctica]

I think the aim should be to give him 20-30 starts over the domestic cups, Europa League, and PL. That's plenty to aid his development without putting too much strain on his body.

Not sure there's any kind of quota. It depends on his physical condition and whether he trains well and is actually better than the other players there. I was very impressed, and could see him easily getting another 20 or so appearances next season, similar to this season. That being said, there's no guarantees in anything. He needs to first and foremost, be in good condition and train well to earn his spot.

[Adeemo]

I genuinely thought he was as impressive as Fabregas was, when he first broke through. He’s got everything required to be amongst the very best in the world.

[RedBlakey]

Out of interest, was he running games at the age group levels and looked a level above everyone else?  I remember watching Sterling play youth games back in the day and you could just tell he was going to make it, was Bajcetic the same?

[Chris~]

Out of interest, was he running games at the age group levels and looked a level above everyone else?  I remember watching Sterling play youth games back in the day and you could just tell he was going to make it, was Bajcetic the same?

Not really no. His passing and ball carrying were good but I wouldn't say he was a massive stand out like say Jones or Trent were, but he also didn't play that many matches, like probably low single figures, out of centre back that would have been shown in full

[RedG13]

Not really no. His passing and ball carrying were good but I wouldn't say he was a massive stand out like say Jones or Trent were, but he also didn't play that many matches, like probably low single figures, out of centre back that would have been shown in full

Wasn't he impressive in the preseason though?

[Eeyore]

Wasn't he impressive in the preseason though?

I think the main impression has been when he has been training with the first team. Klopp loves getting the kids involved in first-team training and Bajcetic by all accounts has stood out.