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Liverpool looked sluggish and outclassed for much of the first half against Chelsea on Sunday, as though they’d taken honour guard duties a touch too seriously and were trying to hand the Blues all three points as part of their celebrations for being named this season’s Premier League champions. Yet the half ended with the sides level, giving Liverpool the chance to make changes.
A handful of tactical tweaks saw the visiting Reds in the ascendency, and late on the introductions of Jerome Sinclair, Jordon Ibe, and Lucas Leiva saw things get even better for the visitors, who will have felt unfortunate not to have stolen the win late on after being the better side for most of the second half. For Sinclair, it was his Premier League debut, and following the match he was buzzing about it.
"It's an absolute dream come true," said the young striker. "As a kid, you dream and think about that moment your whole life, so for me to make that Premier League debut it was a really great moment. The manager told me to go out and work hard. So I just got out there and tried to make sure I put all my effort in, tried to be good and simple when I got on the ball and give a good impression of myself."
It may have been Sinclair’s first league match, but the youngster made his debut two seasons ago and stands as the youngest ever debutant for Liverpool. In September of 2012, Sinclair came off the bench against West Brom in the League Cup. It was an appearance, just six days after his 16th birthday, meant to identify him as one of the club’s brightest youngsters.
This time around, at 18 years of age, it seems an appearance to signal that he’s closing in on significant first team minutes alongside the 19-year-old Ibe, though as Ibe spent the first half of this season off on loan with Derby, the expectation for many will be that Sinclair will head out for first team minutes in 2015-16 following the pre-season
"We've got an array of young talent at Liverpool," added Sinclair. "So for me to get the chance to play was really good. I know there's a lot more young players coming through, and a lot are going to be good enough to play for Liverpool, so the future is really bright. All the young players at Liverpool know that we really do have a chance."
