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With Raheem Sterling leaving for Manchester City after a protracted and unsightly transfer saga that thankfully didn't drag on through the entirety of the summer, many Liverpool fans have found themselves searching for the next promising youngster to pin their hopes on. If the player sets himself apart from former prodigies by ticking boxes like "uncontroversial", "sympathetic", and "not a client of Aidy Ward", all the better. And having come back from his summer holidays early to do extra training with academy director Alex Inglethorpe and club legend Kenny Dalglish, Jordon Ibe is seemingly doing his best to take on the role.
I spoke about it with Alex Inglethorpe and the manager had suggested to him that I do some extra sessions to keep myself ticking over during the summer
I'm definitely feeling the benefits of that. All the little bits of extra work add up. I have to give a lot of credit to Alex. It was great to come in and work with someone like Kenny [Dalglish].
I've done some extra training sessions at Melwood as well, so hopefully it'll all add up for me.
The precocious winger has identified end product -- goals and assists -- as the areas he needs to improve, reflecting the opinion of many a fan who has remarked on his ability to make fullbacks look ridiculous, but seemingly lacking the composure to pick his head up and make the right decision.
I'm not completely satisfied because I need to keep working on a few things, like my end product - getting the ball and finding someone in the box and trying to add a few more goals to my game
I'm quite self-critical. I like to think about things after a game - things I could have improved on, like maybe having taken a shot on or something
I know I'm at a young age, but in my position I need to have an end product. If I'm not getting a goal in a game, then I need to be trying to get an assist for one of my teammates or making sure I have a great game
While maybe taking a shot or something isn't the most salient of analyses you'll ever hear, the young man has the right idea, and if he can bring his goal or assist every 185 minutes statistic from the Championship and League 1 into the Premiership, where he has yet to register either, it would help Liverpool fans across the globe get over the loss of Raheem Sterling that much quicker.
