Liverpool beat Brighton in the Carabao Cup with Tyler Morton making his first start of the season. Wataru Endo questions remain but Arne Slot just keeps on winning.
Having played just eight minutes so far this season at senior level for Liverpool — and only another 258 for the Reds’ U21s — it didn’t take long for Tyler Morton to show his class against Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
Playing in a midfield two alongside Wataru Endo, he showed his technical prowess by spraying passes around, and Morton has never been shy of putting his foot in.
Having played as a single pivot in midfield and also further forward, he has a good combination of the basic skills that are required to excel in the role.
We can’t let everybody go that doesn’t play all the time — and there Tyler Morton is a good example of that,” Arne Slot told reporters during his pre-match press conference ahead of traveling to Brighton.
He’s a quality, quality player, good enough to play everywhere around the league, but is in competition with so many good midfielders over here.”Morton certainly proved that here.
There were times when he looked rusty, which is understandable. He had a couple of lapses of concentration and appeared to be being coached through the game by Slot more than anyone else in Liverpool colors.
Ultimately, though, he is a player whose style should suit how Liverpool wants to play. On the Wataru Endo to Ryan Gravenberch scale, he is closer to the latter. Technically, he is hugely gifted, without an obvious weakness in his game.
He might not have the mobility of Gravenberch or someone like Fabinho at his peak, but there is a strong argument, for sure, that Morton is more of a ‘Slot’ player than Endo is.
On this evidence, the pair should be vying for minutes whenever Gravenberch needs a rest.There is, without question, a debate to be had about whether Endo, a more robust and functional midfielder, is capable of doing the on-ball stuff that Slot wants from the base of his midfield.
In Morton, though, while he is more raw and in need of more molding, there is a player who is likelier to be able to reach those heights at some point in what remains of his soccer career.
