At one stage last season, Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah were the starting combination on the right of Liverpool’s defence.
Injuries to more senior team-mates gave the youngsters opportunities they grabbed with both hands and their performances suggested they belonged at the top level. Helping Liverpool win the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea in February was just the high-water mark of what seemed at the time to be breakthrough campaigns: they made a combined 56 appearances in all competitions, including 44 starts, with Quansah getting 2,494 minutes of first-team action and Bradley 1,505.
This season, they have had to adjust, returning to squad roles with reduced time on the pitch as more experienced players have returned to fitness.
This was to be expected for Bradley, who was always going to be behind Trent Alexander-Arnold in the pecking order if the England international was fit, but Quansah began the 2024-25 Premier League campaign as first-choice partner to club captain Virgil van Dijk in central defence after a strong pre-season.
Three months later, Bradley has featured more of the two 21-year-olds, making 10 appearances, including two starts. Quansah has four appearances, three of them starts, after losing his place to Ibrahima Konate following the opening game of the season against Ipswich Town, where he was substituted by new head coach Arne Slot at half-time. He hasn’t kicked a ball in the Premier League since.
Are these examples of ‘second-season syndrome’ — that trend of players who enjoy a startling debut campaign but cannot replicate it the following year?
The answer isn’t straightforward, as Bradley and Quansah are very different cases, but it is certainly true they are being confronted with the onerous challenge of trying to break through at an elite club, where world-class players occupy the positions they covet.
Not every Liverpool youngster can have the impact of academy graduates from the club’s past such as Steven Gerrard or Michael Owen, who almost instantaneously became key players and staples of the senior side. Even some who became stalwarts often took time to establish themselves: Jamie Carragher started less than half of the 38 Premier League games in 1997-98, having broken through the previous season, and only became a regular starter once Gerard Houllier became sole manager in November 1998.
A reduced role is an adjustment, and when playing as many minutes as possible is the ultimate goal, that can be tough to deal with mentally. When a player has had the taste of first-team action, their own expectations can increase and the outside noise does, too.
“Returning to a squad role after first-team exposure can feel like a significant step back as negative status changes can be very psychologically destabilising,” says Marc Sagal, founder of Winning Mind and a sports psychologist who has worked with teams in the Premier League and beyond.
“It’s easy to start questioning your place or trajectory. This is where perspective and patience really matter. Change doesn’t have to be interpreted as regression or a demotion, but more usefully as a phase or stage of development and learning. Focus can shift to things that will best prepare the player for their next opportunity, like refining physical skills, increasing tactical sophistication and developing a stronger mentality.
“Clarity and support from the coaching staff is critical. Staying motivated is easier if they understand where they fit in the long-term plan. For the players themselves, it’s about maintaining focus, capitalising on opportunities, and keeping faith in the process.”
Player progression and development is rarely linear and just about every individual career will contain highs, lows and Sliding Doors moments. Dealing with such adjustments can be what separates top players from the rest.
Neil Mellor burst onto the scene at Liverpool as a 22-year-old striker in the 2004-05 season, netting a spectacular winner against Arsenal in the Premier League and scoring and assisting the second and third goals in a crucial Champions League victory over Olympiacos.
But tendonitis led to surgery on both knees that March and he was unable to return to those levels or even play for Liverpool’s first team again. After a career spent in the Football League, more injury issues forced him to retire aged 29.
Mellor agrees that reassurance of the bigger picture from the coaching staff is beneficial for young players eager to maintain their momentum.
“The injury meant my situation was different as I didn’t know my (Liverpool) career would be over, but it was hard to adjust to the change because I knew I was good enough to cope at that level and the players trusted me and the manager was patient,” Mellor tells The Athletic.
“The key is patience. It is very difficult, these young players have tasted it and want a bit more of that. It’s up to the manager to say to them that you are part of things. If he says that at a club like Liverpool, it makes you feel wanted.
“When you’re not getting minutes, if you’re not getting on the bench, that’s when patience is really tested. That’s where a lot of young players may lose that patience but Jarell and Conor are getting game time and they’re both learning from some of the best in the world at their position. They will understand that.”
An injury to Alexander-Arnold gave Bradley an opportunity he seized last season, with his goal and performance in the 4-1 win over Chelsea at Anfield in January the individual highlight. He has been a regular on the bench this season, often replacing Alexander-Arnold late in games, although he may start away to Southampton on Sunday as the latter has a hamstring injury which forced him off early in Liverpool’s most recent game against Aston Villa and led to him withdrawing from the England squad for their matches over the past week against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
“I think it’s going to be a bright future for him, because he’s a very good player and very good players (are) what we need here at Liverpool,” Slot told reporters last month. “He’s done, last season especially, really well when he had to replace Trent, and now (this season) Trent has played a lot.
“But he is a very good player and, although he has big competition from Trent, normally very good players find their way into the team. That’s what I also expect with him in the future at this club.”
Quansah has endured a tougher start to the new season.
His 45 minutes against promoted Ipswich on the opening weekend were a struggle, with Slot highlighting that he was one of several players to lose too many duels in that first half, and things have not improved for him since.
Quansah’s recent fortunes were summed up when he slumped into his seat after again being substituted, late on in the 3-2 Carabao Cup victory against Brighton & Hove Albion in October. A careless pass by Quansah which led to Brighton’s first goal, and their second deflecting in off his foot, saw him taken off before the end. Those errors followed an unfortunate own goal against West Ham in the competition’s previous round — the only other match he’s started for Slot.
His only other appearance was a brief late cameo in the 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League when Liverpool were already three goals up, which came three days after Joe Gomez was picked as the man to replace an injured Konate at half-time in the 2-1 league defeat of Brighton at Anfield — effectively demoting Quansah to fourth-choice centre-back.
Quansah did sign a new long-term contract for an unspecified number of seasons in October, reaffirming the club’s faith in him, and Slot has made a point of defending him in public.
“The only issue he has at the moment is if he has a moment that is not perfect, it immediately leads to a goal,” Slot told reporters after the Brighton match. “But he is getting better and better, and he was already really good. So, for him, it’s that last step maybe to make, which he has already shown in the past that he can play a game without making these small mistakes.
“I really liked what I saw. He was confident on the ball. He is definitely in competition with two centre-backs that are hardly making any mistakes at the moment. But apart from the mistakes I think he played similar to Virgil and Ibou (Konate), with a lot of confidence, playing the ball out from the back and defending really well.”
Bradley and Quansah are two grounded individuals who impressed everybody with their seamless transitions to top-level football. They came a long way and exceeded every expectation during a season which was the ultimate baptism of fire.
This current situation may not be the role they had last year but, again, it is not unusual for young players’ development to plateau after a rapid ascent. The unresolved contract situations of Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, whose current deals run out next summer, offer further reason for them to be patient.
Liverpool want to agree terms with both players, but if they cannot, Bradley and Quansah will feel equipped to stake their claim to replace them in the team.
(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
