Glenn Middleton came in like a breath of fresh air when he took the field against Villarreal earlier this week. The Gers were lacking that cutting edge and directness while going forward and all that changed when this 18-year-old decided to take the matter into his own hands. The impact was there for everyone to see as the Gers showed character to come back twice from a goal behind. It helped them come out with something for the valiant effort they put in at the Estadio De La Ceramica.
Gerrard has so far given cameo appearances for Middleton and the former Norwich City winger got on the scoresheet for the first time when he scored the fourth goal against Dundee to complete the rout last weekend. The Gers added quite a few wingers in the summer transfer window, but it is a confident 18-year-old who has shined the brightest.
When Middleton came on, even Ryan Kent looked better in the attacking third as he started to get that extra bit of space created by the Scotsman. Gerrard directed massive praise at the Scotland u-21 international by saying,”Glenn (Middleton) is doing great, he’s hungry and he wants to learn. If I was a full-back I wouldn’t want to play against him. If he becomes an expert out of position he will be a wonderful player.”
His pace and acceleration on the ball are one of his standout features and the young winger is ideally suited to play in a counter-attacking system. He is direct in his approach and doesn’t mess about with the ball when he is on it. So far Gerrard has used him as an impact player off the bench but does he warrant a start in the playing eleven after such exciting cameos?
Our answer is yes. Maybe against big teams, Gerrard can use him as an impact player from the bench but against other teams where the Gers would be expected to dominate the game, Middleton should start. As Gerrard said, he needs to add more versatility to his game. Along with that, the winger will have to add a more defensive side to his game. Middleton is still raw and there are specific tactical nuances he needs to learn, like when to commit forward and when to sit back and help the team out defensively.
Gerrard is trying to bring in the philosophy of defending as a team and that is what we often see as the wingers track back and help their fullback. So on those grounds, Middleton still needs to learn a lot, so maybe he might struggle against quality opponents. But against the smaller sides, he can make an impact if given a chance to start
