{"id":622114,"date":"2023-02-14T07:11:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=622114"},"modified":"2023-02-14T07:11:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:11:06","slug":"stefan-bajcetic-liverpool-breakout-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/02\/14\/stefan-bajcetic-liverpool-breakout-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Stefan Bajcetic: Liverpool&#8217;s Breakout Midfield Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The smiles were back at Anfield. Stefan Bajcetic\u2019s one was especially beaming. Why not? A future club legend in Mohammed Salah had just singled him out as the bright spot amongst the recent horror shows. A year ago,\u00a0 Bajcetic was playing under-18 football for Liverpool, a year later he was holding the man-of-the-match trophy in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/64533611\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Merseyside derby<\/a>. No smile could match the joy he was feeling.<\/p>\n<h2>The Talent of Stefan Bajcetic<\/h2>\n<p><a id=\"nkZ7FgfvRg9ZQi1Ulb38Nw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1246797573\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'nkZ7FgfvRg9ZQi1Ulb38Nw',sig:'jC9w00CzqoXdrUcSQX_8r55qqxXIqk2SJ14lvQUKrFk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1246797573',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Derby Showcase<\/h3>\n<p>One of the unparalleled satisfactions of watching football is when a player can gracefully dance past defenders and continue to possess the ball. It provides immense joy as fans physically observe a world-class technician that can defy any form of press. It reflects the mentality of the player \u2013 &#8220;whatever questions you throw at me, I will have an answer for you&#8221;. It is a sign of utmost confidence and security. A similar satisfaction resonated with those at Anfield on Monday evening as they watched the Spaniard at work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/02\/08\/ronald-koeman-cody-gakpo\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">\u2018Not Doing Well\u2019: National Team Coach Criticises Liverpool and Suggests Signing \u2018Moved Too Early\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Anfield gush complimented each of his glides past the pressure of Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye. They didn\u2019t make it easy work for him. Sean Dyche had a clear plan to make Liverpool\u2019s midfield dysfunctional by placing immense pressure on them &#8211; Bajcetic was at the heart of not letting that plan succeed. Body feint, quick turn, nifty footwork, pass and move on. It was his routine in the second half.<\/p>\n<h3>Flexibility<\/h3>\n<p>Stefan Bajcetic\u2019s poise on the field seems to be coherent with his personality off the field. As an upbeat, animated, and wide-chested Jurgen Klopp revealed after the whistle \u2013 the teenager&#8217;s technical role was a foreign one for him. He had been instructed to play as a number 8 and when appropriate join Fabinho in a double pivot to provide extra support. It was much more complicated than his usual number 6 pivot role. The teenager stood up to the challenge and answered a midfield conundrum for his side \u2013 with maturity and composure is beyond his years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/02\/07\/potential-impacts-manchester-city-financial-breaches\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">What It Means for Manchester United and Liverpool: Analysing the Potentially Huge Impact of Alleged Manchester City Financial Breaches<\/a><\/p>\n<p>From being a primary centre-back in last year\u2019s youth squad to a box-to-box midfielder for the main team, Klopp placed his faith in the young man in a match where there was no room for error. If The Reds faltered again, boos would\u2019ve filled the stands, the negativity would\u2019ve reached a dark crescendo. However, Bajcetic embraced the responsibility and delivered for his manager.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps, it was a case of astute man-management from the manager. He may have recognised the ambition and determination of the young man to contribute at the top level \u2013 perhaps an older player with more baggage may have denied the positional change due to the insecurity and discomfort associated with such a foreign tactical role. Nevertheless, the decision provided instant dividends.<\/p>\n<p>The innocent smile on Bajcetic\u2019s face may be glued on for another few days. After all, his life is changing before his eyes as he flourishes and succeeds in every opportunity he has been presented with. For Liverpool, each match has become a must-win, the occasions don\u2019t get easier with Newcastle United at St. James Park and Real Madrid next week. Klopp, will once again turn to his emerging midfield star, and as always he will be up for the challenge \u2013 but the question beckons \u2013 will it be enough?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The smiles were back at Anfield. Stefan Bajcetic\u2019s one was especially beaming. Why not? A future club legend in Mohammed Salah had just singled him out as the bright spot amongst the recent horror shows. A year ago,\u00a0 Bajcetic was playing under-18 football for Liverpool, a year later he was holding the man-of-the-match trophy in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4066,"featured_media":622122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-622114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-premier-league"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4066"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}