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Manchester United legend Teddy Sheringham has compared Conor Bradley to Steven Gerrard following his heroic performance in Liverpool’s win over Real Madrid.
The Northern Ireland international was superb against the 15-time European champions, having kept Vinicius Jr quiet through the Reds’ 1-0 win at Anfield - repeating the same trick he produced against Kylian Mbappe a year earlier.
Bradley has been universally lauded for his display, which once again underlined his potential as Liverpool’s new first-choice right-back. The performance could not have come at a better time either, with Trent Alexander-Arnold having been back in town for the first time since his summer departure.
Arne Slot will no doubt be relieved to see Bradley back in form in the last couple of games, with the 22-year-old having had a tough start to the season until recently, but Sheringham is in no doubt about his talent.
“Conor Bradley definitely stepped up to the plate last night against Vinicius,” Sheringham told Oddspedia. “Bradley has probably not found that level of consistency yet, but parts of his game make me go, ‘wow’.
“I look at him like a young Steven Gerrard coming onto the scene – he’s got that tenacity and drive about him and has a huge amount of quality.
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“I was very impressed by him last night. If he can defend that well against Vinicius – one of the best players in the world – then he’s definitely on the way to becoming a real success at Liverpool. The challenge for him now is whether he can sustain those levels, but I’m confident he’ll be able to in the future.”
While it turned out to be a great night for Bradley, his predecessor might not have enjoyed his return to Anfield too much.
Alexander-Arnold was loudly booed by the Anfield crowd, with supporters clearly still feeling disgruntled about the manner in which he left the club during the summer, but Sheringham has jumped to the defense of the former Liverpool vice-captain.
“Liverpool fans’ reaction to Trent Alexander-Arnold is a perfect example of supporters being fickle,” he said.
“If Trent signed back for Liverpool next season and started performing well, they’d love him all over again.
“There’s clearly a few who give him grief for moving onto bigger and better things. You don’t leave Liverpool to join many other clubs because they’re obviously one of the biggest clubs in the world, but when you get the chance to go to Real Madrid, you’re almost obliged to try your trade there and see if you can do it in a different country at another fantastic club.
“Trent will be upset that the Liverpool fans reacted like that, but it’s just the way football fans are.”
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