Dani Pacheco has an opportunity at Liverpool this season – It could be now or never…
Spaniard Dani Pacheco tweeted the news that he had not been included in Liverpool’s squad for their Europa League match tonight. He said he would ‘keep working’ and wait for his time to come.
The young player is used to knock-backs, his career to date at Liverpool has been full of them. For all his promise, he hasn’t played in a competitive league game for the club since Rafa Benitez was in charge.
Loan spells at Norwich City and Rayo Vallecano have been mixed, so for Pacheco it is a positive simply to still be in and around Anfield right now.
Creative, resourceful, and naturally gifted, he is the sort of talented player who will hope to blossom under Brendan Rodgers management, if given the right opportunities.
He featured in pre-season, and looked particularly promising against Roma. He was keen to take defenders on, drift inside, and play the simple passes, and starting on the left wing gave fans a bit of hope that there may be an alternative to Stewart Downing ready in waiting.
Last season was difficult for the Spaniard, with injuries restricting him from really showing what he could do in La Liga. He was not handed a single start by Rayo Vallecano and he arrives at Liverpool needing to rebuild.
He may be 21, but his lack of opportunities means his development is a little behind where he should be given his age and talent.
For a player touted as ‘the next big thing’ – Liverpool fans will have to be patient with him and allow him time to catch up. A few were beginning to write him off completely, and a new Spanish ‘darling’ in Fernandez Suso has even become the club’s brightest hope.
Suso’s emergence may just help keep the pressure off Pacheco, or share it at least, and the two compatriots can build up a rapport and translate that onto the pitch should they get the opportunity to share it.
The other thing working in Pacheco’s favour is the lack of wide men at Liverpool, although Bellamy, Suarez and Borini can all play on one side at the top of a 4-3-3. Both Joe Cole and Stewart Downing have it all to prove, while Raheem Sterling, a more orthodox winger, is also at the early stages of his development.
A new manager who should like Pacheco’s style of football will surely give him chances, whether it is later in the Europa League, the Carling Cup, or even eventually in the Premier League. The alternative is to loan him out, but for the sake of his development, and learning about the methods the new boss wants to employ, it might be best for the Spaniard to stay where he is right now.
It’s a long season coming up, and assuming Liverpool’s remaining transfer business includes a midfielder, striker, competition for a place out wide is not impossible to overcome. The combination of the right attitude and simply being fortunate will stand him in good stead to finally make his breakthrough.
Do you feel Pacheco can finally make his mark at Anfield this season? Would a loan be good?
image: © faisalzaman
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