One More Time for Tom Ince
curry sauce!!!
As January draws nearer, and with Liverpool clearly stating their intention to buy, the rumours of who may or may not be arriving at Melwood continue to swell. Tom Ince, son of former Reds star Paul Ince and Kirkby graduate, left the Liverpool to join Blackpool in search of guaranteed first-team football eighteen months ago. Since then, he has prospered in the Championship and has scored 11 goals in 18 appearances this season.
With Brendan Rodgers looking for attacking options, and Liverpool able to get Ince on the cheap as they are entitled to 35 per cent of any transfer fee, it makes sense that the Reds want to sign the England Under-21 International in January. But has enough changed at the club to convince Ince, just 20, that he should return to a side he felt disillusioned by just last year? As his star continues to rise, we will look at where Tom Ince will fit into Brendan Rodgers’ plans and how the manager can convince him to sign at Melwood once again.
While Ince’s undeniable talent has been well known to Liverpool fans since he emerged from the academy, it was in the Championship play-offs for Blackpool last season where he really came to the public fore. He has followed that up with his incredible form at the start of this season and thus, the interest in him from some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League is justified. What Ince will bring to the table for any side is extreme pace accompanied by trickery, skill and excellent finishing.
Watching him play, supporters will be reminded of Raheem Sterling but Ince is the more polished product. The time he has spent in the lower leagues at Blackpool, along with a loan spell at Notts County, has helped mature his game and take his football to another level. The attributes he had improved most since departing Anfield are his strength on the ball and his ability to keep his feet under physical pressure from the defence. It is where many pacy forwards often fail and as a result, they dont make the step up to the Premier League. If Liverpool are able to sign Ince, they will possess pure speed in abundance which can cause nightmares for even the best defenders.
Some Kopites may question the purchase of Ince stating that he is too similar to Sterling and doesn’t offer anything different. Brendan Rodgers could immediately counter that claim by highlighting the success he was able to achieve at Swansea with Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer manning the wings. Both Sterling and Ince are capable of playing on both flanks and both can make the incisive diagonal runs which will tear apart defences. With the likes of Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Joe Allen, Glen Johnson, Pepe Reina, Nuri Sahin and Jose Enrique also in the team, Liverpool will be better placed to exploit their pace than Swansea were with Sinclair and Dyer.
What is also important when discussing the arrival of any new forward to Anfield is the impact they will have on Suarez’s game. While Sterling has been a revelation since his introduction into the first team, what he lacks are goals and the ability to arrive in the six-yard box at the right time. That will come with experience but it is something that Ince needs to work on also.
Sinclair scored a lot of goals for Swansea by poaching on the excellent build-up play of Dyer on the opposite flank and was a key reason for their success. Brendan Rodgers and Colin Pascoe will need to put in a large amount of time on the training paddock, helping both Sterling and Ince develop the ability to do likewise. While it is often instinctual, a lot of the positional play between forwards comes from developing the on-field relationship between players and with time and experience, the triumvirate of Suarez, Ince and Sterling may evolve spectacularly.
For Ince, the question is not whether to leave Blackpool but where to go. He made the decision to drop into the Championship in order to prove his talent and return at a top flight club with first-team football guaranteed. It was a decision that has paid off magnificently as he now has a choice of many of the best clubs. So why return to Liverpool? While Ince can be certain that he will be in the first-team squad at any club he signs for, under Rodgers, he can be certain that he will be given the opportunity to stake his claim on the football pitch. He will know that it is his performances, and his performances alone, that will determine his fate for the next match.
It is the way Rodgers has managed his squad all season, refusing to use age as a barrier and often enjoying the ability to play teenagers in his team. Furthermore, Ince would be joining a young squad that will be looking to seriously challenge on all fronts in the upcoming years with a squad that will all be peaking at the same time. With Ince in the team, Liverpool will have six players aged 25 or under plus the central defence and a goalkeeper under 30 (and who often peak later in their career). There is enormous promise at Anfield and given the maturity of his previous career decisions, he would be wise to re-sign for the club that helped develop his incredible talent.