Interview: Quansah on right-back role, Van Dijk influence and Ipswich setback
After a season of ups and downs, Jarell Quansah is set to deputise at right-back for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
As a nod to the response he would give his father ahead of playing football as a youngster, there is a tattoo on Jarell Quansah’s lower left bicep declaring he was ‘Born Ready’.
If that is indeed the case, then it is a good job. On Sunday, the 22-year-old is set to be thrown into a Wembley cup final that just a few days ago he appeared to have little chance of starting.
The loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold to injury against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday and continued absences of Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley mean Liverpool must ask lifelong centre-back Quansah to deputise at right-back against Newcastle United this weekend.
Thankfully, what was once an unfamiliar position has become more and more familiar to the defender since Arne Slot spotted his potential as an option there ahead of a meeting with Manchester City earlier this season.
As Quansah recalls: “Slot pulled me before the City game. Obviously Joe [Gomez] was starting centre-back and before that he had been the natural one who had filled in at right-back.
“The gaffer said he thought I had the attributes and qualities to play right-back; not probably how Trent and Conor play it but in a different type of way.
“When someone shows that belief in you - and he's obviously a good manager who knows what he's on about - it's good.
“I'm just happy he can see my qualities and hopefully I can show a little bit more of what I'm about on the ball from that position, because sometimes that's hard to do from centre-half.”
A start on Sunday would offer further proof of Slot’s faith in Quansah, something which was not always apparent in the early days of his Anfield tenure.
Dragged off at half-time in the opening-day win over Ipswich, the Warrington-born defender struggled for both minutes and form in the months after.
But he is keen not to attach too much significance to that moment at Portman Road, instead viewing it as one of the many important experiences a young player must go through.
He explained: “It's not massive, because it's happened before and it'll happen again unfortunately, but it's about how I deal with it and I feel like I dealt with it quite well.
“It's obviously tough not playing and not being able to show what I'm capable of at times but it's one of those things where it's a big storyline for you but for me it'll happen and I'll hopefully get better.
“In football, everything comes full circle and anything can happen, and this season has taught me a lot in terms of that.
“There are going to be times where I play good, times where I play bad, and as long as I'm learning and becoming a better player, then in the future I know I'll be fine.
“It's just all about keeping perspective on what sort of stage of my career I'm in at the minute. It's learning, learning from the best, and becoming consistent.”
Slot and his coaching staff have done everything they can to consign that setback to the past, with the new head coach’s detailed-oriented approach and focus on video analysis as a means for improvement fitting Quansah’s learning style.
Of course, it also helps to train alongside one of the greatest centre-halves ever to play the game in Virgil van Dijk.
Of the skipper’s influence, Quansah says: “He's lived my career. He's been a young centre-half, made mistakes, and reached the pinnacle, the very top of football, and been one of the best centre-halves that we've ever seen.
“He can resonate with me a lot and everything he can do to help me he's trying to do and I'm grateful for that.
“On a day-to-day basis he's always talking to me. It's not like a schedule! But when he needs to, he does, and it's always valuable information that I take from him.”
It is hoped this training-ground guidance will allow him to shoulder the pressure of playing a Wembley cup final on Sunday, when the words he once spoke to his father will well and truly be tested.
Quansah says: “The whole enjoyment of playing at Wembley and being involved in a final, I try to think about myself when I was younger, what I'd be thinking if I knew I'd be in this position.
“It's just about trying to enjoy myself and enjoying the occasion, it's going to be special.”
Thanks for the timely article. I do think there is a fine line between “Slot’s faith in Quansah” and having his hand forced by injury. That said, it is very good that this is not his first foray into right back - some wise decision making earlier by Slot to put JQ out there when JG would have been a more conventional option to slide over.
Slot’s decision making when analyzed in retrospect has been exceptional (the lack of rotation of tired internationals for NF at home one exception that gets trotted out often). Placing JQ at right back previously at the time would have been “an interesting choice”. Now it can be looked at as a “great move”.
Good that JQ doesn’t have to contain Gordon out there, but Harvey Barnes plays a pretty direct game and will go at you with the ball at decent pace. Quansah will have his work cut out, but I believe is up to the task. It will be great for him if he does. For players, knowing you can do it and believing you can do it aren’t always the same thing. (e.g. Núñez knows he can score a penalty, but does he believe he will?)
Might be overstating, but I feel like after how this season has gone, Sunday has the potential to be a career watershed moment for Quansah. I hope it goes the direction it can and should. He deserves it, and Liverpool need an upward trajectory for years to come from an exceptionally promising young centre half.
Up The Reds!
Nice piece on Quansah and I appreciated the training ground video, post press conference comments on the injuries. Yes, please do a behind-the-scenes spot at Wembley. Always interesting to lift the lid and peek.