Sometimes, as football fans, we can be quick to judge younger players, either good, or bad.
With Calvin Bassey, when he first arrived, there was very little to form an opinion on him from given that he had never played first-team football at Leicester City, or anywhere else for that matter.
He has, however, gradually shown that he can deputise and but for a poor night against St Mirren in the league cup last season, he may have made even more of an impression.
In pre-season, with Borna Barisic still on holiday following the European Championships, he was given an extended run and looked as though he had improved his final delivery, his energy and physicality never being in doubt, to the extent that he walked off against Dunfermline on Friday night with the man of the match award and two assists under his belt, giving assistant boss, Gary McAllister, and the coaching team, a welcome problem, as reported by Glasgow Live:
“We needed competition in each position and we have that and now it is real. It’s a nice problem to have.
“We have two quality full-backs, we have someone with a beautiful left foot in Borna and then we have a young guy in Calvin who has that energy going up and down the left side. I thought his deliveries against Dunfermline were superb and I thought he was the deserved man of the match.
“It’s a good problem for all of us on the coaching staff. It’s been the same with the goalkeepers [Allan McGregor and Jon McLaughlin], it’s been game by game. We are very fortunate to have great competition there as well, so it is all to play for in every area of the pitch.”
Having able deputies and players who are constantly challenging each other to start every week is key to maintaining the success we enjoyed last season, if a player has a dip in form, Steven Gerrard has to be able to bring someone else in who can contribute and Bassey showed, against the Pars, that he can be trusted once again.
Yes, the standard of opposition has to be considered but the two passes he played to set up goals for John Lundstram and Ianis Hagi were perfectly weighted and executed, especially the cross for the Romanian’s header, one that Barisic himself would have been proud of.
With Borna yet to hit top form, it’s going to be interesting to see who Gerrard goes with when the Europa League qualifiers come around, for me, the Croatian still edges it and should be given time to get up to match fitness, he should though, be looking over his shoulder at the considerable presence breathing down his neck.