Liverpool starlet Ben Woodburn is too good for League One and could be Portsmouth gem

Oxford United reporter Dave Pritchard, from the Oxford Mail, gives the lowdown on rumoured Pompey target Ben Woodburn who spent last season at the Kassam Stadium on loan from Liverpool.
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Ben Woodburn joined Oxford United around this time last year as the side’s highest profile signing.

He was definitely the biggest signing of the summer given the headlines he’d made in the past (becoming Liverpool’s youngest scorer at 17 and scoring a World Cup qualifier winner for Wales the following season).

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Ben’s name was up in lights from almost the minute his first-team career started really. Suddenly people were expecting him to be Gareth Bale really and sometimes when these young players create these moments they aren’t ready for them.

He was just starting to show what he could do when picked up an injury at Accrington which complicated his season in the end.

He broke his right foot there last October and had an operation. He was about to come back and then had the exact same injury on the other foot when he was training before Christmas at Liverpool.

That kept him out until just before lockdown, so he’d not played between October and the first play-off game at Fratton Park. So he wasn’t as sharp as he could be in that game for obvious reasons.

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Then Karl Robinson brought him off the bench with a minute to go of the second leg for penalties and he miskicked his in. It was quite an important moment for him to feel he’d contributed, I suppose.

Liverpool's Ben Woodburn in action for Wales (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)Liverpool's Ben Woodburn in action for Wales (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Liverpool's Ben Woodburn in action for Wales (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

I know Robinson was keen to get him back, but there hasn’t been much talk of that this summer.

He really needs a block of 30 or 40 games now to get his head down, show what he can do and find out who he is.

Robinson has close links with Liverpool and Oxford were very happy to get him, but, through no fault of anyone’s, it didn’t really work out.

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The problems were impact injuries so I don’t think he’s susceptible to injuries, it was just unfortunate.

Robinson started the season with a 4-2-3-1, gave Woodburn the number 10 shirt and played him as a 10.

So that shows you what they thought of him, but he flitted in and out and it was only when the formation changed to a 4-3-3 and he played as an eight he was a lot more effective.

There was an assist he produced at Lincoln last year which no one else would have seen. He would do a couple of things in a game which would leave you thinking “wow, what a player”.

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He been linked with a move to German this summer and there’s no doubt when he finds his feet he’ll be too good for League One, so it would be a very decent signing for Pompey if they can use him properly.

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