Jarell Quansah is ready for redemption

The young defender has fought through a difficult season and come out the other side, on the hunt for glory with club and country

Jarell Quansah is a very cool man. Despite being squeezed into a chair at least three times too small in a side room at the Axa Training Centre, he exudes a similar level of calm assurance as his captain Virgil Van Dijk.

You would never have guessed that he was here to talk about being named in Thomas Tuchel's maiden England squad and a starting spot in the League Cup Final against Newcastle United at the weekend. Bucket list moments for every footballer, absorbed with an understated but unmistakable smile.

“It’s a surreal feeling”, he says on the subject of England. “Obviously, with the last camp, it was to step in and stuff like that. But this one is definitely the first one where I feel part of the squad.”

It's been a battle to feel like a part of the squad at club level as well. After a stellar debut season in Jurgen Klopp’s final year, Quansah was selected by Arne Slot to start the first League game of the season.

The 22-year-old was hooked at half-time in what has now become an infamous substitution, largely because he didn’t see a Premier League pitch for nearly four months. On his only starts in that time, there were own goals against West Ham and Brighton and a possible red card at Southampton in the League Cup, and a general feeling that the youngster was struggling to hit the heights of the previous year.

The opening day drama has become a key part of his story, but to hear Quansah discuss it, there’s no awkwardness or embarrassment. It's clear that he's reconciled the situation with the same level of maturity that allowed him to be given such responsibility in the first place:

“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.”

When Slot was asked about his international recognition, the first thing mentioned was Quansah's mentality, and sitting in the presence of the man with “Born Ready” inked onto his forearm, it's easy to see why.

“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.”

This season, he's been learning some new tricks, as Slot has transformed the towering centre-back into an occasional right-back. A pertinent decision in the wake of the current injury absences of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley, and Joe Gomez, but also a testament to the keen training ground eye of Liverpool’s head coach:

“He is strong, fast, and comfortable on the ball”, explained Slot. “And he gives us something different on set-pieces too; you saw where he hit the post (against PSG at Anfield).” The Dutchman was so confident in his assessment that he chose the last 20 minutes of a pivotal game against Manchester City to debut his experiment. With a one-goal lead to defend, up against the tricky Jeremy Doku, it was a baptism of fire. And yet, Slot's support made sure Quansah was ready and able.

“The gaffer pulled me and 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.”

Quansah is an underrated passer, if not quite at the level of the generational talent that he's replacing. The next fixture after Manchester City at St.James’ Park wasn't as successful from an attacking standpoint, but five tackles and seven of nine ground duels won - an important statistic in light of what happened at Portman Road - showed that he coped well with the twin threat of Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall down Newcastle's left.

Both England internationals will be missing at Wembley, but Quansah has a healthy respect for the attacking players still at Eddie Howe's disposal, particularly the Liverpool-linked striker Alexander Isak.

“He's a great striker and in great form as well. At the top clubs, you have to learn to be able to deal with top strikers and I think seeing how Virgil and Ibou deal with him, I can look at how they do that. But it's always going to be a challenge when you're up against such quality.”

Luckily, Quansah can call on good memories of Anfield South, having contributed to Liverpool’s tenth League Cup win last February:

“The whole enjoyment of playing at Wembley and being involved in a final, these sorts of weeks 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.”

It's shaping up to be a special season for this Liverpool team, with the 20th League title within touching distance. Quansah was in the academy for number 19, but the state of the world taints his memories like those of all of us at that time, and the chokehold of COVID-19:

“My biggest memory of it was the unfortunate time it was and that we couldn't celebrate it the way we wanted to. But that will probably be the biggest thing for us this time around, being able to celebrate in front of the fans and really get them involved. I think the city itself will erupt if it happens.”

This weekend will deliver some serious tremors of its own if Liverpool can overcome Newcastle and secure the first trophy of the Slot era. For Quansah, it's fitting that the competition that caused him so many problems in autumn completes his redemption arc in the spring. A player of rich potential, whatever obstacles are thrown at him, as his arm tells us, he'll be ready.