In the latest Talking Reds, Harry Hugo examines the impact Jon Flanagan has made this season...

You're right; I was one of 'them'. But don't pile too much blame on me; football's a game that plays with your emotions to a degree that makes you delusional and sometimes you jump to a conclusion or three.

Jon Flanagan is one of the conclusions I jumped to prematurely. Maybe it was desperation after losing our first-choice back four to injury, perhaps it was the good league form that shot straight to my head - a protective nature overcame my being. I wanted to nurture the position we found ourselves in the table and I didn't feel a young, inexperienced lad from Liverpool could subject me to the happiness I was enduring up to that time with the team.

But since his first appearance at left-back this season at the Emirates, where I felt unsure of his inclusion, I've been nothing but impressed by the player who is lovingly nicknamed 'Flanno'. He shows constant passion and ambition to impress his seniors on the field and his manager, whilst ensuring he throws himself into everything, as the fans would expect.

It's this ambition that makes its mark. Talking to Alex Inglethorpe recently I got the impression Flanagan was incredibly professional off the pitch as well as on. He explained how Flanagan fits seamlessly back into the U21s when called upon and he, alongside Martin Kelly, asked to play under Inglethorpe last season to keep up fitness.

I'll admit it, I wrote Jon Flanagan off. I've learned my lesson though, as writing young players off is a dangerous game - you give them a long time to make you look stupid. A good example of this would be Raheem Sterling - his inclusion in the team is now compulsory.

Perhaps it's the constant fact young players are instantly compared to a predecessor - it's not healthy for expectations or the player's development for such a brush to tarnish them so early on. This is then added to for Jon Flanagan being a local lad. Will he be the next Carragher? No - that's nearly impossible - but he'll have a darn good go at it. 'Local lads' in the Liverpool system have the intense pressure on them to be the 'next', and to take on the next generation into the first team. Maybe this will always be the case at a club so drawn on club and local values and ethics.

Jon Flanagan didn't let these expectations weigh him down. This season he stepped up to the plate at a time when Liverpool were hungry to reinvigorate a top-four charge. However, the plan was that he'd only be a fill in but through Rodgers' admirable meritocratic approach, Flanno kept his place in the team with top performances week on week - out of his natural position. Now, after his own injury we cried for him to return. Tides change.

Within three months my attitude towards the young full-back from Liverpool playing for our first team has changed dramatically. It was a sense of despondency, now it's a sense of relief. That'll teach me.

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