26th December 2022, the date Liverpool fans were introduced to possibly their next academy star to rise through the ranks and make an impact for Jurgen Klopp. Ben Doak was handed his first team opportunity at just 16 years old in a 3-1 win over Aston Villa. The flying Scotsman immediately made an impact as he left ex-Everton and French international, Lucas Digne, in the dust.
From this point onwards, the young Scot has gone from strength to strength and now finds himself in the mix with the first team. At only 17, there is still plenty to come and it is important he is not rushed. Also, the fact that Klopp has kept him as a backup to Mohammed Salah is a clear indication of what the German thinks of him. Constantly described as fearless, tricky and skilful Ben Doak has everything to become a world-class player.
This week, Dan Clubbe has spoken to a variety of former coaches and scouts to help understand the undeniable potential of the winger and the early life of his football career.
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Ray Pattison, Head Scout for Ayr United Academy, explained the story of discovering Ben Doak and some of the qualities he possessed.
Ray said: “The team he was playing with was doing well, so I went up. We saw the team playing and they were very good but Ben stood out right away. He was the youngest in the team and scored goals for fun. He was hard to bring down, hard to knock off the ball and I thought to myself ‘There’s something here’. So I went back to watch him again and he was excellent, I then made the approach and the manager agreed. However, we couldn’t sign him because we didn’t have a policy to sign younger players in that age group and Ben was only nine.
“You couldn’t take your eyes off him. Kick up and down the park and see him bounce back was the saying.”
His two former Ayr United coaches were full of nothing but praise. They described his raw abilities and his undeniable potential to make it to the top of the game…
Billy Alexander, Ayr United Academy coach, said: “We took him at U10’s at the time and he was playing up a year, but Ben was just a special talent, he would light up the game. He was just a fiery attacking player, taking on players with his speed and his skills. He scored lots of goals at that age and provided lots and lots of assists. We just knew he had something. We had him at U10’s and a short period for the U11’s before Celtic came in.
“He was full of confidence, he had skills, technique and quality. He was one of those special talents, you don’t get many of them but he had it all. He was head and shoulders above the rest, Ben was hungry and he wanted to learn. Ben is just such a special talent.”
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Liam Anderson, Ayr United Academy Coach, added: “When he joined the academy he was a year younger than everyone else. He was smaller than everyone else but so powerful and so raw, almost comparing him to a young Wayne Rooney. Going against other players in training you would never have thought he was younger. He had an older aura about him when he was playing. So yeah, as soon as you saw him you could tell he was something special.
“I was at the game against Hamilton when he got scouted by Celtic. For our academy, we could only sing ten-year-olds and Ben was nine. He was one we could have at U11’s but couldn’t really tie him up sadly. I remember seeing the Celtic scout, Jim Beggan, at the game. I had a funny feeling why I knew he was there, he wanted to see Ben. We played two games and I think he scored nine goals over the two matches, he was incredible. At the time you are sad he is going to leave but it was inevitable.”
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He is a player who has the hallmarks of becoming world-class and playing a major role in the future of Liverpool. He excites the fans every time he is on the ball. Liverpool must be patient with him to reap the rewards.
However, Jurgen Klopp is clearly a huge admirer and that can only mean he has the potential to make it to the very top. His fearlessness and skill will help him achieve that goal.
