What does your future hold at Liverpool? What’s next for Salah?
Doak is only 19 years old, but he already has an extensive resume of coaches he has coached in a short amount of time.
Current boss Carrick has a former Premier League winner in his side, with Ange Postecoglou giving the forward his first-team debut at Celtic, and Jurgen Klopp doing the same for Liverpool in November 2022.
Liverpool, under Klopp, are sometimes known as mental monsters, so it’s no wonder Doak has adapted to the first-team environment.
Doak’s mentality has been in the spotlight for some time, with the German player overheard describing the winger as “Scotland’s present and future” during training last year.
“He was never a player who kept messing around,” Anderson said. “He was very down to earth, always wanted to learn and always listened.”
You need that mentality in the championship. The Scot learned to counter attacking opponents as defenders became aware of his pace.
Doak was on the receiving end of a nasty challenge from Oxford United’s Elliott Moore last month, but Carrick said the forward “has to learn how to deal with it”.
“Even at that level, a high tackle or a knock can be offensive and he was a very fast player so obviously he would get fouled. All I had to do was stand up straight and roll up my socks.”
“He has an aggressive side in the right sense and mentally he was very strong despite being young. So it’s not surprising that he’s doing so well, he has that kind of mentality. ”
It’s that mentality that could give Doak an advantage, especially at Liverpool. The Scotland international is likely to challenge for a first-team spot in the slot next summer, but the right-wing position is under pressure due to Mohamed Salah’s contract situation.
“There’s talk that he could replace Salah because he’s doing so well at Middlesbrough, which is a huge job,” Anderson said.
“But given his mentality, his trajectory and where he’s headed now, the sky’s the limit for him. He has the potential to continue to be a world-class player – former players and You’ll hear the critics saying the same thing. If they were watching it…
At Middlesbrough and Scotland, it is clear that Doak is not all that similar to Salah in terms of style, being a winger who enjoys setting up his team-mates as much as scoring goals.
But let me remind you that Doak still has a long way to go and is still a kid compared to the potential he has.
“With the Scotland national team, you can see that he’s also very passionate. When he scores or assists, he still celebrates the same way he did when he scored,” Anderson says.
“There’s no doubt that the qualities he’s had since he was 9 years old are still with him.”
Watch Burnley vs Middlesbrough live on Sky Sports this Friday, kick-off at 7pm
