Neco Williams, a brutally honest Instagram post and his perfect chance to shut up Liverpool trolls

Liverpool fans have been blessed with watching the very best talent at Anfield over the last few years.

From multi-million-pound signings to incredible academy success stories, this latest crop of stars are really something to behold.

So much so, in fact, that expectations, while always incredibly high at Liverpool, have skyrocketed.

Young Neco Williams is undoubtedly one of those academy success stories. A fully-fledged Wales international at just 19 and having just bagged a five-year contract, the right-back is certainly a star of the future.

But under the burning spotlights at Anfield, there is no hiding place. And he has found that out the hard way.

Having put in two shaky performances, one against Atalanta and the most recent against Brighton on the weekend, the social media trolls sharpened their knives once again.

It is not the first time he has been subjected to vile abuse in his fledgling career. Williams had to adopt a social media blackout back in September when the critics’ voices boomed loudly in that insidious Twitter echo chamber.

It is easy to forget that Williams is still so young and, importantly, still has so much to learn.

Following in the footsteps of Trent Alexander-Arnold, one of the best in his position in the world at the minute, is no easy task. But there is clearly a huge amount of talent and promise there and that is why manager Jurgen Klopp continues to persist with him.

Towards the back end of last season, Williams showed glimpses of real quality and it was expected that he would be eased into the fold gradually this term.

However, an injury crisis has hit Liverpool’s defence like a steam train and now Klopp is suddenly forced to plug the gaps the best he can.

It means Williams will likely get the opportunity to put things right immediately after his sub-par performance against Brighton. He gave away a penalty when he fouled Aaron Connolly and was hooked at half-time, with James Milner subsequently slotting in at right-back.

After the game, Williams gave an honest appraisal in his Instagram post: “A game of mixed emotions. But we move onto Tuesday.”

The game in question is, of course, on the biggest stage of all; Ajax in the Champions League.

With Alexander-Arnold out and Williams perhaps low on confidence, Klopp might naturally have gone for Milner at right-back against the Dutch giants.

However, the Englishman sustained a hamstring injury towards the end of the match, which preceded Klopp’s incredible set-to with BT Sport’s Des Kelly over TV scheduling, and will now be unavailable.

Williams is now the only natural option now and the Welshman will be desperate to disprove the doubters and silence the critics.

The games come thick and fast, too, with a crucial Premier League fixture against Wolves to come next weekend. So there really will be no respite for the young Wales star.

The talent is most definitely there, in this corner of the world we have seen it on the international stage as well as at club level, and there are very few who doubt he will come good.

Two solid displays against two very capable opposition, though, will go a long way to swiftly shutting up those trolls.