Upon hearing the name Jon Flanagan, most Liverpool fans might recall his constant injury problems and the disappointing drop in form towards the end of his Anfield tenure. With the news of his retirement aged just 29, Joe Penny takes a look at the rise and eventual fall of ‘The Scouse Cafu’.
Boyhood Liverpool fan Flanagan was handed his debut in 2011 against Manchester City. Ok, City weren’t the winning machine they are today, but Kenny Daglish’s side still put in a commanding performance and won 3-0.
Flanagan would make frequent cameos covering for the injury prone pairing of Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly. In the following seasons, Flanagan suffered his own injuries, side-lining him for large periods of the 2012-13 campaign.
However, it would be the 2013-14 season where Flanagan would win over the hearts of fans. Liverpool went on an unexpected title charge, with the help of Luis Suarez, and would ultimately miss out on the Premier League title, finishing one point behind a very strong Manchester City side. Despite this, Flanagan became something of a cult hero for The Reds, most famously for his thunderous half volley in a 5-0 rout against Tottenham Hotspur.
So where did it go wrong for Jon? He had seemingly cemented a place in Liverpool’s back line. The Reds capitulated the season after, as Suarez left for Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge hit a bad patch of injury luck. The same knee problem that had haunted the youngster earlier in his career came back to bite him.
After only playing 30 minutes of competitive football that season, he went in for surgery. You often hear about players losing half a yard of pace after surgery and, unfortunately, this was the case for Flanagan. By the time he returned from injury, manager Brendan Rodgers, who favoured Flanagan, had been sacked.
As for many players at the club, the beginning of the Jurgen Klopp era spelt the end of his time on Merseyside. Many unsuccessful loan moves later, Flanagan was released by Liverpool in 2018.
Flanagan’s retirement, rather sadly, comes as a result of his knee injury. In a statement, he said: “The last 14 months I have tried everything possible to recover from my most recent knee surgery. However, ultimately my long term health has to come first, so following medical advice the right thing for me to do now is retire from the game.”
In hindsight, he was replaced by another local hero, Trent Alexander-Arnold who has achieved huge success at only 24. However, there will always be a sense of what could’ve been for The Scouse Cafu.
