Player profile.
Full Name: Ben Gannon Doak
Date of Birth: November 11, 2005
Age: 17yrs
Height: 5’10’’
Nationality: Scottish
Preferred foot: Right foot (Double footed)
Position (s): winger, wide midfielder, wing-back.
Youth career: Dalry Rovers FC, Ayr United FC, Celtic FC, Liverpool (since 2022).
Who is Ben Doak?
Ben Doak is a 17-year-old right-footed forward who joined Liverpool from Celtic at the start of last season. He prefers to play on the right wing but is equally as comfortable playing behind the striker in a No 10 role. He holds the record for the youngest Scottish player to ever play for Liverpool, making his debut as a 17-year-old against Aston Villa on December 26, 2022.
By then, he had already made his first-team bow for the club, coming on from the bench as a 16-year-old during the third round of the Carabao Cup against Derby County on November 9, 2022. Going further back, his maiden senior appearance came just a few months after turning 16, when he played for Celtic as a 68th minutes sub against Dundee United on January 29, 2022.
He joined Liverpool for a fee believed to be around £600,000.
Ben Doak has been breaking age-group records throughout his youth career. He is the youngest-ever goalscorer for Scotland’s U-21 team, and he is also one of the youngest players to score for Scotland’s U-17 and U-16 teams.
Note: data used is from Wyscout for the 22/23 season where he featured in more than 10 games for Liverpool U21 in Premier League 2 and other competitions summing up more than 2000 minutes of game time more on the data the ranking screenshots from Wyscout are for attacking players (forwards, wing-forwards, attacking midfielders) in Premier League 2 Division One 2022/2023 with more than 90 minutes played in the season.
Why have I referred to him as “a fantastic kid” or why have the coaches at Kirby referred to him as “a gem”?
Here is why;-
1. Speed and Agility:
One of the standout attributes of Ben Doak is his blistering pace and agility. Coupled with his ball control, he can run rings around defenders, making him a significant threat in one-on-one situations and holding width for systems that want their wingers isolated to create spaces for interiors (#8/#10s) to run through or occupy.
2. Technique and Dribbling:
Doak possesses exceptional technical skills, particularly his dribbling. He can weave through crowded spaces with relative ease, often leaving defenders trailing in his wake, his dribbling style is an explosive one which he does through manipulation of his pace and constant change in direction to confuse his defenders and also has great vision which improves his awareness on the pitch and positioning his defenders even before coming in a one-on-one situation, he also likes to use stepovers and body feints.
3. Crossing and playmaking:
Doak is a proficient crosser of the ball from the byline and edge of the box because when he makes runs down the flank and reaches the byline or at the edge of the box, he always has a better angle and position to swing the ball into the box with his dominant foot, crossing from the byline or the edge of the box also allows him to deliver the ball with greater pace and accuracy, making it harder for defenders to intercept, regularly providing accurate deliveries into the box and crosses played from the byline or the edge of the box on the right wing tend to curve towards the centre of the field, which creates more opportunities for attacking players to get on the end of the cross and score and which only requires the target man to be sharp enough to just tap-in and this is was shown well when he assisted Núñez in a friendly game against AC Milan.
This ability makes him a potent weapon, particularly on the counterattack and in wide areas.
4. Versatility:
Although predominantly a right winger, Doak can also operate as a left winger, attacking midfielder or right wing-back as indicated in his profile in this scout report but other positions can also be experimented he is so young just 17yrs. His adaptability makes him a valuable asset to any squad.
5. Defensive duties.
Ben Doak is a traditional two-way winger who is good at attacking but knows well that defending is necessary, he does this through tracking back and counter-pressing after losing the ball which he averaged 0.93 counter-pressing recoveries per 90 in Premier League 2, This has gotten better while in Liverpool’s academy which wants its wingers coming back to defend with the team just like the first team does and also he has become a regular with the first team in training which automatically has played part in his game.
5. Finishing:
A 17-year-old winger playing in Premier League 2 must be having an impressive finishing ability to have a 25% conversion rate, which means that for every four shots or opportunities he has, he is scoring one goal on average.
He can score consistently and takes high-quality shots from good positions on the field, suggesting that he has good decision-making and a strong understanding of the game. His finishing is a major asset to his game and could make him a valuable player at higher levels of competition even when it’s improving to reach Mo Salah’s level who most Liverpool fans think he should succeed and am sure that will come with since he is already promising and he is just 17yrs of age.
6. Work Ethic and Professionalism:
Doak shows a high level of professionalism and dedication to his craft. His work ethic is admirable and will serve him well in his development and has been testified by every single coach who has worked with him through his development and here is what they say about him;-
What I really love about Ben is his ambition in terms of where he wants to go in the game. It’s OK having ambitions of playing in the Champions League, but you’ve got to train like it. And as soon as I met Ben, I realised that he was a young player who wanted all of the information to improve, he was a young player who was going to work really hard to get better. In the first training camp we had and throughout our season, he never changed. He was the same. And that’s what I like about him the most. — Brian McLaughlin, Scotland U17 Coach
Ben always had that dedication, that commitment and desire to make it. That set him apart. He was so single-minded that he was going to make it. On his days off he was up there practising. He wasn’t sitting in his house playing Xbox, he was working on his finishing. — Evan Fairns, Dalry U-20s Coach
He’s a fantastic kid who comes from a good family. He looked really composed for his age. — Ange Postecogelou, former Celtic Manager (Tottenham Hotspurs’ manager now)
He was like a wee rocket– His ability was quite raw but he had this physical presence, that is how he could compete and play up front. He was fearless on the park. It didn’t matter who he was playing against, it could have been a 6ft guy and he wouldn’t have been fazed. In training, he was just a sponge. He was very quiet and would always listen. He would turn up to training and even though he was the youngest, there was no carry-on from him — he was there to train and to learn. He was a delight to coach. — Evan Fairns, Dalry U-20s Coach
Areas for Improvement
1. Physicality:
For the rough and tumble of top-level football, Doak may need to work on his physicality more. Enhancing his strength will help him hold off challenges and compete more effectively for the ball.
2. Left Foot:
While his right foot is surprisingly excellent for a right winger, his weaker left foot could use some improvement. More balance in this aspect would make him less predictable to opponents, even when unpredictability is part of his strength getting used to his left foot more will make him a beast no fullback wants to face.
3. Finishing:
Although not a primary part of his role, improving his finishing in front of the goal could add another dimension to his game and grab firmly his position as a Mo Salah hire who is ageing and will certainly leave the club in the coming years knowing the type of winger he has been to Liverpool in those years, goals have been his trademark and his replacement which am sure can’t replace but him being at least a quarter good at finishing like Mo Salah would be perfectly fine.
Potential
Ben Gannon Doak has the potential to be one of the top players in his position. His pace, technical skills, and versatility are already at a high level for his age. With the right guidance and continued development under Jürgen Klopp who is respected in the world of football for creating superstars from scratch, there’s no limit to what he can achieve.
As in the previous report of this similar player, I have always said we will be here when my words come to pass.
