Another Scottish Liverpool Left Back

Liverpool's Cameron Williams is making a name for himself on both the club and international stage

Thrusted into training with the senior Scotland setup over the recent March international break, 16-year-old Cam Williams rubbed shoulders with a man whose legacy he audaciously strives to inherit, both for club and country: Andy Robertson. The highly rated young left-back will one day face the daunting task of wresting the national captain’s shirt from his back, doing so in the only way he knows how. Head on.

‘Come over and impress the first team boss,’ serves as an appealing remit for any academy tyro—let alone a mere kid completely fresh from debuting at under seventeen level for The Tartan Army. Scotland’s long-serving leader happens to be a man who was once upon a time credited, alongside Kenny, for revitalising Liverpool’s turbulent 2010/11 campaign: former Reds assistant Steve Clarke. With the no nonsense-styled Ayrshire native brought into aid his compatriot idol at the helm of the Kop, in the January of that campaign, Liverpool underwent a resurrection of sorts with a drastic points-per-game increase of 1.25 to 2.0 and an improved defensive record to boast after Hodgson was given the boot.

Williams originally applied his trade on the international scene with England but opted into the Scottish frame once he reached U16 level. By the time the curtain had fallen on 2023, his allegiances were firmly over the border however; he immediately became the starting left back upon making his first Scottish bow. In fact, the youngster has started every one of Scotland’s qualifying matches for the U17 European Championships, with some of those starts coming as a left-sided forward. In his last appearance, he netted a fine brace from the back as Scotland made light work of Lithuania away from home. You’ll soon understand exactly how he manages such spectacular output from full back!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Cameron Williams celebrates one of his goals against Lithuania

Anyhow, he’s a Liverpool player. That’s what really matters. Since the age of nine, at which point Steven Gerrard was in charge of the ‘eighteens, Williams has been on the books of LFC. The greatly-tipped left footer, alongside central defender Harvey Owen (signed from Wolves for £800k), found himself promoted into our U18 side from the lower age group at the turn of the year, though he was already registering fairly frequent appearances at that level before then. Coach Marc Bridge-Wilkinson selected Williams to start 12 of Liverpool’s 24 U18 Premier League fixtures.

It’s of course worth mentioning, and significant, that the young Reds endured a troubling time of it in the 24/25 campaign. 11th out of 13 sides in the North League with a mere five league wins all season - conceding 71 goals in that time also. At that level, Liverpool also recorded only a singular clean sheet in the entire season — arriving in a 2-0 home win over Stoke back in November. Despite only two sides across both the North and South PL giving up more goals than Bridge-Wilkinson’s team, it’s far from a simple case of Liverpool’s academy defenders being subpar; the story is more nuanced than just numbers on a scoresheet. We often see them collectively on the back foot, forced to withstand wave after wave of opposition attacks, and Liverpool opt for full backs who are defined as considerably more attack-minded than mere defensive specialists.

Poor Bailey Hall has got into the unwanted habit of picking the ball out of the back of his net in the maiden year of his scholarship deal (58 of the conceded goals have came in his 20 starts) with the alarming goal concession rate persisting with or without the Scotland youth defender on the pitch. In fact, Liverpool have let in more in Cameron Williams’s minutes; a very narrow margin between the 3.0 goals-per-game with his involvement (a staggering 36 goals in 12 matches) and the 2.9 rate when the likes of Clae Ewing and Harry Evers fulfilled the role.

Williams is profiled as an ultra-aggressive, attacking full-back, so it’s no surprise that, on the flip side of that coin, Liverpool find the net more often when he’s in action. As I tirelessly reiterate in this newsletter, results are essentially meaningless in academy football. Liverpool continue to (sensibly) prioritise the individual development of a handful-or-so of players over success in youth competitions - both domestically and on the continent. But, for what it’s worth, our U18s just about have a better time of it with the recently called up left back/winger hybrid in the lineups; 0.92 points-per-game in the exactly 50% of matches where Williams featured compared to the 0.8 where he was with the lower age group. Not exactly a flattering feat, admittedly.

The aforementioned intense high-flying up-and-down style, somewhat of a throwback for a full back, naturally leads to Williams being both determined and successful when it comes to the duel department. According to Anfield Watch’s Bence Bocsak, the youngster has an impressive (league) duel percentage win statistic of 64%, albeit the sample size isn’t mammoth. Contextually, it might serve as a bit of fun to assess how that figure holds up against Liverpool’s senior contingent of full backs. Well, Williams’s figure trumps all four of Robertson, Tsimikas, Alexander-Arnold and Bradley’s percentages. None of theirs exceed 60% in the Premier League, this term; the average across the quartet stands at 51.75%, if you’re interested. Williams is evidencing greatly encouraging 1v1 defensive signs.

Since stepping up to this level, MBW's under-18s have experienced the full range of results on the extreme spectrum—thrashing Middlesbrough 7-2, playing out a crazy 3-3 draw with Stoke, and suffering a heavy 6-1 defeat at Sunderland, all within the last six weeks. It wasn’t a case of the XI one week being greatly deficient to that of the next, either. In those two clashes in the North East, in which the fortunes of the young Reds were drastically different, there were just three changes to that side. One of the eight constants: Cameron Williams.

One of the most promising developments is the budding partnership between the young defender and Rio Ngumoha on the left flank. They instinctively play off each other and bring out the best in their respective games. Compliment each other very well. In this clip, he’s aggressive, purposeful, and full of energy—very Robertson-esque in the way he drives forward. He’d have felt hard done by not getting the assist, with Tyler Martin unable to convert at the back post in a spirited comeback win for Liverpool at Wolves.

An almost telepathic understanding between the two has been formed in such a short space of time. You’d be forgiven for scratching your eyes and questioning whether you’re witnessing Andy Robertson and Sadio Mane circa 2019. Even before Williams lays the pass off to Ngumoha, he’s on the move. And lo and behold, the 16 y/o left back characteristically busts a gut to make the run in behind the two Everton defenders - wholeheartedly trusting Rio’s quality and vision to spot him.

Williams is an extremely infectious footballer. An endless bundle of energy who will run all day and night. ‘Willing runner’ has become somewhat of a football cliche but there can’t be many better epitomisations of the noun phrase than this young man. Simply put, Rio has got to slip him in here. His teammate was visibly frustrated in the aftermath and rightfully so.

From the recent 3-3 draw at Stoke, this sums up Cameron Williams to a tee. Tireless spirit and unwavering tenacity to both start and finish the move. Up and down that left flank like a flash. With finishes like this in his locker, it’s evident why many in the Scottish camp perceive his future to be in the forward line. He’s a phenomenal striker of the ball, a terribly valuable quality to possess, and has fantastic instincts in the box which have contributed to him recording promising attacking output in the (very) early stage of his career. Six goal contributions in 2025 alone certainly bodes well where that department is concerned.

Blessed with a high level of technical ability, Williams is a superb passer, capable of threading the needle with precision. His vision and quality of final ball allow him to break defensive lines to set the likes of Ngumoha (in this case) and centre-forward Joshua Sonni-Lambie in on goal.

If you’ve paid any attention to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s near decade-long spell in the Liverpool first team, then you’ll be aware of the immense value of these defence-splitting passes. A cheat code. Williams has a knack for ambitious and speculative balls. Perhaps my favourite trait of the full back is the fact that ‘playing it safe’ seemingly isn’t in his repertoire; he’s always scanning for openings, threading pinpoint balls that cut through defences. This ability to spot passes, that many are unable to execute, at the right time adds another dimension to Liverpool’s game. Whether it’s a clever switch of play or a perfectly weighted through ball, Williams makes things happen, providing a spark for a side who undoubtedly struggled.

The man in question didn’t find it easy from a defensive standpoint on the final day of the season. He often found himself completely isolated defensively, with Everton creating 2v1s down that side, leading to two of the Toffees’ three goals resulting from crosses down his flank. Regardless of how he’s faring defensively, the commitment is a permanent fixture with Williams. Body on the line. Aggressive. Intense.

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s a Liverpool left back flying down the touchline. He reminds me an awful lot of the Reds-linked Milos Kerkez stylistically. A throwback, a proper full back if you will. None of the ‘tucking in’ or ‘inverted’ nonsense. Joking aside, the final ball is pretty special. A very difficult technique to execute in that scenario is the low drilled cutback. Goal and assist for Williams that afternoon in Stoke; I’m sure there’ll be plenty more where that came from in Liverpool red next season.