Brooks Lennon is making up for lost time. 

The U.S. youth national team winger missed most of the first part of the season due to injury, but he was plenty busy in December as he featured for Liverpool’s U18 and U21 teams throughout the month as he gained fitness. 

The U.S. youth national team winger scored for Liverpool U21 on Dec. 13 in a 2-0 win over Celtic. Lennon, who has been with Liverpool since the summer, is drawing rave reviews from the academy coaches in Liverpool. 

“Brooks [Lennon] has good talent and he’s got a good character as well, a good personality and we are looking forward to working with him in the future,” Liverpool U18 coach Neil Critchley told liverpoolfc.com. “We are just delighted he is now fit and training and starting to build up his minutes. He's been working extremely hard and he is a very focused individual.” 

Days after scoring against Celtic, Lennon featured for the U18 squad against Ipswich Town in the Youth Cup. The teenager came off the bench in the 2-1 win as Liverpool advanced to the fourth round of the competition. 

Lennon made his first start for Liverpool U18 on Dec. 19 in a 1-3 loss to Newcastle United. His coach highlighted his contribution in the postgame press conference. 

“On the positive side, Brooks Lennon made his first start for us and did well,” Critchley told liverpoolfc.com. 

With Lennon trying to get to full fitness, Liverpool utilized him with as many teams as possible. He was part of the U21 squad that played to a scoreless draw against Norwich City on Dec. 21. Lennon only played in the final six minutes of that game, but he had a chance late went just over the bar. 

Now in 2016, Lennon continues to be in the mix with multiple teams. He played on Monday with the U21s in a 2-1 win over Southhampton. 

He is a possibility with the Liverpool U18 team later this week in the fourth round of the Youth Cup. 

While Lennon is getting plenty of playing time with the Academy, don’t expect that first team debut in the near future. 

“We are not going to put too much pressure on him,” Critchley said in December. “We will let him enjoy his football and let him fly a little bit.”

Lennon, born in 1997, is age-eligible for the next U20 World Cup team in 2017. 

Pulisic on Fire 

Christian Pulisic is on the January trip to Dubai with the Borussia Dortmund first team. The 17-year-old was handed the No. 22 jersey for Dortmund for the rest of the season. 

On Tuesday, he came off the bench and provided an assist in a 4-0 win over Entracht Frankfurt. Pulisic nearly had another assist in the game as he set up Gonzalo Castro, but the forward was a step offside. It was an impressive showing from the young U.S. talent. 

Moore Moves 

Shaq Moore announced on Twitter last week that he signed with Real Oviedo, a club in the Segunda Division (second flight of Spanish football). Moore was part of Huracan Valencia CF before the club fell into financial troubles. His new club was promoted to Segunda B this past season and sits in third place in the league. 

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