Reading Academy Director Frank McParland’s interview with the Liverpool Echo today, it seems that the youth system at the club is beginning to go in the right direction. There are certainly some interesting players coming through the ranks at the moment, none more so than the three players below.
Raheem Sterling
The former QPR player is one of the most exciting midfield prospects in the country and was snapped up by the Reds in February. After joining Rangers at 10 years old, some of the club’s youth coaches felt that Sterling was at the same level as Wayne Rooney was in his development at 15. More widely held comparisons of the player’s style however have likened the player to Theo Walcott. A fast, pacey attacking midfield player who can “pass, shoot, head, score goals, tackle, defend” according to QPR head of development Steve Gallen, Sterling no doubt has tremendous prospects and it was seen as a great piece of business by Academy director Frank McParland to get his signature ahead of rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City. Sterling is good on the ball and has an excellent footballing brain, and McParland said about young Sterling today:
“We have got to stress that Raheem has got a lot to do. He has got high potential but it will be down to how we look after him and, just as importantly, how he looks after himself. We are giving him the stage – it’s up to him use that platform. “He has been fantastic so far but he needs to stay at that level. If he does that, then he will definitely have a chance.”
Along with his lightning pace and array of skills, Sterling’s temperament has also been praised. Steve Gallen stated that the player “just wants to play football all the time; something that bodes well for his future.
Toni Silva
Silva is a very exciting Portuguese winger and was brought to the club for £300,000 from Benfica last October. He slotted in very well and adapted quickly last campaign. The most noticeable thing about Silva is his height. At both Under 16 and Under 18 levels, he stands tall above his team-mates and opponents, and it gives him a fairly good height advantage when heading the ball, but rather than this being the focus of his game, his main talent lies elsewhere. He is actually a winger who can play on either side, and he is a very skilful player who loves taking on full backs, utilising his dribbling skills and lightning pace. A direct runner and skilful with the ball at feet, he can leave many experienced defenders in his wake with his trademark runs from wide. Silva has stood out then among the crop of players at the Kirkby Academy during the last year. He is quick with a good left foot, and he will be looking to impress in Rodolfo Borrell’s Under 18s this season.
Andre Wisdom
At the age of just 14, Liverpool took the young defender into the Academy at Kirkby, after paying compensation to his club Bradford. He was spotted in local junior football by Bradford City’s youth coach Peter Horne and he quickly attracted attention from big Premier League clubs during his time at the Bantams. With the Reds, the youngster progressed at quite some speed and he played a big part in Liverpool’s run to the FA Youth Cup final in 2009. At the age of just 15, he was playing against players mostly 2 years his senior and it was a testament both to his footballing maturity and to his physical strength. Such maturity is demonstrated by the array of abilities he possesses. He is very good in air, heads the ball competently, is tall and has great physical strength. Combined with this, he has very good pace, and he also has very good communication and leadership skills for someone so young.
On top of his defensive abilities though, he is also a very capable footballer too who has good feet and is very comfortable on the ball. This has meant he has played in a number of positions for the Reds. During the FA Youth Cup run in 2009, he played at right back, centre back and centre midfield, demonstrating his versatility on the pitch. He has a great variety of attributes which can be utilised in any position but if we look at his primary strengths though; strength, heading ability, aerial dominance and pace, it is apparent that he could well be a very talented centre back of the future. This is where he played for the England U17s in the European Championships back in May. He helped the side win the tournament by scoring at both ends in a 2-1 win over Spain in the final; the first time England had won the title.
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contrary to the revisionist history, we’re always being told to get excited about some youngster in our reserves.
None of them will ever achieve anything of significance if they’re left to rot in our reserves for the next few years before being shuffled out on loan around League Two and finally being sold on to some random no marks…
You didn’t mention that Wisdom just made his intl. U19 debut (as a 17 year old!), and took over the captaincy near the end when Shelvey (another of our promising talents) came off, so Wisdom clearly has great leadership skills.
We’ve really got a huge number of youngsters with fantastic potential. Not all of the following players will end up becoming Liverpool first team regulars, but any of these guys could do, it all depends on how they progress over the next 4 or 5 years: Gulacsi; Kelly, Wisdom, Wilson, Robinson; Coady, Shelvey; Sterling, Suso, Pacheco; Ngoo.
There’s a whole bunch of others who could do so as well, like Silva, who you mentioned in the article.
a lot of the last crop were just not good enough to get first team games, this crop on the other hand will be like the arsenal youngsters, we could make a great team out the best of our 16 to 19 year olds, a bright uture if the yanks dont ruin us
Young players develop differently to each other, for instance some will come on strong, some may have a gradual progression, some may take a while, then bam take off. They will eventually come to the point where they have to step up to the next level, this is what sets them apart from being good, to being special. Some will and some won’t be able to do this, this is what we have been seeing at the academy, unfortunatly, most don’t quite make the grade. I understand that the academy is doing better now and that changes have been made, but at the end of the day it’s still down to the lad. YNWA.
There’ll get good and then we’ll flog them to Fulham again for another one of their championship quality players like Konchesky.
Now is probably the best time to start slotting a couple of these kids in for cameo appearances, as i see it some of these could not be much worse than some we have going round, at the moment.
great work kenny