A Ray of Hope For João Teixeira

On the 17th of August 2011, I watched in anticipation as our much lauded youth team, including the likes of Raheem Sterling, Suso, Jonjo Shelvey and Andre Wisdom, began their Next Gen Series campaign at Anfield. I was looking forward to seeing the pass and move methodology that Rodolfo Borrell had been implementing in the team, and that had been successful in the domestic English youth competitions, tested against quality foreign opposition.

However the masterclass came from the visitors, in what was a comprehensive and rather controlled 3-0 victory. The Portuguese boast an academy that has been playing the same way with much youth success for many years.

“These kind of games make the players face the realities of international football,” coach Borrell said after the game.

“To come up against another style and mentality is good for them. Sporting have one of the best youth systems in the world and in the first half they were a lot better than us.”

In the second half the Liverpool team fought back, but Sporting managed the game impeccably, with a maturity that you rarely see in English teams, whether at youth or senior level.

Amongst the goal scorers that night, and playing his part in an beautifully fluid midfield, was João Carlos Teixeira, an elegant young player with poise, vision and effortless style.

In the return fixture Liverpool lost 5-1 in Lisbon and, not soon after, with his contract running down and Sporting in financial difficulties, Liverpool agreed to sign him in a near £1m transfer. However, there were complications, with scans revealing latent back issues, and a young Teixeira ended up starting his Liverpool life in a back brace for 6 months!

He eventually got back playing, though it has taken him some time to get back to his best. He always showed the technical ability that excited the Reds during his Sporting days, but initially found it hard to gain consistency during a whole match, let alone from match to match. His quality though was undeniable, and to many Liverpool fans, including me, it was surprising that Brendan Rodgers didn’t seem to take too much of an interest in him. He was rarely invited to train up with the first team, and when he did he didn’t seem to catch Brendan’s eye.

However, he continued to work hard on his game, and his performances in the youth teams continued to improve. A loan deal was talked about, with a number of teams interested in him, but the club were keen for him to go to a team where he’d play, but preferably also learn about the gritty side of football. After strong interest from Bologna, Teixeira, rather surprisingly, joined League One Brentford, with Uwe Rosler’s idea of how to utilise the youngster key to the decision.

However the loan deal was a failure. After only two substitute appearances, one as an injury time Sub and another for only 20 minutes, the loan deal was cut short. Rosler stated that the poor results the team was experiencing made it difficult for him to trust a youngster who wasn’t yet seasoned in the physical side of the game he experienced in League One.

With other youngsters like Suso, Sterling and Wisdom impressing in the Liverpool first team, a failure to make an impression in a League One team knocked Teixeira’s confidence. Even with the Liverpool first team struggling at times last season, with midfielders like Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson frequently coming in for criticism, Teixeira didn’t look even close to the first team.

However a new season has brought new hope. Rather than being downheartened by his injury problems and mixed season last time round, João approached the new pre-season with vigour. He consistently impressed in the Under 21s with standout performances and Brendan Rodgers has taken notice. He has been inviting the youngster more often to first team training, and took him with the squad to face Bournemouth in the cup.

Recently, when discussing some of the ermerging talent from the Liverpool ranks, Rodgers singled out Teixeira for special praise.

“I have contact with Alex Inglethorpe on a daily basis and João has been one of the outstanding performers for the reserves.”

“When he has stepped up to the first team before it has been difficult for him. But I’ve seen a big difference in him. He is a talent.”

“I always observe in training and see where players are at and João has looked very good. His intensity, the speed of his game – he has undoubted quality and he has showed up very well.”

As a fan of João, and having watched him regularly since that eye opening victory Sporting had over Liverpool in the Next Gen series, I’m really pleased he’s had some vocal praise from Rodgers. He deserves it. With the sale of Jonjo Shelvey and not signing any players in January, Liverpool’s squad is still quite small, when compared to the others within the top four. It’s especially short of central midfielders, and João can operate in an number of these midfield roles, including out wide.

I’m of the opinion that João is a player, like Suso, who is even better when he plays with better technical players. Hopefully he will soon join the ranks of the first team squad, and perhaps, maybe next season, begin playing games for Liverpool alongside other returning youth players like Suso, Andre Wisdom and Tiago Ilori.

He deserves this chance.

You can catch more from me on my own blog: http://taintlessred.blogspot.co.uk/