When Liverpool U18 demolished Southend U18 9-0 on Valentines Day, my thoughts were of a person who changed a lot of my views on football. Of course, you may have guessed already if you know me, that person is Rafael Benitez. His vision, and quite frankly his guts, in personally overseeing the overhaul of our youth academy is what we starting to see the fruits of now. Many eyebrows were raised when Steve Heighway was shown the door in 2007. It was widely accepted that he was doing a good job, bringing players like Gerrard and Owen through, although part of this was self praise.
Heighway stated that ‘no one was better at coaching 17-18 year olds’ than he was. Well, it seems that history may be proving him wrong. A rapid overhaul was in motion and much of this went unnoticed by the press who were too busy concentrating on Rafa’s press conferences to see the work that was being prepared. Rodolfo Borrell was brought in as coach after building a glittering reputation with Barcelona and Jose Segura was signed as Academy Technical Manager. The vision Benitez had was to build a multi-national football school that scoured the planet for the best prospects.
Liverpool invested heavily in bringing in 17 year olds, many of whom didn’t work out, but that’s all part of the game at that level. The truth is many of us only hear about the 17 year old and older signings. Young players at that age are almost developed to their maximum. The pressure and demand in the Premier League today, and with the success and talent of players like Fabregas, Wilshere, Aaron Lennon, James Milner and others indicates that if you’re not on the peripheral of 1st team affairs by the time you’re 20 then the door starts closing fast.
It’s only now, four years after Heighway leaving that we’re starting to see the investment shine through. Liverpool, did of course win the Youth Cup two years running with Heighway, but in truth it amounted to nothing. There are differences now however, from the perceived success of 2006 and 2007. There is a bigger focus on the catchment area, the average age of the u18’s is younger and there is a bigger emphasis on passing football. Previously, Liverpool seemed to have focused on ‘British’ players, and by that I mean the search for the elusive all-rounder, box-to-box stereotypical Roy of the Rovers. Now, as should be the case, there is a bigger emphasis on technical specialists.
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This week it is even more of former Liverpool WAG Amii Grove! ————– CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR HERE TO GET TO THE GALLERY –
IF IT WASNT FOR RAFA WE WOULDNT HAVE ANY OF THE UP AND COMING YOUNG PLAYERS AT THE CLUB.
GO AND GOOGLE AND YOU WILL SEE THAT IN FACT IT WAS RAFA WHO GOT THE TWO SPANISH COACHES FORM BARCA TO THE CLUB WHO KENNY HIMSLEF HAS SAID THAT THEY ARE BOTH DOING GREAT WORK….. RAFA WAS MORE , MUCH MORE THAN ISTANBUL,,, RAFA WAS GREAT FOR LIVERPOOL,,,,,
He’s one of the 3 cult figure of all time for Liverpoolfc and The Fans
LONG LIVE shank,paisley and rafa
red33 you idiot. How can you not have Kenny in there. Im a huge fan of what Rafa did for us but to call him a cult figure ahead of the King is just plain stupid
Excelent post chris,love it
never – we’ve been picking up ‘talented’ youngsters for years now. If they’re never given the opportunity to shine by the manager then they just inevitably stagnate and rot, regardless of how talented they may be.
Rafa can be credited for the coaching staff that he brought in, but players that come through years after he leaves are a whole different ball game and have little to nothing to do with him
I read an article similiar to this recently and I agree wholeheartly, Rafa had the guts to take the long term view that Heighway wasn’t doing what was required to get talent through, and although Piet Hamburg spell didn’t last long, one damning stat proved Rafa was right over Heighway despite all the naysayers. From when the Academy opened in 1998 to this season only one player has become anything like a Premier League regular, Stephan Warnock. If Heighway was anywhere as good as he claimed then either our youth scouting system was poor or kids saw no opportunity to break through at Liverpool. I dismiss the lack of break through opportunities as from 1990 onwards McManaman, Marsh, Harkness, Hutchinson, Redknapp, Fowler, Matteo, Owen, Thompson, Carragher and Warnock either were developed or were bought whilst teenagers with little or no reputation and spent a number of seasons in the top flight. So even if we believe the scouting system was rubbish (how could it be, it had discovered all that talent) Highway had to be in some way to blame. I believe that anyone who claims that ‘no one was better at coaching 17-18 year olds’ is extremely arrogant and better back it Heighway didn’t. Yet when he was sacked the Rafa haters slaughtered Rafa, yet now we see Kelly breaking into the 1st team, Pacheco sniffing around it and rave reviews over Suso, Coady, Robinson and Sterling. One last point has anyone hear either Rodolfo Borrell or Jose Segura claim no one is better at coaching 17-18 year olds? I haven’t and this guys were involved with best youth systems going
Rafa GO AWAY
Donn’t you ever come to Liverpool
looooooooser
Rafa is, and will always be an important figure for Liverpool. If one day he decides to come back as manager, i will welcome him with open arms. And legs for that matter