Liverpool Academy Director Frank McParland believes the club have made massive strides in youth development over the last couple of years. He told the Liverpool Echo:
“Ive been back pretty much two years on the dot. I came back to do a study in April 2009 when Rafa asked me to take a look at the Academy and make some recommendations. I stayed to carry the project on and it’s still a work in progress. It was initially Rafa’s project and over the past year we have taken it on again. The coaching philosophy has completely changed. Pep and Rodolfo have worked really hard to bring the Spanish and Barcelona philosophy in. Both were involved in producing a lot of the current Barcelona team. As technical director Pep teaches the coaches the way he wants the kids to work. It has worked very well. The style of play now is 4-2-3-1 and we keep the ball. We play the same way right throughout the club. We are building the philosophy from the Academy up until it hits the reserves. The under-16s and under-18s are both doing very well.”
McParland believes Kenny Dalglish has been a fantastic influence on the club’s youth policy:
“Kenny has had a massive influence. He is very supportive and very knowledgeable about the youngsters. He knows every player involved in the reserves, under-18s and under-16s by name and a lot of the younger ones as well.“The boss still comes down at least once a week. If the first team have a day off he comes down to watch training and wants to join in. With everything he has achieved in the game it’s amazing for the lads.”
McParland thinks the changes to Liverpool’s Academy setup will have lasting repercussions
“There was a division there before, it has to be said. That’s why Rafa asked me to come back as he was very keen to get the added resource of the Academy helping the first team. It’s great knowing I’ve got the support of the manager who I’ve worked with for the past two years. I’ve also got the support of the board more than ever because Damien [Comolli] has come in and is very committed to the youth. He is very keen on getting players at the right age and making them Liverpool players.. We want someone who was born here and has come through our system playing in our first team regularly. That’s our ultimate aim. That will certainly give me more enjoyment than spending millions of pounds on players. If we can get a few Scouse lads in the team, that’s what we want. I’m sure that will happen in the next couple of years. Sometimes when you work in youth you say you have a five-year plan but we have a plan in the next two years to be feeding players into the first team. That’s our job. If we don’t do that, the club won’t be happy and I won’t be happy either.”
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Kelly and Coady are the obvious choices for me, as scousers that could become first teamers in the very near future (as centreback and holding midfielder)
If Flanagan can continue to show anywhere near the level of performance that he showed against Man City then he’d be another very useful squad player, as could Robinson and maybe even Morgan at a stretch too. I think forcing through the 4 of them would be enough to keep everybody happy and allow Spearing to move on to another midtable team right?
Aside from that, the talent in the reserves are the imports like Pacheco, Suso, Sterling, Ince, Ngoo, Wisdom etc (Wilson doesn’t seem to either play for the reserves or the first team for some reason?) who could surely carry off the squad roles at least to the same level as our overpaid senior players have done this season. As far as I’m concerned, the sooner that the youngsters start making it through, the better!
It’s good to have local lads coming through – but it should be equally good to have kids like Pacheco and Suso making it in the first team.
I think the effectiveness of the Academy should be judged on how successful it is in bringing kids through to the first team independently of national/geographical origin. I for one would be delighted to see Suso, Pacheco, Coady, Stirling and others moving up the ranks – and am less concerned about whether they are Scousers or not. After all, Liverpool FC legends at both player and manager levels (Dalglish, Benitez, Shankly himself) were not from Liverpool.
@Voland – I’m not fussed about the Scouse agenda either, especially if it is going to see the likes of Spearing forced through at the expense of more gifted prospects, but I was just highlighting the Scouser’s that could make it through as that was the focus of this article…
My main concern is that average, squad players should not be ageing, highly paid imports but our, own talented youngsters that could benefit and progress from the experience. Any experienced players being brought in to the first team on high wages should be of a calibre to elevate the team to another level, not just fill in and be carried along by his teammates. We’ve got way too many first team squad members that have little more to offer than a reserve team player would.
we do have an abundance of talent in the youth teams. We have to be careful how we blood them because if they have a bad run it will hit their confidence hard. However, we wont know how they do until they play, so maybe we can introduce them from the bench to start. The management know what to do, so im not worried about the situation. We have a long term plan at lfc and this is one facet of it.
If a couple of bad games destroy an 18-20 year old then they were more than likely never going to make it at the top level anyway. The kids shouldn’t have to play out nigh on an entire season before they’re ready, as Insua or N’gog did, but having them feature sporadically with the first choice players should not be an issue.
Our experienced players fell to pieces after a few poor games last season too, so the fear of how a reserve would react to a poor showing is really an excuse to hold the youngsters back imo. The only reason not to play the kids is because they’re not as good as those in the first team, and unfortunately until we bring in some better players in the summer, that is not the case at Liverpool.
Too many of our senior players are failing to set an example, or an acceptable benchmark for the kids to follow and consequently they should make way sooner rather than later
I have really enjoyed this article and the subsequent comments , which are balanced and informative .
One thing still puzzles me though , ( I have too much time on my hands ) and that is while Kenny raved about our two man striking partnership on Monday , and rightly so , Frank now says that every team at the club plays 4-2-3-1 .
How does that work then ?
I think Frank meant that every team starting from the academy to the reserves are adapting the 4-3-2-1 approach. This of course in due course reflect on the first team as well, but the first team as we have seen with Kenny may require to change their formation and approach depending on the opposition and situation.
rafa rafael, rafa rafael rafa rafael Rafael Benitez!!!! Big up urself Rafa. YNWA.
Let’s not go “transfer Crazy” in the Summer. I don’t agree with spending huge money on wingers when we can save millions with the development of Raheem Sterling, Tony Silva and even Tom Ince (if he stays). Are they young…YES!, but they’ve got the talent and ManU, Arsenal and some players such as Aaron Lennon has been thrusted into the fold! I truly believe if we focus on bringing in a winger such as Park Chu Young or Turan would be a benefit as an experienced ball crosser on the left such as Chris Brunt to fill in until Sterling/Ince/Silva are ready for the wing. As well as the back line, Coady and Wisdom may be ready in the next year, so spending huge amounts on Cahil is a waste when we have Wilson, Kelly and Soto. I’m not sure why Kenny won’t G.Johnson on the right until a young lad is ready…I know I haven’t mentioned Pacheco (my fav), but I just feel he’s not wanted! Suso has moved up in the pecking order. Kenny had several chances to have Dani come into games and not even use the sub option. Not good news for a young player when thats done! Same thing against ManCity; Kenny didn’t even use a sub and was up 3 goals (why not give Cole a run out for 20 while your up to build his confidence??). Never understood managers tactics as I coach 16 yr olds and have won 2 out of 3 years based on tactics..ie: the psycological side of things by getting into players head! Anyhow, I’m sure McParland and Co are doing that! Good luck lads and YNWA