Liverpool FC’s Young Stars Provide a Promising Future

With all the furore surrounding Liverpool and recent events involving the club and certain players, it’s hard for Liverpool fans to see through the gloom at the present (impending League Cup final aside). Add to that the doubts surrounding our three most expensive signings of the past 12 months having their ability to hack it at a big club questioned, almost universally, and you have the recipe for some pretty miserable times in the past couple of months.

However, one thing that should make Liverpool fans feel much more confident for the future of the playing squad for the next few years is the abundant quality we currently have throughout our reserves and youth teams, so for those not as aware of these players, I’ll just provide a brief overview of some of the most promising players under-21 that Liverpool currently have, either at the club, or out on loan.

To start off, we have a couple of young defenders that have been in and around the first team squad since they signed but have not seen much action: Danny Wilson and Sebastien Coates. Wilson was signed by Rafael Benitez before he was sacked and completed his signing under Roy Hodgson. Under both Hodgson and, later, Kenny Dalglish, Wilson managed 8 games during his first season. But after a couple of shaky performances, it was decided to loan him out to Championship side Blackpool to pick up a bit more experience. Wilson is an agile and talented centre-back who can also fill in at left-back. He is quick and assured and has impressed enough between the ages of 17 & 20 to have earned 5 full International caps for Scotland, so we should expect to see him more involved in the next season or so.

Likewise, Coates is already a full International for his country – Uruguay – and played most games in Uruguay’s famous Copa America win in 2011, putting in performances that belied his years, particularly in the final. At 6’5 Coates is a man mountain but his size shouldn’t fool anybody; he has already shown an assurance and technical ability on the ball that you wouldn’t expect from somebody of his size. Once Coates comes to grips with the pace and power of most of the Premier Leagues strikers, he should really start to impress and once Liverpool are back in European football (hopefully from next season), expect to see the highly impressive 21 year old making many more appearances in a Red shirt.

Pushing further forward, into midfield, and the Reds have two potentially very commanding young central midfielders that could be stamping their mark on games for years to come: Jonjo Shelvey and Conor Coady. For those that regularly watch Liverpool’s Reserves, you should already be fairly familiar with both players but particularly Shelvey. He is a rangy player for his age, at just above 6 feet and has bundles of ability with a football, on either foot. He has already made 26 appearances for the Reds but most have come as a substitute or in Cup games. However, we have already seen that he has outstanding ability on the ball; is intelligent with his passes and rarely loses or gives the ball away, and at just 19 years of age you can’t help but be impressed by that. Anybody that saw his performance in a recent Cup game at Anfield will attest to his ability with long-range passes too, somewhat reminiscent of a young Steven Gerrard. But perhaps Shelvey’s most impressive attribute at the moment is his supreme confidence. He never shies away and is always available to take the ball from his team-mates, even after the odd stray pass or wayward shot; it is something some of his more senior team-mates could do well to learn from.

On the other hand, Conor Coady is something of an enigma to many Liverpool fans: we’ve heard great things about him from reserve matches and the coaching staff but we’ve yet to actually see it ourselves on the pitch. As a local, there is likely to be clamour for him to make his debut for the first team in the next 12-18 months but that shouldn’t detract from his ability as a footballer. For those unfamiliar with Coady, think Jamie Carragher, 16 years younger but with oodles more technical ability. He is a born captain, a lad that likes to lead from the front but, ironically, he can also double as a central defender but will most likely be used by the club as a central/holding midfielder in years to come. Coady recently captained Liverpool’s U18’s and was the England U17’s captain during their first ever tournament win in 2010. Together, these two could well form a formidable central midfield pairing over the next 10 years for Liverpool.

Filling out the midfield, we have a couple of wide-players that could well end up being the answer to Liverpool’s problems on the wings sooner, rather than later: Raheem Sterling and Tony Silva. Tony Silva is very much the traditional Iberian tricky winger; quick, agile and comfortable on either flank. Without wanting to annoy too many fellow Reds, the most apt comparison I could make is with Manchester United’ Nani. If he could grow into being a player of Nani’s ability (but perhaps, not with too many of his personal traits) then I think we’d all be very happy indeed.

As for Raheem Sterling, well… Harry Redknapp was talking about him recently which perhaps says all you need to know. It’s likely that Sterling will be getting sniffed around during the summer by some of our rivals, particularly City and Chelsea, but he is one player that we should do our utmost to hang on to. At the tender age of 17, there has been pressure on the manager’s to draft the Kingston-born youngster in to the first team squad for the last 12 months. Like Silva, he is a typical winger but he brings more to the table than that. Sterling is capable of the unexpected and exudes confidence in his own ability, which should be a requirement for players in his position. Capable and comfortable on either foot, he also has an eye for the spectacular goal, as consummately evidenced in his Derby debut against Everton for the U18’s at the age of 16. It is this ability in front of goal that may see him given more opportunities playing just behind the striker or even up front himself.

However, if Sterling has any designs on following the likes of Owen, Fowler and the like and becoming a Liverpool striking legend, then he’ll have some pretty tough competition from the three that fill out the list of Liverpool’s most promising youngster: David Amoo, Suso and Dani Pacheco.

Now, we’ve all most likely been aware of these three for the best part of the last 2-3 years, especially in the cases of Suso and Pacheco. Sadly, Dani Pacheco’s star has fallen slightly in the past 12 months, since his successful loan spell at Norwich and he has found himself loaned out to Rayo Vallecano. Having played little abroad, you have to wonder whether a loan to another Championship side (or even remaining around the fringes of our own first team) would have been of more benefit but still, at the grand old age of 21 Pacheco is still one of our most promising prospects. With a playing style that I can only compare to a mix of Lionel Messi and Luis Garcia, you can let your imagination do the rest. He has been given little time on the pitch for the first team but you can be in no doubt of his ability. He was so highly regarded by Barcelona that it was considered a major blow when Liverpool swooped in and charmed him away. As a forward, more than a ‘striker’, Pacheco is likely to fill in that ‘support striker’ role that people speak of like it is the Holy Grail but for him to fulfil this potential, he needs to be given a chance and sooner rather than later.

Another younger striker currently out on loan is former Millwall youngster, David Amoo. Amoo will most likely be likened to the likes of Jermaine Defoe, Theo Walcott and Michael Owen, given his extreme speed and turn of pace but at 5’10 he has more to offer than these three and could easily adapt to play as a lone target man or the quick, pacey striker in a partnership. Like Pacheco though, he has been used sparingly during his loan spell and would do better if he were brought back to gain experience in the first team and reserve squads.

Rounding out the promising young forwards is a very serious-looking young man affectionately named Suso (full name Jesus Fernandez Saez). Despite his name not having been brought up much in the past 6 months he is, for me, still the most promising young player we have. He has the potential to be a similar player to Iniesta but with the stamina and mobility of Silva or Mata and, like Mata, he is capable of playing up front. Like Pacheco, he will need to be given more opportunities in the next 12 months or we risk losing him. If we are looking for somebody to take over the main creative role from Steven Gerrard in the next few years then we should look no further than this young Spaniard. His passing accuracy is incredibly high for such a young player and he enjoys a good dribble. Couple that with being a relatively regular goal-scorer at any level he has played at over the years and his potential is seemingly endless.

So while we may all be experiencing some bad times as Liverpool fans at the moment, we should be in no doubt that the future is very bright. And should the current crop of expensive signings fail to deliver then it isn’t all as bad as it seems; we have many talented youngsters just waiting for the opportunity to step up and deliver where others have been failing.