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LFC Reserves & Youth Team Goals/Highlights

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Liverpool U18s against Fulham u18s in the FA cup right now.
Live on LFC TV.

Check the where to watch thread
 
Nyoni is easily the best player in the u18s.
Koumas is the clear no 2.

Kone-Doherty (needs to improve his crossing), Morrison and Danns are OK.

I don't see a future in league football for the rest. But the first two are ahead of the rest by alot. Danns size might help but there's a lot to improve, especially his technique.

I think they're poorly managed too, the pressing is pathetic, defending all over the place, terrible positioning. Fulham are getting chance after chance, should be up by 3 goals.
Still 0-0 though.
Time to watch something else.
 
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There was a Jackie Morrison coaching in the Northern Ireland youth system qiote a few years back. He and his son both played for my home town team. Wonder if they are related.
 
Young Koumas with another 2 goals for the u21s today (7 in his last 8 apparently) and that's excluding the 4 goals in 3 games he has in the youth cup. I wonder if he's ahead of the likes of Gordon/Doak now in the youth developmental line.
 
If only Kone-Doherty had stuck to his country of birth - between him, Bradley & Morrison… Norn Iron would be about to rule the footballing world!!!!
 

View: https://twitter.com/ground_guru/status/1760590899963117955

Leeds United poach Liverpool talent in Thorp Arch recruitment drive under 49ers Enterprises

Who is Martin Diggle? New Leeds United academy manager profiled after Liverpool switch
Who is Martin Diggle?
Martin Diggle was the Head of Coach Development at Liverpool's academy, supporting those in charge throughout the age groups at the Reds' Kirkby complex.

Diggle arrives at Thorp Arch with a plethora of experience following roles at the Football Association (the FA) and Bolton Wanderers. He began at the Trotters as a coach, he became a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University in sports coaching after graduating with a master's degree.

He spent nine years at the FA where he rose through the development ranks before becoming the Head of Professional Game Coach Development on an interim basis for two years.

His career then took him to Liverpool where he was appointed as the Head of Coach Development - a post he has held for four years until his move to Leeds.
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View: https://twitter.com/Carra23/status/1760937825606815784

There are obvious qualities a young footballer needs to impress an elite coach like Jurgen Klopp.

No one can play regularly for a Premier League club such as Liverpool without talent, temperament, courage and athleticism.

But during an in-depth discussion with Liverpool’s academy director, Alex Inglethorpe, he emphasises a crucial asset which explains why the club’s quadruple bid is being assisted by a golden era of youth development.

“Character,” he says.

“What makes me especially proud is that no one during Jurgen’s time here has failed because of their character.”

I ask Inglethorpe to elaborate.

“You work 10 years here to earn an audition in front of the first-team manager,” he explains.

“If you are going to fail to impress, make it because you are not quite at the level on the football pitch. It would be foolish to fail because of bad decisions made about the car you drive, the watch you wear, the training shoes.

“Jurgen is switched on to everything. If a kid turned up to first-team training with a 10k watch, he would see it. So would the senior players. You tell me, what would you think?”

“If the senior players think you are a big-time Charlie, the first thing they will do is give you a whack in training to teach you a lesson!” I suggest.

Inglethorpe nods.

At Liverpool, this character test has gone beyond advice. Inglethorpe informs me that in addition to a £50,000-a-year academy wage cap, under his directorship – now in its 10th year – a ‘car clause’ has been introduced limiting engine sizes to 1.3 litres, a warning of the dangers of too much, too soon.

“It is a safety thing as much as anything,” he says.

“I don’t want boys who have just passed their test with these big chunks of metal, but I was also fed up seeing a car park full of Range Rovers. If anyone turns up with one of them, they are parking it next door.

“We have a pay structure which is fairly old-fashioned. We give them jobs to do. We tell them to hand their phone over at 8.30am and give them back before they go home.

“You have been a senior player. You know how it is when a young player comes into the dressing room. You want respect for the pathway. They have to earn what comes their way first. All the other stuff is fine later. To get there you have to do it on the pitch.”

Alex is speaking my language, evoking memories of the legendary bootroom coach Ronnie Moran welcoming newcomers to first-team training at Melwood with the message, ‘we do not want any big heads here’.

“Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is a really good example,” says Inglethorpe.

“When you get to the senior squad, the best thing you can do is have senior players who become your advocates. There was no flash watch with Trent. I remember how he drove the same car for years. He’d wear the same tracksuit. As soon as he made the step up, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and James Milner invested time and effort to help him. It was the same for Curtis [Jones].

“Now that baton has been passed on with Trent the vice-captain ensuring the next along the line display the same characteristics.”

More academy graduates are passing the ‘auditions’, critical to Klopp’s latest trophy quest which continues against Chelsea at Wembley in Sunday’s League Cup final

There is an image decorating one of the walls at the youth training centre in Kirkby that gives me as much pride as any of my footballing achievements.

In 1999, the club commissioned a photograph of the seven home-grown youngsters who were fully established first-team players; myself, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Dominic Matteo, David Thompson and recent debutant Steven Gerrard.

Between us we won 31 major trophies for the club. I hear the club hopes to replicate that picture for the class of the 2020s; Alexander-Arnold, Jones, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley the stand-outs.

On Wednesday night against Luton Town, six former or current academy players aged 21 or under played their part.

“It’s fair to say without them, Liverpool would not be in this weekend’s Carabao Cup final or going for four trophies,” I suggest.

“Credit to them all, but Jurgen is the difference,” says Inglethorpe.

“There are a lot of good academies out there, but not all clubs have a manager with the courage to play youngsters at big moments. He does not just give 10 minutes here and there with the team 4-0 up. There are so many examples when he has played virtually complete academy teams. There are times when I have looked at the starting XI and thought, ‘Wow, I’m not sure even I would do that’.

“Jurgen has not just talked about developing youth, he has actually done it. Caoimhin (Kelleher) playing in the 2022 League Cup final is the prime example. It would have been so easy to pick Alisson in the final. He believes in these players.

“There is a proud tradition of the academy providing first-team players at Liverpool – obviously you are part of that. But I have always said that it has to be more than about making a debut. That can happen for a lot of players, especially with the schedule and so many fixtures nowadays. What I want is the academy to play its part in winning the club trophies and fighting on all fronts.”

In addition to the more established first teamers, Klopp’s youth policy has seen Ben Doak, Bobby Clark and James McConnell regularly feature during this campaign. Like Harvey Elliott, they joined Liverpool’s youth set-up having started their careers elsewhere, academy policies across the country evolving to look beyond city boundaries.

“I wanted to win the battle in our own backyard first, getting the best from Merseyside – and then look further afield,” says Inglethorpe.

“There was a period when there were too many white, middle-class boys at the academy. We had 10 per cent diversity at one point and had to work to improve that. Now, we have players of different cultures and backgrounds and we are better for it.”

Liverpool’s union between the first team and youth set-up solidified when the training sites amalgamated two years ago. The rewards on and off the pitch are self-evident.

“We are aligned in that the under-21s and under-18s will try to do a fairly good [tactical] impression of the first team – taking on the non-negotiables. From the under-16s down we will prioritise different skills at different age groups, with more technical work,” says Inglethorpe.

“There is always a lot of understandable emphasis on the number of appearances by academy players, but from a purely business perspective, no one talks about the spending.

“There are some academies spending £40 million a year. We are nearer £13 million. If you think of £130 million over 10 years, what is the return on that investment? We have sold about £160 million worth of academy talent.

“We’ve been studying it and we estimate there is about £300 million of academy talent in this building. That can fluctuate, of course, but if you look at Jarell [Quansah], he is our fourth-choice centre-back this season. He ensured the club did not have to sign another centre-back last summer. What value do you put on that?

“A Premier League squad player is between £15 million–£25 million, and the average Premier League wage is £60,000 a week. So if you have three academy boys on the bench it could save somewhere in the region of £70 million a year.”

As well as players, Inglethorpe takes pride from the conveyor belt of coaching talent; Wolves’ Gary O’Neil and Tim Jenkins and Blackpool’s Neil Critchley are former staff. Michael Beale may have endured a tough spell, but there is expectation he will enjoy a long coaching career, as well as Steven Gerrard.

But the greatest pride is always seeing players who arrived as schoolchildren being on the threshold of becoming superstars.

“Watching them is like watching your own son. You only see their mistakes,” Inglethorpe admits.

“Some players are gold medallists – you know immediately they are going to make it. I am told Michael Owen was like that when he was here.”

“There was another called Carragher like that,” I interrupt.

“I heard he wasn’t on the podium and came through much later,” Inglethorpe laughs.

“I have tended to work with the silver or bronze medallists who come down the rails later. Even Harry Kane, who I worked with as a youth coach at Tottenham, was like that. Maybe I have a blind spot for the gold medallists.

“There are different ways to get there. Some players take the elevator, others take the stairs.”

Win or lose, many of the latest academy class are guaranteed to be going up the Wembley steps this weekend.
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Inside how Liverpool find their uncut gems - and their incredible scouting reports: The Kindergarten Kop kids AREN'T just nepo babies

You've heard of the Busby Babes… now meet the Kindergarten Kop. Or Jurgen Klopp’s Kirkby Kids, maybe Xabi Alonso’s Adolescents next season. Whatever alliteration we want to force, the point is that Liverpool’s youth academy is thriving like few others in Europe.

Amid 10 first-team injuries for Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Luton, the substitutes’ bench featured five teenagers and the eight outfielders had an average age of 21, boosted significantly by poor old Andy Robertson, 29, and Kostas Tsimikas, 27, who must have felt like pensioners.

Both of those left backs still have plenty of elite-level football ahead of them but the pair, along with many in the best XI, know there is a cabal of youngsters waiting in reserve to take their spots. Some, like Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah, have already nailed down regular action.

In an FA Cup match last month, Liverpool’s matchday squad was made up of 10 academy graduates. No, it was not a cup tie against a lower-league opposition where rotation was a luxury. It was a trip to Arsenal.

‘Nothing would be possible without these boys,’ said Klopp last month when quizzed on Bradley, Quansah and Co. And he is right, these players aren’t just knocking about to make up the numbers, they are full-fledged members of Liverpool’s fight for a 20th English league title.

So while the likes of Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah may sweep up football’s Oscars in May for playing the role of lead actors in Liverpool’s fight for four trophies this season, this young, ensemble support cast should be highly commended, too.

Jayden Danns, the 18-year-old son of former Premier League midfielder Neil, is the latest debutant for the first team, coming off the bench alongside Bobby Clark and James McConnell on Wednesday from a team-sheet where you can almost smell the park pitches of youth sport.

Of course, many will not remember the trevails of Sunday League football. Danns, for example, joined Liverpool aged eight, while Quansah was first signed by the club from Warrington-based Woolston at just five. Others like Kaide Gordon have been poached from other academies.

The process of finding these uncut gems is much easier said than done. Liverpool have a web of scouts around the shires and abroad who attend youth matches and tournaments to spot the next big thing. For every one success story, there are hundreds who have not quite made it.

As a case study, Liverpool followed Bradley for a number of years before offering him a scholarship in 2019. He was playing for Dungannon United Youth in Northern Ireland and was recommended to them by word of mouth, with two scouts flying over to check him out regularly.

Joe McAree, a legend of Northern Irish youth football, is the man who unearthed Bradley after being persuaded to watch him by a local referee. He recently told Mail Sport: ‘From the first day I met him in a cafe, he looked me in the eye and smiled, it just felt different.

‘For an 11-year-old boy it was just different, the focus he had. He knew what he wanted to be, he knew he wanted to get to Liverpool. This boy can get from box to box like a reindeer. I’m waiting patiently for him to move to midfield and be the next Steven Gerrard. It’s a fairytale.’

Another scout report from a few years back described Quansah as a defender who ‘eats up space’, before commenting on how he towers most on the pitch in youth football, is commanding and comfortable on the ball. Watching him this season, that report would still work.

But Liverpool place a lot of emphasis on personality as well as ability. One source, a scout, says: ‘I’ll be looking at body language more than anything, delving into their background story, family history and character profiling. Human behaviour is complex even at that age.

‘Any top professional can see a good footballer but it’s more about looking at the detail beyond that. But we must acknowledge we are there to improve them as people as well as players. Don’t focus negatively on what they can’t do, change what they can do.’

Chances to succeed in this sport of fine margins if you’re from a football family, and Liverpool’s youngsters seem to have a theme of famous dads. Like Danns and father Neil, Clark’s father is former Newcastle star Lee, while young Lewis Koumas is the son of ex-Wales midfielder Jason.

At a slightly younger age level, Keyrol Figueroa, son of former Wigan and Hull star Maynor who won 181 caps for Honduras, was spotted while playing for FC Dallas in an Under 13s tournament. According to his mother, he scored 90 goals last season in youth football.

Summer signings Harvey Owen, Amara Nallo and Trey Nyoni, who was on the bench on Wednesday, were all signed from other Premier League academies. Brexit rules have made overseas trading of youngsters harder so they have started looking closer to home.

Head of academy recruitment Matt Newberry, who also looks after loans after David Woodfine left the club, is key to this drive alongside Alex Inglethorpe. Much emphasis, even from the age of 11 upwards, is placed on data and video scouting.

As Klopp embraced debutant Danns on Wednesday, Luton’s boss Rob Edwards laughed, pointing at the teenage forward and said: ‘I played with your dad!’. A strong upbringing seems to be a consistent thread among all these kids but they are not all nepotism babies.

In Bradley’s case, mother Linda knew nothing of football before she started her unofficial role as the right back’s agent and taxi driver. Linda, plus late dad Joe, helped negotiate his deals - and originally turned down the promise of a scholarship and said their son must earn one first.

Another key part of Liverpool’s young recruitment strategy, of course, is a charm offensive. Simply being Liverpool is enough to tempt many, such as boyhood fans Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Bradley.

But in many cases they have had to fend off interest from other academies, such as young midfielder Tyler Morton, now on loan at promotion-chasing Hull City, and Danns, both of whom nearly joined Everton before Liverpool swooped to sign them at the last minute.

Speaking to Mail Sport, Morton explains: ‘I was quite a shy lad off the pitch. But you have to grow a personality even at that age to make it in football. I really grew into myself at Liverpool. I found a real love for footie and used to pretend I was Xabi Alonso in the park with my dad.

‘Half the first team are my lifelong mates! Conor has turned into a real top player. Everyone at the academy knew he would. Jarell as well, absolutely brilliant - I’ve grown up with him and trained with him since I was six or seven. All of us have been mates the whole way through.’

The friendly spirit is echoed in the camp, with several of the young stars meeting up with Morton in London for a trip to Winter Wonderland after Hull played QPR and Liverpool won at Crystal Palace earlier that day, including Harvey Elliott who, beyond belief, is still only 20.

Just because players are out on loan, it doesn’t mean their Liverpool days are numbered - as might be the case at some Premier League clubs who stockpile talent. Quansah earned his corn at Bristol Rovers last season, while Bradley was Bolton’s player of the year.

Liverpool leave players to their own devices when out on loan, telling stars to put full trust in their temporary coaches. But many are given a brief that no matter how many divisions they step down, the loan club is doing them a favour rather than the other way around.

‘I’ve worked with a lot of loan players and none have made a bigger impact than Luke Chambers,’ Kilmarnock boss tells Mail Sport of the left back now on loan at Wigan. ‘What a diamond of a boy he is, Liverpool are lucky to have him.

‘He immersed himself in the cause for us. We get a lot of players coming from England on loan and some of them have an ego, it was never that with Luke, he was so appreciative of the opportunity. He grew up as a man, hosting Come Dine With Me cooking nights with the lads.’

So while the biggest talking point going into this season was the loss of several experienced leaders - 1,776 worth of Premier League appearances in exits - now the talk of the Kop is Klopp’s trust in youth and an academy once again the envy of Europe.
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LIVERPOOL’S ACADEMY STRIKER ‘CURSE’​

After the glorious years in 1990s, when Liverpool’s academy produced two of the best strikers to have played in the Premier League in Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler, the ensuing years have been a barren era.

For decades now Liverpool’s academy has been searching for the ‘next Owen’ or the ‘next Fowler’ but to no avail. There’s been plenty of promising strikers who have caught the eye in the academy. From Adam Morgan, who was scoring goals for fun before leaving to join Yeovil Town to Jerome Sinclair, who became one of the youngest ever players to debut for Liverpool’s first team and Rhian Brewster, who top-scored the U17 World Cup for England – but no one has been able to follow in the footsteps of Owen and Fowler. Neil Mellor came the closest but even he merely made 12 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool.

It means that almost three decades since Michael Owen made his debut for the club, Liverpool are still searching for the next forward to break through into the first team from the academy. But could that be about to change?

SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT JAYDEN DANNS​

Walking off the Anfield turf on Wednesday night, Jayden Danns received an emotional embrace from Jurgen Klopp only to be disrupted by an incredulous Rob Edwards, who exclaimed: ‘I played with his dad.’

For Liverpool that remark was a reminder of just how young Danns is. He only turned 18-years-old last month. Coming on against Luton Town, he became the 11th youngest player to debut for Liverpool’s first team in the league, beating Trent Alexander-Arnold by a month and two days to that distinction.

Yet despite his age, Danns didn’t look out of place at all during the few minutes he spent on the pitch. If anything he made his moments count, including setting-up the chance for Liverpool’s fourth goal sending a brilliant through ball to Cody Gakpo with the outside of his foot.

Danns seemed to take to senior football like a duck to water. Just like Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah and a host of other academy graduates. We’ve seen it with Bradley and Quansah there seems to be something different about this new generation. A level of confidence we don’t often see from young players coming into senior football for the first time. Danns was yet more proof of that on Wednesday night.

JAYDEN DANNS’ PROFILE​

Having played a lot of his career at academy level in midfield (he actually still plays as a midfielder for England’s U18 side) Danns possess a really unique profile as a forward. Both tall and strong, he’s difficult to shrug off the ball and he is able to use his body really well to shield the ball from his opponents. At the same time he also has the speed and the technical ability to excel in one vs one situations.

Having learned his trade at a midfielder, Danns often likes to drop back into midfield even when playing as a striker. He will peel off his defenders, hold them off and wait for overlapping runners to send through on goal.

A good example of this is a recent play he made against Newcastle United’s U21 side. Danns received the ball surrounded by defenders. But he managed to hold it up, and wait for the incoming runner, who was Bobby Clark.

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Once Clark got ahead of him, Danns weighted a nice through pass which allowed the Liverpool midfielder to break into the opposition’s penalty area and send the ball across goal.

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Another fine example is Danns’ assist to Lewis Koumas for Liverpool’s seventh goal in the FA Youth Cup against Arsenal. Again Danns dropped back, held the ball up and sent a perfectly weighted through ball to Koumas, who then ended-up finishing the chance.

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Danns averages just over 1.21 through passes per 90 for Liverpool this season as per Wyscout – quite a high volume for a striker. It’s a clear strength in his game, and definitely something he will have picked up by honing his trade as a midfielder.

DANNS – PRESSING MACHINE​

Even on his ability to drop back alone it’s easy to see why according to Danns he has often been compared to Roberto Firmino in his ‘younger days.’ But that’s not the only area where Danns has shades of Firmino in him.

Over the last season the youngster has worked a lot on his pressing game, and the fruits of his labours are there to see. Danns is deceptively fast, and he is exceptional at smothering his opponents.

One of his best goals scored at academy level this season was a long-range finish against Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup that came about because of his rapid counter-pressing ability.

Within seconds Danns approaches his opponent anticipating that he will receive the ball.

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When his opponent does receive the ball Danns accelerates forcing him to make a mistake and give-up possession.

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Danns then quickly pounces on the ball, realises that the goalkeeper is off his line and finishes with precision.

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But this is not the only instance. Against Newcastle United at the weekend in the Premier League 2, Liverpool’s first goal again came from really good pressing from Danns.

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In that game Danns again anticipates an opportunity to win the ball when Newcastle try to play out from the back. Once again using his speed he closes down his opponent in the matter of seconds.

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This forces the Newcastle defender into a mistake, which sees Danns win the ball.

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He quickly turns, breaks into the opposition’s penalty area and then sends a brilliant through pass to Trey Nyoni for an easy finish.

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What was really encouraging to see against Luton was that Danns’ skills immediately translated well into senior level as well. The role he played in Liverpool’s fourth goal all came from his pressing game, and reacting quickly to a loose ball.

The chance started out with Andy Robertson trying to send Danns through on goal. However that pass was intercepted. Immediately, both Robertson and Danns quickly reacted to close down Luton’s defender and win the ball back. Danns got hold of possession, shrugged his man off to turn to face goal and sent a trademark through pass into Cody Gakpo.

NIGHTMARE FOR DEFENDERS​

Given Danns’ pressing and ability to drop back, he is really difficult to read for defenders. Due to his frame and speed, Danns is also able to run behind his opponents and he is capable of going on long runs as well. When he is in full flow, he’s difficult to stop. It’s no surprise that he averages 4.76 dribbles per 90, and 1.73 progressive runs.

A recent example was against Newcastle’s U21 side when Danns received the ball just past the halfway line and ran all the way into the penalty box where he skipped past two players to win a penalty for the young Reds.

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But he doesn’t just drop deep, and make these forward runs. Danns is a fox in the box as well. There’s a reason why he has scored 21 goals in 22 games at academy level this season.

He is a ruthless finisher, who takes a high volume of shots. This season he has averaged 3.38 shots per 90, and he gets an impressive 48.7% on target.

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If you look at his recent goals a lot of them have come from inside the penalty area. However, Danns is very much capable of scoring from long distance. He’s scored some stunning free-kick goals this season, including one against Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup. And that range is such an encouraging aspect for a young striker.

EARLY DAYS​

It’s important to remind ourselves, this is early days. Danns has only played a few minutes at senior level. But there is no denying he is a really exciting prospect.

He’s got all the traits you need as a modern forward in the game. On top of that he comes from a footballing family with his father, Neil having also played in the Premier League and captained Guyana at international level. That background will help him in his development.

Liverpool’s academy hasn’t had success bringing through strikers in the last few years. It’s probably one of the most difficult positions to break into the first team in. However, with Danns there is a possibility that he could finally break the ‘curse.’
 

Jayden Danns' spectacular rise as Everton left unhappy and Liverpool starlet's dad sends emotional message​

Story by Theo Squires • 2d • 10 min read
It was while working for Bolton Wanderers in 2015 where I first crossed paths with Liverpool’s latest debutant - Jayden Danns.
His father, Neil, had signed permanently for Bolton a month before my own arrival at the club following a successful year on loan from Leicester City. When producing an early feature interview with the Liverpool-born midfielder, I first became aware that Danns’ talents were not limited to the pitch.


He is a talented musician having inherited such skills from his own father, Neil Sr, who was a backing singer on the UK’s entry in the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest - as well as a European title-winning skateboarder. Neil has passed on such skills to his daughter, Hayla, who represented the UK in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest last year.

Yet evidently, having made nearly 600 appearances for Premier League and Football League clubs, he has passed on such footballing talents to Jayden.
As is the case when working full-time behind the scenes at any club, you do cross paths with the players’ families. I vaguely remember Jayden, who could have only been eight at the time, excitedly running around in the tunnel on matchdays and going out to kick a ball on the pitch long after the final whistle. He’d also accompany his father around the pitch on those traditional end of season lap of honours.


By this point, he had just signed for Liverpool’s academy. Still, little did I know that 10 years on from first crossing paths with Neil, I’d actually start reporting on his son playing for the Reds. And having seen him already score a number of goals at academy level this season and last, Danns junior now has a first team appearance under his belt.
While I find that somewhat surreal - and I’m very much not alone on that score as will soon become clear! - spare a thought for Jay Spearing. The 35-year-old and Neil were team-mates for three years at Bolton, making 64 appearances together. Having returned to the Reds as an academy player-coach in the summer of 2022, Spearing has found himself coaching Jayden with the Under-18s, and now playing alongside him as an overage player for the Under-21s.
Danns’ rise this season has been spectacular, with the prolific striker scoring 21 goals at academy level to catch Jurgen Klopp’s eye in the first place. Yet the majority of them have come with the Under-18s.


It is only since the turn of the year that he has stepped up to become a regular starter for the Under-21s, only making his Premier League 2 debut on January 13. Inevitably, he scored in a 4-2 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, with his record in PL2 now standing at two goals and two assists from four appearances.
Yet just 39 days on from that maiden appearance, he found himself handed his senior debut as a substitute in Wednesday night’s 4-1 victory over Luton. Admittedly, such an outing would perhaps not have come so soon if not for a severe Liverpool injury crisis, but Danns certainly made his presence felt in his first Premier League appearance.
Introduced in the 89th minute in place of Luis Diaz, he made his presence felt immediately by winning possession in midfield. Moments later, he’d claim an assist of sorts, pouncing on a loose ball after dropping deep, turning well and threading it through to Cody Gakpo. While a last-gasp sliding tackle denied the Dutchman a shot when through on goal, Harvey Elliott was on hand to hammer home the follow-up.

“Where to start,” father Neil posted on Instagram after the game. "Tonight was one of the proudest nights of my life. To see you achieve the first steps of your dreams fills my heart with pride.
“To watch you work and work for your goals is a privilege to be part of. Proud of you son, keep pushing. Love you.”
In the comments, former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant shared how the ‘penny dropped’ regarding the family connection following Danns’ introduction. Given that Luton boss Rob Edwards joked that he had played against Neil to both Klopp and the young striker after the final whistle, such exchanges will not be rare.
Meanwhile, boxer Tony Bellew, who is best friends with Neil, put aside his Everton allegiances to pay tribute to Liverpool’s latest debutant after the final whistle.
“Truly amazing! This young man has worked so hard and dedicated his whole life to football!” he wrote on social media. “To see him make his premier league debut makes me so happy and proud of him! Keep shining J, you’re doing great young king.”

Jayden has been surrounded by professional sportsmen and high achievers his whole life. Many already knew the name, but he is continuing to make it in his own right, to the delight of so many watching on.
While a big, pacey, powerful striker at academy level - traits that make him a defender’s nightmare - dropping deep and picking out key passes is not foreign to Danns either. He did just that behind Lewis Koumas for Liverpool Under-18s’ 7-1 thrashing of Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup last month as both terrorised the Gunners.
Meanwhile, while the central striker against Stoke Under-21s with the Welshman on the left, it was his reverse pass from deep that played in his fellow forward for his second goal. A prolific finish alongside such traits, he really is emerging as an all-round forward
And before a drastic growth spurt, he often found himself compared to Reds legend Roberto Firmino in the club’s academy.

"When I was young, I used to get compared to (Roberto) Firmino," he recently told the club. "I wasn't as tall when I was younger, I was quite a late developer, and then all in a short period of time everything hit me at once.
"Back in the day I was like a No.9-and-a-half, where I'm still a No.9 but I love to drop in. The last couple of years, I've started to run in behind more as I've got more physical and believed in my pace a little bit more.
"One of my goals last season was to work on my pressing, to be honest. It's got a lot better with my physicality as I've grown into my body but also when you add the work that we've put into it to keep pressing and keep counter-pressing... you can see the results.
"I think at least four of my goals this season are off pressing a man and they might give it away for me to go and slip in behind and score."

With Klopp’s trademark hard-working pressing game evident throughout the academy, Danns’s intense work-rate is also clear as he thrives when defending from the front and leading the press, and was very much on show against Luton in his brief time on the pitch.
While Danns has 21 goals at academy level this season, unique superstition means he tries his hardest to avoid such a fact himself.
"I'm a superstitious person," he admitted to the club website. "I've got this superstition that as soon as I start counting my goals, the goals will stop. I haven't been counting them and hopefully they keep coming.”
Only the striker himself will know if he plans to similarly not keep track of his own total of first team appearances after making his first team debut.
Having started to train with Klopp’s first team in recent weeks, prompting the German to name-drop him in press conferences on more than one occasion, Danns’ senior breakthrough is not a shock. There was a suspicion that he would be handed a maiden matchday squad appearance against Luton, after all, when his manager referenced him when previewing the game.

His rise has still been eye-catching though, of course, with the teenager himself determined to make up for lost time. He missed roughly eight months of action at Under-16s level when suffering with Osgood-Schlatter's disease. Undergoing a drastic growth spurt, it causes pain in the knee for growing teens.
At the start of last season, a source close to the striker conceded to the ECHO that it would take the striker a few months to get up to speed and get his co-ordination back following his growth spurt. Now 18 months on and he is flourishing and hungry for more.
"When you get up there, you've got to keep the standard that they're keeping,” he recently said of training with the first team. “It's all a new level and I really want to work hard to become the players that they are right now.
"My only focus is to put my all into what I'm doing and keep practising and keep doing extras to get where they are. My long-term aim is to be the best player I can possibly be.

“I don't want to end my career and have any regrets where I could have worked harder. I'd rather just put all the work in and try to get as much as I can from it. Step by step, I want to become the player that I envision."
Meanwhile, of his prolonged stint on the sidelines, he recalled: "In the space of such a short time, I think I went from 5ft 2in to 6ft I was out for like eight months with Osgood and that was a tough time for me. You're thinking, 'Why's this happening to me?'
"Obviously when you get back you start to appreciate it so much. Coming back, I just tried to get the most out of what I can really.
"But it makes you learn things and learn different ways to improve. If you look at me last season, I don't think I was as powerful. I was a bit more leggy and Bambi-like!
"This season, I'm really filling out into my body and I'm just enjoying my football at the moment. I like making runs forward, I like dropping in deep to get the ball. It feels like everything is coming together. I'm just really enjoying it."

He was enjoying it even more against Luton, with Klopp revealing a touching exchange with his latest debutant after the final whistle.
“I am so happy the kids came on and played,” he said. “Dannsy said 50 times, ‘Thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!’ I am so happy I could give them that opportunity. It’s just nice and the boys deserve it.”
Of course, the teenager is equally grateful to his family for all help and guidance along the way.
"If I didn't have him, there'd be moments where I didn't want to practise and it isn't drilled into my head," Danns recently said about his dad. "Now I think I'm into that routine to where it's hard to fail if you really want it that much.
"That's been drilled into me – if you really want it, work as hard as possible and you'll get that because you've got the talent and the physicality now. My mum helps with the diet and that side as well. I'm in debt for the rest of my life really, I owe my life to them."

While Danns is now a Liverpool player, things could have been rather different. Both Everton and Manchester United were chasing his signature, before he signed for the Reds.
"He was doing futsal at Edge Hill Tennis Centre and Everton were the first to approach us about him,” father Neil recalled in an exclusive interview with the ECHO last season. "The next week Liverpool approached us.
“I know Everton weren’t happy about that at the time - it was like a little battle. We took him to Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United so he could appreciate the different styles, but we always knew we were going to Liverpool.
“The whole family supports Liverpool so we always knew that. From the age of eight, he has gone all the way through since then.
“I’m unbelievably proud. He has still got a long way to go as he’s only 16, but he has got the right attitude and mindset to go as far as he wants. I just said to him he has to work hard every day and enjoy his football.

“The main thing is to keep learning each day and it has been amazing to watch him develop. He made his England debut last year and scoring in that was one of the proudest moments a father can have. For me, it was just about him having fun and playing football.
“Everton approached us and we thought, ‘Oh, that’s good someone has noticed him’. We weren’t actively looking for him to get a club, he was just there to enjoy himself."
He continued: "It would mean so much to me (if he played for the first team) because I know how much he wants it and the work he puts into it. I just want him to live out his dreams.
"The realism of it all is that to make your debut for Liverpool Football Club, you’ve got to bring that hard work and have a bit of luck along the way too. I don’t ever want him to be too down or stressed whatever happens because there is a lot of pressure on youngsters.”
All being well, there will be many more proud days to come as Danns’ dream just became a reality. But both player and club will hope that this is only the beginning.
 
Buddha said:
..trawling this thread for possible starters Wednesday night…
Click to expand...
Lol.

Bradley, McConnell, Clarke, Danns, Nyoni and Koumas will probably start. Kelleher in goal. Tsimikas at left back. That's 8 players, we need 3 more.
 
King Binny said:

View: https://twitter.com/Carra23/status/1760937825606815784

In addition to the more established first teamers, Klopp’s youth policy has seen Ben Doak, Bobby Clark and James McConnell regularly feature during this campaign. Like Harvey Elliott, they joined Liverpool’s youth set-up having started their careers elsewhere, academy policies across the country evolving to look beyond city boundaries.

“I wanted to win the battle in our own backyard first, getting the best from Merseyside – and then look further afield,” says Inglethorpe.

“There was a period when there were too many white, middle-class boys at the academy. We had 10 per cent diversity at one point and had to work to improve that. Now, we have players of different cultures and backgrounds and we are better for it.”
Click to expand...



View: https://twitter.com/PeterMooreLFC/status/1761824213055439175

View: https://twitter.com/AndyK_LivNews/status/1762021994533355822
GHNvcsJXkAA_-Tq
 
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