An extract from the latest Tomkins article.. the whole thing is available from the link provided but I feel this is the most interesting bit:
The good news is that the youth team is more exciting than it’s ever been. I’d urge anyone who thinks BenÃtez left a poor legacy to study the talent now at the Academy; if the first team started to flounder, the youth set-up was definitely on the right tracks after his 2009 overhaul. Rafa gets criticised for not bringing through enough local talent, but he could only pick from what he was given; and for the most part, that wasn’t a lot. His key decision was to install the two Barcelona gurus, Borrell and Segura, who can develop a strong footballing ethos at grass roots level; taking the best of the Catalan approach and blending it with the Liverpool way.
Last season Liverpool paid a sizable fee for 15-year-old QPR prodigy Raheem Sterling, a small, highly skilful and ultra-fast winger. But the coup de grâce was BenÃtez personally persuading the Spanish wunderkind Suso to opt for Liverpool ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona; at just 16, he was already head and shoulders above those in his age group, and now, aged 17, he looks capable of being fast-tracked to the first team. (Click on the link to see him, and the rest of the U18s, against Crystal Palace last weekend.)
Another English signing, Michael Ngoo, 18, has the proverbial great feet for a big man, as does Kristjan Gauti Emilsson. Portuguese winger Toni Silva (17) also seems to have a bright future, as does Hungarian striker, Krisztian Adorjan (17).
And at last there’s a collection of local boys – Conor Coady (17), Jack Robinson (17), John Flanagan (18) – who might just have what it takes. As ever, not all of these boys will make the grade; after all, there’s just not space in the team, even if all developed at their current rate. But as well as playing exceptionally as a team, the U18 side also has those standout individuals that are even more crucial. The Reds remain strong at reserve team level, too, where some of these kids are already flourishing. (Edit: this is without even mentioning Daniel Ayala, Danny Pacheco, Jonjo Shelvey and Martin Kelly, all 20 or under, who haven’t looked out of place when given first team chances.)
With Gillett and Hicks having done their best to run the club into the ground, it might take a year or two simply to get back to where we were a couple of years back, and longer still to exceed those levels (if possible).
But with intelligent owners who aren’t afraid to make big signings, a knowledgeable Director of Football, the spectre of Hodgson behind us, and some potential stars of tomorrow already on the books, the club is anything but rotten to the core. The first team may have fallen short of expected standards in the past 18 months, and dramatically so this season, but the club seems well placed to begin – slowly but surely – clawing its way back towards the top.
http://tomkinstimes.com/2011/01/the-future’s-bright-the-future’s-red/
The good news is that the youth team is more exciting than it’s ever been. I’d urge anyone who thinks BenÃtez left a poor legacy to study the talent now at the Academy; if the first team started to flounder, the youth set-up was definitely on the right tracks after his 2009 overhaul. Rafa gets criticised for not bringing through enough local talent, but he could only pick from what he was given; and for the most part, that wasn’t a lot. His key decision was to install the two Barcelona gurus, Borrell and Segura, who can develop a strong footballing ethos at grass roots level; taking the best of the Catalan approach and blending it with the Liverpool way.
Last season Liverpool paid a sizable fee for 15-year-old QPR prodigy Raheem Sterling, a small, highly skilful and ultra-fast winger. But the coup de grâce was BenÃtez personally persuading the Spanish wunderkind Suso to opt for Liverpool ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona; at just 16, he was already head and shoulders above those in his age group, and now, aged 17, he looks capable of being fast-tracked to the first team. (Click on the link to see him, and the rest of the U18s, against Crystal Palace last weekend.)
Another English signing, Michael Ngoo, 18, has the proverbial great feet for a big man, as does Kristjan Gauti Emilsson. Portuguese winger Toni Silva (17) also seems to have a bright future, as does Hungarian striker, Krisztian Adorjan (17).
And at last there’s a collection of local boys – Conor Coady (17), Jack Robinson (17), John Flanagan (18) – who might just have what it takes. As ever, not all of these boys will make the grade; after all, there’s just not space in the team, even if all developed at their current rate. But as well as playing exceptionally as a team, the U18 side also has those standout individuals that are even more crucial. The Reds remain strong at reserve team level, too, where some of these kids are already flourishing. (Edit: this is without even mentioning Daniel Ayala, Danny Pacheco, Jonjo Shelvey and Martin Kelly, all 20 or under, who haven’t looked out of place when given first team chances.)
With Gillett and Hicks having done their best to run the club into the ground, it might take a year or two simply to get back to where we were a couple of years back, and longer still to exceed those levels (if possible).
But with intelligent owners who aren’t afraid to make big signings, a knowledgeable Director of Football, the spectre of Hodgson behind us, and some potential stars of tomorrow already on the books, the club is anything but rotten to the core. The first team may have fallen short of expected standards in the past 18 months, and dramatically so this season, but the club seems well placed to begin – slowly but surely – clawing its way back towards the top.
http://tomkinstimes.com/2011/01/the-future’s-bright-the-future’s-red/
