Liverpool FC Forum

[Reg]

Just imagine Shanks´ reaction to buying all these foreign lads.... he'd down to the first local school and have the lads out on the field within the hour. Poor Reuben Bennett and Ronnie Moran would've been dragged along as well..... 'Come on Reuben, we gotta show the laddies the beauty of da game and get them motivated. Spain? whats where you sit on da beach and eat icecreams, you dont buy futbol players when you have the best futbol players in the world in ya backyard.'

Rafa never will be Shanks.

[tubby]

Tha game has changed Reg. Ideally id like local lads coming through but if this is what it takes to win the league then im not going to complain. And I dont think anyone here will complain either if this kids turns into the next big thing. I dont know if there is a lack of local talant or we are just not looking hard enough but Rafa is the guy in charge and he is Spanish so obviously he is going to have more knowledge of Spanish players.

[Reg]

It hasnt changed > boy plays football at school, it becomes a passion, he signs forms with a club and goes through their youth system.

Thats how it was 10, 20 and 30 years ago. How has it changed since then? How is it different in Spain, do the clubs have special breeding programs or something?

The British system has imploded at the first stage.

[Ian Rush's Right foot]

It hasnt changed > boy plays football at school, it becomes a passion, he signs forms with a club and goes through their youth system.

Thats how it was 10, 20 and 30 years ago. How has it changed since then? How is it different in Spain, do the clubs have special breeding programs or something?

The British system has imploded at the first stage.

If the British system is wrong then why is this Rafa's fault?

Come on we have a good scouting network, we have some great youngsters

And we have bought young english lads in the past few years (Hobbs etc)

If we scout europe and 4/5 lads don't make it but the 5th ends up like Kaka then i'm all for it

i mean look at the 80's how many good players came through our academy i count 4

Ablett
Whelen
Marsh
Staunton

[GYBS]

Spot On Daws - who gives a flying monkeys were they come from - either from outer mongolia or born in the training room its wether they benefit Liverpool is all that matters - This new spanish coach has turned players like messi,pique, fabregas into the players they are now .

I care for two very simple reasons.

1. The academy has the responsibility to produce top players of the future for LFC.
2. It must also run profitably otherwise it is a wasted resource and a drain on funds.

I maintain that an incoming 15 year old wont want to spend 10 years of his life to learn his trade, break into the first team at 20 possibly then play 5 years at that level. Its not realistic - he´s Spanish or Czech, or Bulgarian not English and in the vast majority of cases they will want to stay for 5-6 years then move on, most likely home. An English lad is different, he is home, he is in his own environment and culture and he understands the aura and image of LFC. He´ll be more willing to stay, he´s close to his family and does not consider a move offshore at that stage of his career. Its a dream for when he´s 25-27 to move abroad, not at 20 - the opposite of the foreign lad he's playing with at the academy today.

Second the academy must provide a return on investment. 20 year olds returning home dont command big fees when they didnt break into the first team so they cost us money. Every transfer window we buy players direct for the first team showing that the academy is not working and that we´re getting a poor return on investment. How many millions have we spent in the last 5 years on first team players? Ouch!

This is my simplistic thinking, we need a greater emphasis on home grown talent as their pay back period is longer and they dont have a natural and understandable longing to go home.

i would rather the academy produce quality footballers no matter where they are from .

And comparing Rafa to shanks is unfair - the game has moved on a changed . maybe just maybe reg the english kids arent as good as  thier counterparts from abroad .  most if not  all bar gerrard of the top footballers in the world are foreign . The english lads just arent good enough .

[Ace Ventura]

Well none of the foreign kids using our 'scattergun approach' have fared very well have they ?

Maybe if more emphasis was placed on our own market we would see better results.
And i dont want to hear Hobbs and Anderson as examples, because thats two players. There has been about 20 foreign kids brought in compared with far less british.

I am all for players from wherever playing for us, but dont think this approach has served us well at all.

[JoeTerp]

Aaron King signs for Liverpool
Posted on: Mon 22 Jun 2009

Rushden & Diamonds Under 16 player Aaron King has completed a move to Liverpool FC for an undisclosed fee.

Aaron joined Rushden & Diamonds Youth Development at the age of 11, moving into the Centre of Excellence in his Under 13 year, where he has continued through to Under 16 level. After a successful trial with the Reds, Aaron begins his two-year scholarship with Liverpool on 6th July, becoming the third player in the last two seasons to move from Rushden & Diamonds Youth System to a Premier League club.

Head of Youth Paul Driver commented "We are all absolutely thrilled for Aaron - this is a brilliant achievement for everyone involved in his development throughout the five years that he has been with us.

His progress with us to get to the level where one of the 'Big 4 Clubs' is prepared to offer him a scholarship also serves as further evidence of how well we have maintained our system despite the withdrawal of financial support from the football authorities in the past two seasons".

We would like to wish Aaron the best of luck at Liverpool.

source

[GYBS]

what about players like Linfield , The keepers , plenty of english lads have been in the academy but none have done well also

[GYBS]

Liverpool FC Youth Squad - 2009 - 2010
Name Role
Karl Clair 1st Year
Conor David Coady 1st Year
Adam Ryan Dawson 1st Year
John Flanagan 1st Year
Marcus Giglio 1st Year
Michael Ihiekwe 1st Year
Matthew Lawrence McGiveron 1st Year
Craig Roddan 1st Year
Alex Whittle 1st Year
Andre Wisdom 1st Year
Aaron King 1st Year
Robert Maloney 1st Year
Name Role
Thomas Ince 2nd Year
Alex Cooper 2nd Year
Deale Chamberlain 2nd Year
Hakan Duyan 2nd Year
James Ellison 2nd Year
Adam Pepper 2nd Year
Michael Roberts 2nd Year
Name Role
Sean Highdale 3rd Year


there is a lot of english lads there

[GYBS]

there is also loads of english lads in the under 18 team

[GYBS]

Reserves



Jay Spearing



Damien Plessis

Krisztian Nemeth

Charles Itandje

Nabil El Zhar

Stephen Darby

Martin Kelly

Ryan Flynn

Steven Irwin


Craig Lindfield

Nathan Eccleston

Martin Hansen

Peter Gulacsi
-
David Martin
-
Adam Hammill
-
Ryan Crowther
-
Mikel San Jose Dominguez
-
Gerardo Alfredo Bruna Blanco
-
Daniel Sanchez Ayala
-
Vincent Lucas Weijl
-
Christopher Oldfield
-
Vitor Coutinho Flora
-
Lauri Dalla Valle
-
Alex Kacaniklic
-
David Amoo
-
Christopher Buchtmann
-
Victor Palsson
-
Zsolt Poloskei
-
Dean Bouzanis
-
Emmanuel Mendy
-
Nikola Saric
-
Paul Anderson
-
Daniel Pacheco
-
Jordy Brouwer
-
Sebastian Leto
-
Andras Simon
-
Ray Putterill
-
Francisco Duran
-
Robbie Threlfall


Fair mix there as well

[account deleted by request]

It's not about where they come from in a nationalistic sense, its about where we can recruit players that have the MOST chance of progressing to the first team. Its difficult enough for a young player to develop and progress through to the first team, when you also add on the burden of adapting to a new country and new conditions its hard enough for a seasoned international never mind some 15 year old kid. Add in the homesickness (that even our seasoned internationals have been prone to) and it certainly levels the playing field with home grown youngsters.   

We have been signing youngsters from abroad for years now ....... how many have made it? Pongole and Traore have probably done the best, but even they never really quite made it. How many kids signed at 16 from abroad have made it with other clubs apart from Arsenal?

The likelyhood is that the BEST young players would realise they have got an easier passage to the first team by remaining in their own country, while very few will risk their careers by being tempted by an earlier contract in a foreign country, BUT a lot of the mediocre players will be more willing to take the chance.   

Maybe at 15 or 16 they are more technically gifted(for whatever reason), but maybe they don't have the same passion, desire, and commitment that local boys will to their home town club. Maybe when the going gets tough they won't have the same support from family and friends to help them through it.

Imo the slight advantage that may be gained by taking more technically advanced youngsters from abroad is more than offset by the problems of a youngster trying to cope in a foreign land.

Its not about young English players being "frightened " to compete with foreign players and therefore seeking out other clubs, its about youngsters seeking out the best opportunity to make a career for themselves. If they are looking to sign for a club at 12 or 14, why should they sign for a club with a policy of bringing in foreign talent at 16 when they can just as easily sign for a club with a policy of promoting youngsters from within. This is their one chance of makibng a career in football. why risk it by picking a club that puts obstacles in the way, rather than going to a club that doesn't.

[GYBS]

will the cream not rise to the top thou saint - it always seem to in the end ? There isnt many youngsters these days that have been released or be passed on by their home club that have gone on to prove people wrong - Arsenals kids and Man Utd Kids dont seem to having any major problems .

Im always in the thinking that if they are good enough they will prove it .

[account deleted by request]

will the cream not rise to the top thou saint - it always seem to in the end ? There isnt many youngsters these days that have been released or be passed on by their home club that have gone on to prove people wrong - Arsenals kids and Man Utd Kids dont seem to having any major problems .

Im always in the thinking that if they are good enough they will prove it .

No mate it doesn't. Many of the most talented players never make it. Drink, going out having a good time, lack of self confidence, lack of dedication, lack of opportunities. There are hundreds of pitfalls before a young lad makes it through. Most of them are never heard of again, a few regroup and try again.

Putting even more obstacles in their way will just make it even worse. 

Lineker for example was considered a joke and was laughed at by the other reserves at Leicester for his lack of technical ability. I wonder who his laughing now, but would he ever have been given a chance today? 

Heighway always said that its not until they have had a run of first team games that you really know with 99% of players whether they will make it or not. So you could get two kids of equal ability, one who goes on to be an international star while the other becomes a bus driver.

[GYBS]

Whose fault is it with all the drinking and youth culture ? thats a big problem within the english clubs but i reckon you dont get that with most if not all the foriegn lads . All the kids have the exact same opportunity to succeed - its up to them to grab it - if they are that good they will stand out above the rest .