Liverpool FC Forum

by **Reg** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:25 pm

TOMKINS: PROGRESS AT ALL LEVELS 09 April 2008

I don't cry over football; maybe some of the things that can surround it, such as the tragedy a few weeks before the 1989 match that's been so talked about this week, but never the game itself.

Maybe it was nervous exhaustion, but I was definitely welling up at the end of last night's game. At varying times I felt ill, elated, nauseous, hyperactive and fidgety, slightly insane, and by the final whistle had a sense of disbelief and overwhelmingness I've not experienced since Istanbul. And the late, late goals made up for the shock of Michael Thomas' winner 19 years ago. I've lost my voice, so I'm typing this in silence.

The Chelsea semi-finals of '05 and '07 had been incredibly tense, but not the rollercoaster ride of this quarter-final. However, when Liverpool needed the class, two new additions made the difference, in Torres and Babel. When Liverpool needed the guts and the heart, Mascherano was snapping at every Gunners' heels, Kuyt was perpetual motion and Skrtel made some crucial blocks with a never-say-die attitude. Of course, not that any of the players at the club for a longer time were any less intense.

I had decided to write the outline of a piece about progression before the game. How it was finished, and how it would be perceived, would be altered by the result, but the underlying facts about the progress being made across the board at Liverpool would remain the same.

In truth, I half expected the Reds to go out, for the very reason witnessed in the first 30 minutes - the slightest advantage was likely to weigh heavy, as it had in '89, and in turn, free Arsenal of pressure. I didn't expect Liverpool to recover so quickly from going behind, but the character of this side should never be in doubt. So apologies to the lads for a momentary wobble on my part.

Arsenal seem to score in every game they play, and even at 2-1, I was certain they'd get a late goal, as it's a nervy situation to defend; one that results in dropping too deep, and well, there was that whole 1989 thing again.

Again, I didn't expect such a quick riposte from the Reds - and that's been the key over both games. Arsenal never got two goals in front, and any advantage they had lasted only a few minutes. Maybe Liverpool got lucky with Hleb's penalty appeal last week, which was no different from Babel's, but this week Hleb handled the ball in the build up to their first goal, so they can't complain overall.

And so the first team is starting to get a look of Rafa's DNA, and as the new and relatively new players continue to gel with the old, and with a couple of additions in the summer, I expect further improvements next season.

However, winning the reserve league with a young side is hugely significant, too. Maybe it's the more significant event this week, in many respects. In terms of the silverware itself it's relatively minor, but you only have to look at the club's history to see how portentous it has proved. It's almost like a barometer that forecasts approaching warm weather.

In 1957, with Bob Paisley running the reserves, the Reds won their first Central League title. Clearly, it was a sign of things to come -albeit, in that case, more of an indication of Bob's talent than that of the players. But from then on, the parallels between reserve success and improvement in the first team is pronounced.

While Bill Shankly failed to win a championship title between 1966 and 1973, in 1969, 1970 and 1971 the reserve team were once again winning the Central League; within two years, the Reds were crowned English champions. The domination continued in first and second string leagues until 1985, while the last reserve title for a decade would arrive in 1990, a year whose significance isn't lost on Liverpool fans yearning for no.19.

Then, in 2000, four years after the club's first-ever Youth Cup success, the reserves won what was, until this week, their last title. Most interesting is that, yet again, the first team benefited very soon afterwards; 2001 was clearly a very special season, with three cups won for the only time in English football history, and 2002 saw the Reds finish second in the Premiership with 80 points. The strength of the first team squad between 2000 and 2002 was as good as it got under Houllier, and the reserve league success shows the strength in depth.

More recently, in 2006 and 2007 the club won the Youth Cup, and for some of those players, such as Stephen Darby, Ryan Flynn and Jay Spearing, along with a collection of new teenage foreign recruits, to go on and win the reserve league title in 2008 speaks volumes about the progress being made at the club on a number of levels.

This latest success is slightly different from the reserve teams of yore, in that it is more of a youth side than a reserve side; gone are the days of the second string being filled with dissatisfied pros, first team substitutes, stars recovering from injury, and only a few younger players who were in and out of the side. The lack of clarity left a real mixed bag.

Perhaps more remarkably, this latest success has occurred with many of the most promising young players out on loan, as, in keeping with a lot of successful young Premiership stars, they step up their education in a more pressurised environment; playing in games that really matter, in front of crowds of up to 30,000 (and even 76,000, in Danny Guthrie’s case).

While some players, like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen went straight into Premiership football as teenagers, others, like David Beckham and Ashley Cole, went out to lower division clubs first. And yet all would ultimately be described as 'world-class' by many experts.

Players develop at different rates, but also much depends on weaknesses in the first team as to when they make their bow. If Liverpool had Alan Shearer and Dennis Bergkamp on the books in 1997, and Robbie Fowler wasn't injured, Michael Owen would probably have gone out on loan first or spent longer in the reserves.

Unlike older pros who are out of the first team picture, young players are rarely loaned out merely to get them off the wage bill; they go out to improve. Some will come on in leaps and bounds, and others won't. But even those who do very well are up against it when there are already 20 plus senior players ahead of them, most of whom are already full internationals.

Without taking anything away from those who have done so magnificently, I think if you added Jack Hobbs, Adam Hammill, Danny Guthrie, Godwin Antwi and Paul Anderson to the current reserve squad, then it would be 30 per cent stronger. The difficulty would be who to leave out, because, for example, centre-backs San Jose Dominguez (18), Huth (18) and Ayala (17) have all looked incredibly accomplished for their age. It's testament to the scouting that there now seems to be a conveyor belt of these types of player.

It's hard on some of the lads to single out stars from the reserves, because they've all contributed, and players develop at different speeds while they’re learning the game and, in many cases, still developing physically. And it's wrong to put too much pressure on certain individuals at a tender age.

I've been impressed with Damien Plessis all season long. He's like a mix of Momo Sissoko and Xabi Alonso - the physicality and tackling of the former (without as much pace, it seems), but with some of the passing skills, positional sense and composure of the latter.

Emiliano Insua is a wonderful attacking left-back. The only doubt I have about him is his height, particularly given the importance of crosses in English football, but he's strong, committed and very clever on the ball. You don't play in the Liverpool first team in the league at the age of 17, as Insua did last May, without special talent, even if they were relatively meaningless fixtures.

I haven't seen enough of Pacheco, Bruna and Simon to be too conclusive in my judgements, but they all possess excellent technique.

But the star for me is Krisztian Nemeth. The Hungarian reminds me of a right-footed version of prime-years Robbie Fowler. While not slow, he doesn’t have that searing pace that makes many young strikers so dangerous as teenagers, at a point when they lack footballing intelligence and experience.

But Nemeth, like Fowler, has intelligence in abundance, as well as an exquisite touch on the ball. To score 14 goals in 37 Hungarian top-division games at MTK Hungária FC between the ages of 16 and 18 showed immense potential, while he has scored seven goals for both the U19 and the U21 national sides, in just three and six appearances respectively. Eight in nine reserve games confirms his ability to score regularly.

His movement, positioning and finishing mark him out as a real natural. He seems on another level to almost any other young player I've seen play for the reserves. But Premier League football is another level altogether, and he'll need time to adjust.

Any manager will play youngsters when they are ready, as a boss has nothing to gain by keeping them out of the team if they are good enough, just as he has nothing to gain by playing them when they're too raw.

But as we've seen with the first team's performances in the second half of the season, there's no desperate need to throw the kids in. Blooding them in games that are not as crucial is the way forward, as seen with the impressive Plessis at The Emirates. Their development is all part of the wider context of improvement.

In the meantime, there's a few really important matches coming up. Maybe it’ll be third time lucky for Chelsea, or perhaps they are just too sick of the sight of Liverpool in semi-finals. But whatever happens, it's been another remarkable European campaign from the Reds, and another Anfield night of great drama and emotion. At times we are well and truly spoilt.

by **Effes** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:46 pm

What a bore this fella is - surely his "articles" shouldn't be given a new thread

by **Dalglish** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:06 am

Effes wrote:What a bore this fella is - surely his "articles" shouldn't be given a new thread

It's obvious from the thread listing that it is Tomkins you are choosing to read so it's quite simple ................ if you don't rate the guy then don't open the thread.

Personally I think his style of writing and analytical musings are spot on. He gets beyond the over emotional rants that prevail so much these days and cuts to the chase.

Walk on ............... Or in this case Write on !

by **laza** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:37 am

He may wear very thick rose coloured glasses but i rather read his stuff then some of obviously anti Liverpool crud that supposely respected journos pump out on regularly depressing rate

by **radun5** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:29 am

I think you meant "Latests musing SF from the bard"

by **RedBlood** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:39 pm

laza wrote:He may wear very thick rose coloured glasses but i rather read his stuff then some of obviously anti Liverpool crud that supposely respected journos pump out on regularly depressing rate

spot on mate

by **Toffeehater** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:30 pm

well , at least this was a better post then all his other articles of late , good read

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