Topic: So what are these Youth/Reserve Lads like?

[Saul Goodman]

We are as good as qualified, which means at least 3 more matches for the lads to play against quality opposition. Not bad

Does it become a two legged affair in the next round ? That would be awesome!

[Saul Goodman]

Actually just looking at the rules.

The tournament shall be played according to the following format:
Description: The teams will be divided into 4 qualifying groups and play each other on a home and away basis. The top 2 teams in each qualifying group will advance to the Finals event
For the Finals the 8 teams play a knock-out format although each team will play 3 matches to determine final placing i.e. 1st to 8th
Total 12 matches

 

http://www.nextgenseries.com/Terms-and-Conditions

[Haemogoblin]

They can just enjoy this one now - and so can we.

Might see them loosen up a bit and try some different things. I'd love to see us put on an attacking showcase with Sterling, Silva, Adorjan, Morgan and perhaps Ngoo all starting, and Suso getting on for a bit maybe later on. Doubt we'd concede enough to waste our lifeline, especially with Wisdom looking so solid and composed. Quarterfinalists in the inaugural competition, W00T

Actually just looking at the rules.

 

Can someone make sense of that for me, please?

[Dr Manhattan]

Had a look at the tables and was quite surprised to see Man City's side out of it and without a win, and seeing Spurs' side at the top of theirs above Inter Milan's.

Still think Ajax or Barca will win it overall.

[suptoyou]

They can just enjoy this one now - and so can we.

Might see them loosen up a bit and try some different things. I'd love to see us put on an attacking showcase with Sterling, Silva, Adorjan, Morgan and perhaps Ngoo all starting, and Suso getting on for a bit maybe later on. Doubt we'd concede enough to waste our lifeline, especially with Wisdom looking so solid and composed. Quarterfinalists in the inaugural competition, W00T

Can someone make sense of that for me, please?

Think it works like this:

8 teams in play off knockout. 4 win 4 lose.

4 winners advance to semis. 4 losers play off 2 winners 2 losers.
Winners play each other for 5th and 6th : losers play each other for 7th and 8th

Semis have 2 winners 2 losers
Losers play each other for 3rd and 4th

Finalists are 1st and 2nd

So all teams will get 3 games in the play offs and a ranking...... good idea IMO.

[kopitecrash]

Can someone make sense of that for me, please?

Fairly simple. Imagine as well as the winning team going on to the final, the losing team goes backward, to a losers final. It's knockout with alot of playoffs in order to give the teams positions within the final standings.

Example. We beat Barcelona in the quarter final, then lose in the semi final. While we fight for 3rd place against the other semi final losers, Barcelona will play a semi final of losers. If they lose that, they go to a final of the two teams in the knockout which have lost twice - the loser is ranked 8th, the winner 7th.

That help?

Edit: Damn you suptoyou *shakes fist*

[suptoyou]

 

[RJH]

Can someone make sense of that for me, please?

I think it means:

The four who go out in the first knockout round will have their own mini-tournament.
e.g. Loser 1 vs. Loser 2, Loser 3 vs. Loser 4. The two winners of that then play each other to decide 5th/6th, the two losers play to decide 7th/8th.
Two teams that lose in the semis will go to a 3rd placed playoff.

So every team in the knockout stages will have to play three opponents no matter what.

[the_red_pill]

Had a look at the tables and was quite surprised to see Man City's side out of it and without a win, and seeing Spurs' side at the top of theirs above Inter Milan's.

Still think Ajax or Barca will win it overall.

Spurs beat Inter 7-1, IIRC.

[Haemogoblin]

Aha, ta. 

Looked a bit more complicated when I first read that sentence. Sounds a very sensible way to go about things. Still essentially a traditional knockout format, just with an opportunity to improve your overall placing.

Still think Ajax or Barca will win it overall.

I'd be surprised if they didn't, to be honest. They've got the pedigree, awesome facilities, fantastic scouting network, etc. Probably be the final.

[babraham]

Woah Molde! WTF!? Get the fuck in! Feels like the first team just scored an injury time winner in a cup match!

Think it works like this:

8 teams in play off knockout. 4 win 4 lose.

4 winners advance to semis. 4 losers play off 2 winners 2 losers.
Winners play each other for 5th and 6th : losers play each other for 7th and 8th

Semis have 2 winners 2 losers
Losers play each other for 3rd and 4th

Finalists are 1st and 2nd

So all teams will get 3 games in the play offs and a ranking...... good idea IMO.

That's actually a fantastic system. After all, the main purpose of this is just to play games. Play as many games as possible against good teams of differing styles and tactics.

The reason I'm so happy we're through is not because winning this comp automatically equates to future stars (although winning it would be great) but I just want the lads to play as many NextGen games as possible.

Of course I want us to win in the knockout stages but it's absolutely fantastic that should we lose, we'll still get more games against good teams who made it out of their groups too.

I'm proper happy right now.

*Lets not do a South Africa though and prematurely celebrate, even if we'd go through on head to head too anyway

[MBL?]

Spurs beat Inter 7-1, IIRC.

From the extended highlights I saw of that game Inter were woeful. Spurs were good but I'd be surprised if they were much better than us.

[DanA]

Lets twat Sporting 4-0 and take top spot!

[hassinator]

Still think Ajax or Barca will win it overall.

that's the spirit

[Dr Manhattan]

that's the spirit

What the fuck's wrong with saying that? I'm all for the experience this gives our kids, but the fact of the matter is that Ajax and Barcelona are very very strong, always have been.

I'd like to see us get as far as possible, but it really isn't about winning anyway.

[hassinator]

it was a tap in big man

totally agree but i like that our under 18s have just got stronger and stronger.  there have also been a few big names that have already fallen by the wayside and i'm in 'glass half full' mode.   imagine how much our youth coaches want to beat barca?  it would be a very exciting final.

[revelationx]

Shelvey scored a Hat-trick against Leeds tonight! Great experience he is getting at Blackpool.

[gazzathered]

Great news for the kids getting to play a couple of extra games or maybe more. Any idea who we may play in the next round

[RJH]

Great news for the kids getting to play a couple of extra games or maybe more. Any idea who we may play in the next round

From the looks of it, the teams from the other groups will be:

Barca, Marseille, Ajax, Aston Villa, Spurs and Inter

[MBL?]

What the fuck's wrong with saying that? I'm all for the experience this gives our kids, but the fact of the matter is that Ajax and Barcelona are very very strong, always have been.

I'd like to see us get as far as possible, but it really isn't about winning anyway.

Barca and Sporting are supposed to be the strongest from what I've heard. One thing I love about this tournament is that we know next to fuck all about the opposition.

[El_Pistolero]

Molde you beauts!

[trembles97]

Get in. Absolutely delighted to be (virtually) through.

I still hope that we can get a good result at Sporting, just to get the confidence back in the side.

[DanA]

You'd assume finish second in the group we'd play one of the teams that finished first in theirs. That means it's likely Ajax, Barcelona or Spurs but it's not decided yet with Marseille & Aston Vila still able to top their groups over Barcelona & Ajax.

[Niru Red4ever]

Think it works like this:

8 teams in play off knockout. 4 win 4 lose.

4 winners advance to semis. 4 losers play off 2 winners 2 losers.
Winners play each other for 5th and 6th : losers play each other for 7th and 8th

Semis have 2 winners 2 losers
Losers play each other for 3rd and 4th

Finalists are 1st and 2nd

So all teams will get 3 games in the play offs and a ranking...... good idea IMO.

Cheers. So we have way more than 3 matches left. So qualifying was important.

Had a look at the tables and was quite surprised to see Man City's side out of it and without a win, and seeing Spurs' side at the top of theirs above Inter Milan's.

Still think Ajax or Barca will win it overall.

Is that a true reflection of the relative strengths? I mean like we played with a team a huge chunk of which will be eligible to play in the next two years. So we are stronger than we look, or maybe not (if the others are playing a team full of 16yr olds).

[iamrobk]

it was a tap in big man

totally agree but i like that our under 18s have just got stronger and stronger.  there have also been a few big names that have already fallen by the wayside and i'm in 'glass half full' mode.   imagine how much our youth coaches want to beat barca?  it would be a very exciting final.

Would be great to see Borrell (he's the one coaching us in the NextGen right?  i forget, it's been so long since we had a game) be able to get a win against Barca.

[babraham]

Get in. Absolutely delighted to be (virtually) through.

I still hope that we can get a good result at Sporting, just to get the confidence back in the side.

Me too. Even though we're likely through, it would be great to have a performance like the second half of that game vs them. Beating Sporting away would do wonders for the confidence!

You'd assume finish second in the group we'd play one of the teams that finished first in theirs. That means it's likely Ajax, Barcelona or Spurs but it's not decided yet with Marseille & Aston Vila still able to top their groups over Barcelona & Ajax.

Anyone reckon country protection would still apply? I would think so since one of the objectives of the tournament is to be exposed to other country's styles of football.

So that would potentially mean Barca or Ajax?

[hassinator]

Get in. Absolutely delighted to be (virtually) through.

I still hope that we can get a good result at Sporting, just to get the confidence back in the side.

we've looked stronger and stronger as the season has progressed.

not suggesting that benfica haven't looked the strongest in the group but i wouldn't bet against us getting a result over there.

[redbyrdz]

From the looks of it, the teams from the other groups will be:

Barca, Marseille, Ajax, Aston Villa, Spurs and Inter

So 3 out of 8 teams are English? Only one Spanish, and no Germans? Not sure if that really reflects the strength of academies across Europe, or just the initial team selection.

[TomDcs]

Only just seen about Molde getting the draw, awesome. Hopefully we can go to Sporting and express ourselves with a bit of pressure off now and get top spot

[soberphobia]

So 3 out of 8 teams are English? Only one Spanish, and no Germans? Not sure if that really reflects the strength of academies across Europe, or just the initial team selection.

You are right but its irrelevant. It means our youngsters will get to play more games against really good opposition rather than beating up on some lesser junior teams and all of us having an unbalanced view of where they are really at. I think next year a few more of the big academies will join in as it looks to be achieving the objectives of what clubs are wanting from the series. the first half agains sporting would of got the eyes wide open of a few of our lads and that has been a good thing.

If they get to play teams like Barca and Ajax as well as Benfica plus another guaranteed game against sporting this will be amazing for their development and tactical awareness.

[scatman]

I want our youngsters to play the best, so if thats barca and ajax then thats brilliant. Would be a great learning experience, and we'd be able to gauge how well our academy is doing in producing players compared to those which are world reknown

[Haemogoblin]

not suggesting that benfica haven't looked the strongest in the group but i wouldn't bet against us getting a result over there.

If they get to play teams like Barca and Ajax as well as Benfica plus another guaranteed game against sporting this will be amazing for their development and tactical awareness.

Doubt any Sporting fans reading this will be too impressed with this apparent confusion of the two. 

Next year's contest may well expand to up to 32 teams though, if it's deemed enough a success that the other European giants are eager to jump on board. Good job we got our names in the hat for the inaugural tounament, as with us, Villa, Spurs and Citeh already involved, you can see at least 7 prominent English clubs vying to be included - don't know how they'd manage that. Would be a bit arlarse (to say the least) to boot the likes of Molde out to make room, so it likely will have to have a bigger group stage.

Some pretty massive world-famous clubs off the top of my head not involved this time:

Real Madrid
Valencia
Villareal
Atleti
Milan
Juve
Bayern
Dortmund
Porto
Benfica
Lyon
PSG
Arsenal
Chelsea
Rangers
Manure

There's another 16 for you, right off the bat. All relatively close to each other too, so no long haul flights to Dynamo Kiev or the like. Whether everyone'd be cool with having so many from Spain and England is another matter.

[lamonti]

What happened to the lad Nacho?

Photo of him on twitter all banged up in hospital.

BrianDurand56 Brian Durand
Reds, send your "Get well soon" messages to Nacho . @NachoHuertas10 yfrog.com/ny2yhfbj

[kopitecrash]

What happened to the lad Nacho?

Photo of him on twitter all banged up in hospital.

BrianDurand56 Brian Durand
Reds, send your "Get well soon" messages to Nacho . @NachoHuertas10 yfrog.com/ny2yhfbj

Someone tried to eat him.

[superjack]

http://anfieldyouth.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/match-report-liverpool-u14s-2-0-derby-u14s/ Jordan rossiter who played for England u16 recently. This is lfc u15 the headline is wrong.

[superjack]

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DwRjK2jiaiHU%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded&feature=player_embedded&v=wRjK2jiaiHU&gl=IE jonjo hattrick

[superjack]

Someone tried to eat him.

Pj Vaughan (@talkingpj) has shared a Tweet with you:

Liverpool youngster Nacho spent the night in hospital after he dislocated his shoulder. http://t.co/RBTKAok8"

[elnino_yash]

Someone tried to eat him.

Ill admit,I laughed 

[Haemogoblin]

^ I didn't - it was too cheesy.

[Diomedieocre]

Corny bastards.