Topic: Youth and Under 23 Thread

[JP-65]

I will return to this...
If we don't have enough fixtures (about half the number of games with more players than others) why do we NEED more players than we can accommodate?
That's not thinking 'in the box', that's thinking realistically and practically.

You can't think out of box if your boundaries are "realistically and practically", again, that's a definition of in the box!

[hassinator]

I'm not thinking in the box, I was comparing the reserves to one classroom.
Unless you can find a way for us to have several reserves teams (with more coaches and fixtures) you can't talk about more than one classroom.

We all would love to have a new Gerrard and Torres but that's the dream scenario. The real one is to stop spending money on average players and instead promoting them, the ones who are good enough to be squad players (like the Oshea's, Brown's and Fletcher's of this world). The money we'll save will help us focus on buying more quality players. If one or maybe two coming through could save us bigger money because they will be top quality then that's just a bonus.

In Barcelona Athletic (reserves) there are 23 players. In Barceloa Youth A (U-18's) there are 21 players. On-loan there are 2 players. A total of 46 players.
In Liverpool's reserves there are 28 players. In Liverpool's U-18's there are 20 players. On-loan there are 11 players. A total of 59 players.
The difference is 13 players.
Barcelona Athletic have 38 official games in their fixture list this season, Liverpool reserves have 20.
If you can't see the differences and the problem, well then...

and indeed that is a pretty obvious statement to make - saving money would be great and indeed even generating squad players would be a bonus but we have failed to achieve even that in the past 10 years so whatever our previous model it was clearly failing on every level

i think rafa is aiming higher and to my untrained eyes we do seem to have top drawer talent coming through at all levels.  its also worth remembering that barcelona doesn't just produce squad players but top talent in every position but they have a fully integrated academy system with a manager who has also come through the same system himself.

rafa's background is as a youth coach for real madrid so what else does he need on his cv before you stop banging the same old drum?  over the course of this season he has blooded former academy players and also clearly nurtured key talent in which he has long term faith.  yes we're not yet as successful as arsenal or man utd in this respect but - again - he's not had as long as wenger or ferguson to get it right.  we are, though, moving in the right direction.

even your two favourite hobby horses anderson and hammil are clearly making real progress this year - what else does it take for you to have a little faith in the big man?

[Strawberry Fields]

and indeed that is a pretty obvious statement to make - saving money would be great and indeed even generating squad players would be a bonus but we have failed to achieve even that in the past 10 years so whatever our previous model it was clearly failing on every level

what else does it take for you to have a little faith in the big man?

For him to prove that Insua will do exactly what I talked about, saving us money (preferably before we spend it. I know we can't turn back time). That Insua will not be a one single case but will set a precedent for exactly that.

By the way, Insua and Darby both didn't have a competition for their place (the only ones) and that didn't seem to hurt them one bit.

[Manila Kop]

And all of those constraints are all manageable with the proper level of resources, focus and commitment....but it requires a footie organization to 'think out of the box', which is not something that naturally happens in the football club world.

Most 'problems' are solvable if the organization has the will, energy and talent to take them on.

As to SF's latest "pearl of wisdom", I disagree 100%, the more resources applied to a problem, the greater the probability of success.  The more resources applied intelligently, the even greater probability of success.  This isn't 'theory', it's real world practice and experience.

JP, I know you've got years (decades?) of experience in senior management positions for GE, but I do think the constraints that Raspberry Paddocks (clever one Roy) and redwood32 have pointed out have some merits.  As economists say, it's all about maximizing the efficient use of resources under conditions of scarcity.  In this case both SF and RW have figures showing how there's a clear mismatch between the number of players at the bottom of the pyramid and the availability of coaches and fixtures to aid them in their development. 

While I don't doubt that there are development plans are in place, and the basic framework of a pyramid of talent is correct in principle, I'd agree with Strawberry and redwood that the devil is in the details - even if the principles behind it are sound, this is a question of implementation now.  Throwing more resources at a problem may or may not work, as anyone who's dealt with a project with spiraling costs outside the programmed budget will vouch for.  There may also be problems with the system's capacity to produce more resources - hiring new coaches, increasing the number of fixtures - these may or may not be in the club's/Rafa's control.  Scaling up is also a difficult thing as you lose some control over the nitty-gritty of the program if not properly managed - while it would be nice in principle to have 200 of the best young footballers in the world at the Academy, I wonder whether the club has the proper systems and structure to handle that number of players and make something out of it.  And lastly, sometimes the basic design of a project is so flawed that the amount of resources - whether time or money - required to salvage it would not be commensurate with the benefits that would result from it, or would not be able to overcome inherent systemic flaws (isn't the British NHS a classic example of this?).

I'd be interested in hearing your ideas to overcome these systemic constraints/dilemmas to help guide Strawberry, redwood and myself outside the box. 

[Miko]

Paul Anderson appears to have just broken his arm after a nasty fall against Derby today. He was having a great second half after a quite first. But while running on to a 50-50 ball he fell over backwards and landed on his right arm while it was folded behind him, he has been writhing in pain for about 4 minutes now, lots of medical staff around him and he is still looking like he is in a severe amount of pain. Hope he is okay After just seeing the replay it may not be broken, but it's definitely fucked up.

Wrong thread, apologies.

[FinnishRed]

Yup, looked really horrible that.

[carra1892]

"- I didn't came to Liverpool to play with the reserves but to play with the seniors. Many says that I should stay and give it another year. But there is nothing more for me to develop in the reserves," tells Astrit for the HN-sport.

That's his attitude. And that's why he's being moved on. But no one will take him.

I'm not defending him and i'm not against him. But why don't you pay a little bit of attention to his comments? Because what he says isn't that bad right? Don't know the situation good with Astrit, but there are more players that shouldn't play in the reserves and that is a fact. Nemeth playing in the reservers isn't good for developing and maybe it is the same for Astrit, if you are on a good level, playing in the reserves doesn't make any sense! It could be the case that it really isn't good for Astrit to play in the reserves and I give him credit for saying it. He just says what he feels and he wants to fight for first team football. He just wants to develop and he thinks that on reserve level it is not going to happen. And with more players it is the same. It doesn't make sense for guys like Nemeth, Insua, El Zahr playing in the reserves. And yes El Zahr and Insua did make appearances for Liverpool but i hope you see my point. Saying right away he has a bad attitude is just not right in my opnion, we don't know him. 

[bushy2812]

JP, I know you've got years (decades?) of experience in senior management positions for GE, but I do think the constraints that Raspberry Paddocks (clever one Roy) and redwood32 have pointed out have some merits.  As economists say, it's all about maximizing the efficient use of resources under conditions of scarcity.  In this case both SF and RW have figures showing how there's a clear mismatch between the number of players at the bottom of the pyramid and the availability of coaches and fixtures to aid them in their development. 

While I don't doubt that there are development plans are in place, and the basic framework of a pyramid of talent is correct in principle, I'd agree with Strawberry and redwood that the devil is in the details - even if the principles behind it are sound, this is a question of implementation now.  Throwing more resources at a problem may or may not work, as anyone who's dealt with a project with spiraling costs outside the programmed budget will vouch for.  There may also be problems with the system's capacity to produce more resources - hiring new coaches, increasing the number of fixtures - these may or may not be in the club's/Rafa's control.  Scaling up is also a difficult thing as you lose some control over the nitty-gritty of the program if not properly managed - while it would be nice in principle to have 200 of the best young footballers in the world at the Academy, I wonder whether the club has the proper systems and structure to handle that number of players and make something out of it.  And lastly, sometimes the basic design of a project is so flawed that the amount of resources - whether time or money - required to salvage it would not be commensurate with the benefits that would result from it, or would not be able to overcome inherent systemic flaws (isn't the British NHS a classic example of this?).

I'd be interested in hearing your ideas to overcome these systemic constraints/dilemmas to help guide Strawberry, redwood and myself outside the box. 

Good points but my take would be slightly different. The argument being raised is that with more kids and the same number of coaches each player is given less time proportionally than if we have fewer reserve players.

The counter argument is that if we bring in loads we are bound to find a few good ones, bit like buying more lottery tickets.

I would say the truth lies in the middle. The fact is that in any leadership, teaching, or managerial role the people under you do not necessarily get equal split of your time. By having a large number of players you do have more chance of getting some with real potential. The trick then is to give them a disproportionate amount of time to make sure they develop, whilst giving less talented players less time. That way you separate the cream from the run of the mill and give the good ones as much time as they would get in an environment with fewer players.

I do think we should enter 2 reserve leagues if possible though to give players more time on the pitch.

[Strawberry Fields]

The counter argument is that if we bring in loads we are bound to find a few good ones, bit like buying more lottery tickets.

You don't need to groom and develop lottery tickets, do you?

I do think we should enter 2 reserve leagues if possible though to give players more time on the pitch.

But while we aren't we still need to keep proportion.

[liverpoolfcmike]

You don't need to groom and develop lottery tickets, do you?

No, but you still need luck in abundance, which is partly what youth development is. A once in a generation player like Messi has not been groomed by Barcelona to have such talent. It is natural, and you have to be lucky to have that talent available, and then for them to make full use of it.

[Strawberry Fields]

No, but you still need luck in abundance, which is partly what youth development is. A once in a generation player like Messi has not been groomed by Barcelona to have such talent. It is natural, and you have to be lucky to have that talent available, and then for them to make full use of it.

I don't know if you have but read this and the post below this one:
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=204689.msg5293805#msg5293805

[Mark.]

Paul Anderson broke his arm playing for Notts Forest tonight against Derby. Presume he'll return back to us for treatment?

[lfc_bhoy]

Paul Anderson broke his arm playing for Notts Forest tonight against Derby. Presume he'll return back to us for treatment?

Yes, it was a fucking awful thing to watch.  Best of luck in his recovery and I'm glad it's not his leg.

[shanklyboy]

I'm not defending him and i'm not against him. But why don't you pay a little bit of attention to his comments? Because what he says isn't that bad right? Don't know the situation good with Astrit, but there are more players that shouldn't play in the reserves and that is a fact. Nemeth playing in the reservers isn't good for developing and maybe it is the same for Astrit, if you are on a good level, playing in the reserves doesn't make any sense! It could be the case that it really isn't good for Astrit to play in the reserves and I give him credit for saying it. He just says what he feels and he wants to fight for first team football. He just wants to develop and he thinks that on reserve level it is not going to happen. And with more players it is the same. It doesn't make sense for guys like Nemeth, Insua, El Zahr playing in the reserves. And yes El Zahr and Insua did make appearances for Liverpool but i hope you see my point. Saying right away he has a bad attitude is just not right in my opnion, we don't know him. 

He's a young lad with a lot of potential who has achieved nothing other than show a poor attitude.
It's correct that you say we don't know him , so how can we judge him. However the coaches who have worked with him over a long period on a daily basis do know him.Unfortunately he may have placed himself in a position where other clubs and coaches are seeing the same thing.

The one thing you can't coach into a player is the correct attitude. Something that has been in the forefront of the Academy coaching philosophy since it was opened.You can guide and instruct but it has to be the player who appreciates the opportunity and takes on board the lessons to be learned.
It's sometimes a painfull lesson, but usually it's learned at a far younger age than Astrit's.

[zabadoh]

@shanklyboy:  One is never too old for a lesson in humility.

[Brigor Cheyaore]

He's a young lad with a lot of potential who has achieved nothing other than show a poor attitude.
It's correct that you say we don't know him , so how can we judge him. However the coaches who have worked with him over a long period on a daily basis do know him.Unfortunately he may have placed himself in a position where other clubs and coaches are seeing the same thing.

The one thing you can't coach into a player is the correct attitude. Something that has been in the forefront of the Academy coaching philosophy since it was opened.You can guide and instruct but it has to be the player who appreciates the opportunity and takes on board the lessons to be learned.
It's sometimes a painfull lesson, but usually it's learned at a far younger age than Astrit's.

I completely disagree with your conclusion, it should be expected that an 18 year old has a bit of an attitude, everyone is a little shit at that age, and it can't help that he is pretty talented.  If you start ignoring every young player with a bad/cocky attitude, you're going to miss out on quite a bit of talent.

"- I didn't came to Liverpool to play with the reserves but to play with the seniors. Many says that I should stay and give it another year. But there is nothing more for me to develop in the reserves," tells Astrit for the HN-sport.

When he says seniors and reserves, I assume he means Melwood and the youth's setup, so it's not like he's expecting to be in the first team squad or anyone.  And he, like just about every other observer, was surprised when he didn't get moved to Melwood.  Obviously the reaction leaves a lot to be desired, but I don't like how our youth players get labeled with a bad attitude just because of one comment (or in Pourie's case, one biased match report).

[Manila Kop]

I don't know if you have but read this and the post below this one:
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=204689.msg5293805#msg5293805

That's also up for debate isn't it?  Most people think we should be looking for that 1-in-100 player - the Torres, the Gerrard, or the Messi - but there's also the less obvious but no less important squad players who can do a job for us while saving money in the transfer market.

I think the assertion that Maradona would've made it wherever he was and whatever his coaching bollocks.  You only have to look at the many "next (insert name of famous player here)" whose heads got too far ahead of their talent, Nando's fantastic improvement under Rafa, or on the converse Babel's lack of it, to see that coaching plays a vital part in coaxing talent into useful sporting ability.  Great talents need it just as much as the mediocre-but-committed players.  In fact you could argue on the flipside that dedicated but limited players need less coaching, because they've got the mental focus and single-minded determination to succeed despite their flaws, and so will try to learn more and practice more with or without coaching.

[hassinator]

I completely disagree with your conclusion, it should be expected that an 18 year old has a bit of an attitude, everyone is a little shit at that age, and it can't help that he is pretty talented.  If you start ignoring every young player with a bad/cocky attitude, you're going to miss out on quite a bit of talent.When he says seniors and reserves, I assume he means Melwood and the youth's setup, so it's not like he's expecting to be in the first team squad or anyone.  And he, like just about every other observer, was surprised when he didn't get moved to Melwood.  Obviously the reaction leaves a lot to be desired, but I don't like how our youth players get labeled with a bad attitude just because of one comment (or in Pourie's case, one biased match report).

hey brigor i admire your sentiment here but have to disagree.  football is a team game and if an individual through attitude disrupts the system then he needs to be removed.  one bad apple...  the situation at barcelona is a good case in point.  last year ronaldinho; deco weren't training properly and results suffered as morale was lowered and the best players weren't delivering. new season, new coach and with the trouble makers moved out they're now playing some of the best football i've seen.

in terms of astrit you're right we don't have conclusive quotes or stories to back up the idea he was some unsocial nightmare but we he is on record as saying that he wasn't playing with the seniors and therefore he needed to go somewhere that he was playing at a higher level.  that might well suit him as an individual but it does nothing for liverpool as a team.  in terms of subsequent action - or lack of it - it seems that no other club is coming in for him and that despite his obvious flair.  what conclusions do you think its fair to draw from that?

yes a lot of 18 years olds are moody fuckers - self included then and now and i'm 39 - but there's clearly a point where the coaches think enough is enough and that certainly appears to be the case here.

MK - yet again i agree with all your comments.  i think as an addendum in terms of the youth teams saving us money i think the emphasis at liverpool has to be on finding the exceptional.  we are no longer in the front rank of transfer spendings and if kaka is now valued at over £100m pounds the only way we will get real stars at anfield is if we grow them ourselves.  remember we STILL don't have a new stadium or indeed any progress towards it so where else are we going to generate money?

SF - you clearly have your point of view but i just totally disagree with it.  you don't seem to acknowledge the reality of the current circumstances and hear i mean the current political situation deriving from the ownership saga and the knock on effects for melwood and kirkby.  at the moment rafa seems to have limited faith in the academy and therefore is taking what he feels is the initiative in trying to generate home grown stars the way he feels best in his situation.

is it ideal that local parents feel their children are the victims of this?  of course not but what has to come first here?  the kids or the club?  this is not a great time for liverpool off the pitch but rafa can either keep his head down and accept the status quo or fight for the club and fans doing the job to the best of his ability using whatever tools he has.

[Art Vandelay]

U-18's drew 1-1 today.

http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/ff-football-forum/73877-u18s.html

[lamonti]

Paul Anderson appears to have just broken his arm after a nasty fall against Derby today. He was having a great second half after a quite first. But while running on to a 50-50 ball he fell over backwards and landed on his right arm while it was folded behind him, he has been writhing in pain for about 4 minutes now, lots of medical staff around him and he is still looking like he is in a severe amount of pain. Hope he is okay After just seeing the replay it may not be broken, but it's definitely fucked up.

Wrong thread, apologies.

I flicked on, saw a Forest player being stretchered off, taking oxygen. Just fucking knew it would have to be our lad.

[JP-65]

Nice one from Arbie on .tv


ARBELOA: KIDS KEEPING US ON OUR TOES
Oliver Pfeiffer 24 January 2009

   Alvaro Arbeloa believes there is a new generation of Liverpool players in the club's youth ranks ready to keep him and his teammates on their toes.
Youngsters like Emiliano Insua, Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly have established themselves in the first-team squad this season, and Arbeloa recognises the importance of developing young talent as well as splashing the cash on established stars.
 
He doesn't think it will be long before the talented crop of youngsters are pushing the senior players for a regular berth in the first XI.
 
"It's important that the young players at Liverpool are training with the first team as is happening now," the 25-year-old told the official LFC Magazine.
 
"They are improving and they are getting their chances in the first team.
 
"The development of Darby, Spearing, Plessis and Kelly is crucially important for Liverpool.
 
"You cannot buy players every transfer window. You must bring some of your own players through from within to maintain a healthy balance.
 
"We have got some very good young players here at this club and it would not surprise me at all if they began to force their way into the squads in the next year or so.
 
"It's good news for everybody."
 
The Reds defender was in a similar position when he was on the books at the Bernabeu and understands the pressures on emerging talent at a club like Liverpool.
 
"When I was a Real Madrid player I was in the same situation as they are," said Arbeloa.
 
"It is not easy trying to force your way into the games but if you have a good attitude, you work hard every day in training and are aware of the areas of your game that you need to strengthen, and work towards doing that, then you can do it."
 
Now a senior pro, Arbeloa knows he will have to retain the consistency he has shown in the first half of the season to keep his place.
 
"You anticipate competition for your place at Liverpool. It is good for the health and future of the club. No-one can be too confident about their place in the team," he said.
 
"You always have to play at a high level. I know that Darby is going to join Philipp Degen when he is fit and both of them will push me hard for my position."

[Mr_Morosoph]

Astrit Ajdarevic played for the u18s today against Man City, if he plays well until the end of the season maybe he's in with a shout of being called up to Melwood in the summer.

[Brigor Cheyaore]

hey brigor i admire your sentiment here but have to disagree.  football is a team game and if an individual through attitude disrupts the system then he needs to be removed.  one bad apple...  the situation at barcelona is a good case in point.  last year ronaldinho; deco weren't training properly and results suffered as morale was lowered and the best players weren't delivering. new season, new coach and with the trouble makers moved out they're now playing some of the best football i've seen.

in terms of astrit you're right we don't have conclusive quotes or stories to back up the idea he was some unsocial nightmare but we he is on record as saying that he wasn't playing with the seniors and therefore he needed to go somewhere that he was playing at a higher level.  that might well suit him as an individual but it does nothing for liverpool as a team.  in terms of subsequent action - or lack of it - it seems that no other club is coming in for him and that despite his obvious flair.  what conclusions do you think its fair to draw from that?

yes a lot of 18 years olds are moody fuckers - self included then and now and i'm 39 - but there's clearly a point where the coaches think enough is enough and that certainly appears to be the case here.

I agree with you on Deco and Ronaldinho, but that doesn't have anything to do with 18 year old Ajdarevic, does it?  And you're right, from the outside looking in things don't look rosy for his situation or his attitude, but I wish people could at least add the caveat that we don't know what's really going on when criticizing him.  I'm not trying to defend him, as I've only seen highlights of him playing and have no clue as to what happens in training, etc.  Maybe the coaches are right about him and he needs to go.... but then again, maybe it's the coaches and all the politics involved that are the problem here.  Hopefully he gets (already has?) his head on straight, plays well, and turns into the next Berger.

[Art Vandelay]

http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/news/73895-ex-liverpool-striker-scores-debut.html

[liverpoolfcmike]

And once again Lauri Dalla Valle scored.  That was his 12th goal of the season for the U18's in his 15th game.  He has now scored in 7 consecutive games counting both league and cup games (8 goals in those games).

He's so good.

I'm hoping for a meteoric rise from him. Pacheco too. Although it would be harder for him due to his size.

[redwood32]

And all of those constraints are all manageable with the proper level of resources, focus and commitment....but it requires a footie organization to 'think out of the box', which is not something that naturally happens in the football club world.

Most 'problems' are solvable if the organization has the will, energy and talent to take them on.

As to SF's latest "pearl of wisdom", I disagree 100%, the more resources applied to a problem, the greater the probability of success.  The more resources applied intelligently, the even greater probability of success.  This isn't 'theory', it's real world practice and experience.

I don't think our opinions are too far apart, the only point I'd still make is that I don't think we are thinking "outside the box" in regards to the Reserves. I don't see our constraints being any different to the other big clubs, and I don't see our approach as any different either. Yet we still have a greater number of lads.

The problem I was pointing out is that we're not thinking "outside the box", we're in the same box as all the other Reserve teams, however, we're trying to train more lads at the Reserve level. You also mentioned that applying more resources increases success, and again I agree to a point. Of course, just like any economic problem you have a level where things level off and the added resource does not improve performance. That's not the case here though, I believe we aren't applying any more resources than other clubs with less youngsters signed up, which was my point in the original post.

So we're not thinking "outside the box", we don't have a noticeable amount of extra resources, yet we have more youngsters than any other Reserve team for a big club. I think this is something we have to solve, either by adding resources and thinking "outside the box", or culling the amount of players. Unless of course having 150% more lads in our Reserves is thinking "outside the box", in which case the club is dead wrong because they haven't addressed any of the constraints.

[the_red_pill]

I'm not defending him and i'm not against him. But why don't you pay a little bit of attention to his comments? Because what he says isn't that bad right? Don't know the situation good with Astrit, but there are more players that shouldn't play in the reserves and that is a fact. Nemeth playing in the reservers isn't good for developing and maybe it is the same for Astrit, if you are on a good level, playing in the reserves doesn't make any sense! It could be the case that it really isn't good for Astrit to play in the reserves and I give him credit for saying it. He just says what he feels and he wants to fight for first team football. He just wants to develop and he thinks that on reserve level it is not going to happen. And with more players it is the same. It doesn't make sense for guys like Nemeth, Insua, El Zahr playing in the reserves. And yes El Zahr and Insua did make appearances for Liverpool but i hope you see my point. Saying right away he has a bad attitude is just not right in my opnion, we don't know him. 

I may have been too harsh with my 'stinking attitude' comment, but still for now, I'll stick to it. He does not have the right attitude- right approach. The fact that he feels he can say such things- and also express concern over the football at the club- in public, coupled with his obvious distrust in the coaches(and those 'lots of people' he talks about); says it all. He needs to get his head down and do as they say on the playing field. Put his cockyness to work there(nothing wrong with being cocky- we could certainly do with another one, it should just not be in disregard toward the hands that feed you).
I have always thought the lad is quality- IMO, he can make it- but that requires hard work and a willingness to learn- the right attitude/approach.

Astrit Ajdarevic played for the u18s today against Man City, if he plays well until the end of the season maybe he's in with a shout of being called up to Melwood in the summer.

Would love nothing better than to see the lad have a change of attitude- not 'attitude' like his persona or character, but how he approaches and sees his development and the people to whom his development has been entrusted to; and yes- how much he respects and trusts those people.

Who knows maybe it will work out for him and for us in the end cause we have a v. talented little player on our hands.

[royhendo]

Redwood - do we really have a significantly higher number of lads though? I know you ran the numbers, but when I ran the numbers they didn't tally with yours. The players are often listed in both the senior and reserve squads, or in both the academy and reserve squads, or in the reserves/seniors and as out on loan. The numbers I got after removing those duplicates were as follows...

overall squad numbers... not including spurs (will have to dig those numbers out...)

First team squad numbers
36 - Arsenal, Man Utd
35 - Liverpool
30 - Man City
27 - Chelsea
23 - Villa

Reserve players not listed in 1st team
21 - Villa
19 - Man City
18 - Liverpool
17 - Arsenal
13 - Chelsea
10 - Man Utd

Total loanees (1st team and reserves)
11 - Liverpool
10 - Arsenal
9 - Chelsea
6 - Man Utd
3 - Man City
2 - Aston Villa


Academy players not listed in reserves
27 - Aston Villa
25 - Man Utd
22 - Chelsea
19 - Liverpool
17 - Arsenal
? - Man City (details not listed)   


So - total player numbers for 1st team and reserves are as follows...

64 - Liverpool
63 - Arsenal
52 - Man Utd
52 - Man City
49 - Chelsea
46 - Aston Villa

So still a larger overall number, but maybe not as pronounced as we think, or as difficult to address.

[hassinator]

I agree with you on Deco and Ronaldinho, but that doesn't have anything to do with 18 year old Ajdarevic, does it?  And you're right, from the outside looking in things don't look rosy for his situation or his attitude, but I wish people could at least add the caveat that we don't know what's really going on when criticizing him.  I'm not trying to defend him, as I've only seen highlights of him playing and have no clue as to what happens in training, etc.  Maybe the coaches are right about him and he needs to go.... but then again, maybe it's the coaches and all the politics involved that are the problem here.  Hopefully he gets (already has?) his head on straight, plays well, and turns into the next Berger.

hey brigor and mr miyagi - i totally hope he sorts himself out and plays on to the reserves as he looks flamboyantly talented at under 18 level and brigor you are quite right about us not jumping to conclusions - its easy to get carried away with detective work on here looking at threads rather than having the full inside scoop. 

IF spearing does go out on loan then there is theoretically a space for him and he's big enough to add some presence to our midfield at reserve level so fingers crossed.

[Macedonian_Red]

NEMETH COMPLETES BLACKPOOL SWITCH

Jimmy Rice 26 January 2009

Krisztian Nemeth today completed a loan switch to Championship side Blackpool.

The Hungarian striker, who has just turned 20, will spend a month at Bloomfield Road.
 
Nemeth was the star of Liverpool's title-winning reserve team last season and is already part of the Hungary national squad.
 
He has yet to make his senior debut for the Reds, though he has featured in pre-season friendlies.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N163005090126-1141.htm

[shanklyboy]

NEMETH COMPLETES BLACKPOOL SWITCH

Won't do him any harm at all.
It's only for a month so hopefully he'll stay injury free and come back firing on all cylinders.

[hassinator]

i think its a good move - certainly didn't do hammil any harm

[shanklyboy]

Craig Lindfield off to Acc.Stanley for the rest of the season too.

[hassinator]

Craig Lindfield off to Acc.Stanley for the rest of the season too.

couldn't resist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pieK7b4KLL4

[scatman]

nice to hear he's gone on loan to a championship side, one that beat Birmingham on sat!

[liverpoolfcmike]

couldn't resist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pieK7b4KLL4

Haha, brilliant.

[Gnurglan]

Good to have Nemeth on loan. I like that. Will give him some valuable experience.

[Uhoh AureliOs]

Nice to see us building up a good rapport with some championship sides - hopefully we can get some more of our talented youngsters getting first team football on a regular basis. I hope Nemeth bangs in the goals at Blackpool.

[Helsinki Red]

Lauri Dalla Valle won't be travelling to Japan with Finnish national team.

"Liverpool face Chelsea in really important FA Youth Cup game and they didn't want let one of their best players to go. I understand their decision. We will follow him closely in the future and he will get his chance." National team manager Stuart Baxter said to Ilta-Sanomat.

[Brigor Cheyaore]

anyone know if Nemeth's loan will affect his potential status as a homegrown player?