A Good Season For The New Crop

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Games played in brackets (not necessarily starts):

Smith (7) - EPL: West Ham; COC: Southmapton; FAC: Exeter x2, West Ham x2
Brannagan (7): EL: Bordeaux, Sion; COC: Bournemouth; FAC: Exeter x2, West Ham;
Teixeira (6) - EPL: Leicester; COC: Bournemouth; FAC: Exeter x2, West Ham x2
Rossiter (4) - EPL: Arsenal; EL: Bordeaux, Sion x2
Stewart (4) - FAC: Exeter x2, West Ham x2
Chirivella (4) - EL: Bordeaux; FAC: Exeter x2, West Ham
Randall (4)- COC: Bournemouth, Southampton; FAC: Exeter x2
Ilori (3) - FAC: Exeter x2, West Ham
Ojo (3): FAC: Exeter x2, West Ham
Kent (1): Exeter
Maguire (1): Exeter

Our injury crisis created the circumstances for them to get most of their minutes, but even then, guys like Brannagan, Teixeira, Rossiter, Chirivella and Randall did play this season under Rodgers even before the injuries started (Europa League against Bordeaux, COC against Bournemouth). That's on top of impressive performances from Ibe, Rossiter and Williams last season.

With some of the first team guys returning from injury and with us in the COC final and the knockout phases of the EL, these lads will probably not see any action for the rest of the season until the last couple of games in the league.

Most of them will probably not end up playing for us in a couple of seasons if history is any guide, as it's easier to get psyched up and catch the eye for a few isolated games but quite another thing to keep shining through a season or two to earn their new contracts.

Regardless, they've been a breath of fresh air given how shit this season has been. Well done, lads. Looking forward to more getting their chances next season.

ps. No love for Sinclair here, obviously.

 

[Frogfish]

It was also another very impressive outing for our young players, against a full strength West ham team, with some demonstrating that they should now be part of the first team squad or at least on the verge and called on (as they were) when required ; Chiravella (18 yrs old), Stewart (22), Texeira (23), Ilori (22), Smith (21) and not forgetting from the first match Brannagan (19) and Ojo (19). I'd rather see them getting substitute / injury shots at the team than some of the over-paid prima-donnas who come in and do SFA.

We have a great crop of youngsters coming through with Rossiter (18), Kent (18), Trickett-Smith (19), Harry Wilson (18), Canos (18) and of course those in the squad already; Origi (20), Ibe (20), Gomez (18), Can (21), Ward (22), Flanno (22), Ings (22) and of course not forgetting established young players in Coutinho (23) and Firmino (23), also Grujic (18) is due to arrive from his loan in the Summer.

They should provide solid additions to the squad for the next few years to which we will add established or senior players of course.

 

[mark1975]

We've definitely got a good crop of players now in the 18-22 bracket. People might argue there is no Owen or Gerrard in there, but plenty of them look like they can play at this level and, supplementing a bit of quality around them, we have the best chance in years of seeing a few of them push on and become regulars. Some players develop that way and can become important players, without having to be obvious superstars from an early age.

That's been the BIG positive this season, it's allowed us to look at the full squad more objectively. Now Klopp has to say enough is enough with a few first teamers, and treat the rest of the season as a further learning curve and a bedding in period for a few of the lads who are now pushing for a first team place. There are a few first teamers who seem to have no hope and it's time we started looking towards next season, rather wasting time on players that aren't going to be here.

 

[gkmacca]

And Yesil's only 21.

 

[mark1975]

And Yesil's only 21.

And a legend.

My Mrs' friend is an air hostess and she met him a while ago on a quiet flight with his brother, she said he's a nice lad, it was during Ramadan which they were both observing. She said he was really overawed about being at Liverpool.

 

[Arn]

It give Klopp the option to only sign quality instead of quantity. He don't need to sign back up players. Our young players have showed that they are good enough to act as back up.

 

[Buddha]

And a legend.

...only in Macca's mind!

 

[Silver Sean]

We've definitely got a good crop of players now in the 18-22 bracket. People might argue there is no Owen or Gerrard in there, but plenty of them look like they can play at this level and, supplementing a bit of quality around them, we have the best chance in years of seeing a few of them push on and become regulars. Some players develop that way and can become important players, without having to be obvious superstars from an early age.

That's been the BIG positive this season, it's allowed us to look at the full squad more objectively. Now Klopp has to say enough is enough with a few first teamers, and treat the rest of the season as a further learning curve and a bedding in period for a few of the lads who are now pushing for a first team place. There are a few first teamers who seem to have no hope and it's time we started looking towards next season, rather wasting time on players that aren't going to be here.

We have some decent back up players if they buy into what Klopp's up to. Much better to have keen, hungry youngsters (and not so young in the case of some of them) to fill out the squad than continually getting pointless free agents and overpaid has-beens, which is something we've been guilty of far too often. When United were top dogs they had a great knack of doing this, something that really helped them succeed I think.

 

[keniget]

It's been good, as Mark says, in that it's allowed the manager to get a better understanding of the squad as a whole (hopefully). It'll be interesting to what extent that influences the decision making in the transfer market.

The problem we have is that we've got almost too many at the first team development stage exacerbated by the fact that we've spent about 40M or so on players at a similar stage needing a lot of development and game time.

Assuming floating about mid-table whilst our young squad develops is unacceptable going forward, we're going to have to make some tough decisions on the futures of some of these guys.

 

[mark1975]

It's been good, as Mark says, in that it's allowed the manager to get a better understanding of the squad as a whole (hopefully). It'll be interesting to what extent that influences the decision making in the transfer market.

The problem we have is that we've got almost too many at the first team development stage exacerbated by the fact that we've spent about 40M or so on players at a similar stage needing a lot of development and game time.

Assuming floating about mid-table whilst our young squad develops is unacceptable going forward, we're going to have to make some tough decisions on the futures of some of these guys.

I think this is inevitable Keni, once again we're going to have to bite the bullet and make a big loss on a few players. We know who they probably are, so there's no point speculating further, but I think it's better (as Arn said) to have these guys getting minutes now and finding out who's upto scratch, so when we go into the Summer we're not thinking of bolstering the squad again, and more focus will be on buying a few players who will make a huge difference. We need a backbone, but we have a large enough and good enough squad to cull and refine a bit.

 

[gkmacca]

...only in Macca's mind!

 

[keniget]

I think this is inevitable Keni, once again we're going to have to bite the bullet and make a big loss on a few players. We know who they probably are, so there's no point speculating further, but I think it's better (as Arn said) to have these guys getting minutes now and finding out who's upto scratch, so when we go into the Summer we're not thinking of bolstering the squad again, and more focus will be on buying a few players who will make a huge difference. We need a backbone, but we have a large enough and good enough squad to cull and refine a bit.

Yeah, we've got a big squad that will easily survive a cull of a fair few players.

I guess my point was that if we're left with Can, Gomez, Origi, Ibe, Grujic and maybe Moreno. That's 5-6 players that still need a fair bit of work before you add any of the reserves. It's difficult to be consistent and achieve success with that many projects on your hands... not in the least when you don't have a decent set of senior players to support them.

I hope we buy carefully this summer with a clear plan in mind.

 

[mark1975]

Yeah, we've got a big squad that will easily survive a cull of a fair few players.

I guess my point was that if we're left with Can, Gomez, Origi, Ibe, Grujic and maybe Moreno. That's 5-6 players that still need a fair bit of work before you add any of the reserves. It's difficult to be consistent and achieve success with that many projects on your hands... not in the least when you don't have a decent set of senior players to support them.

I hope we buy carefully this summer with a clear plan in mind.

A few of the 22-25 age bracket players look a bit lost at the minute. If you look at how Coutinho and Henderson are performing now, to how they were performing two seasons ago, then you could argue they've at best stood still. I think with a bit of quality and/or leadership alongside a few of these lads we might see them push on a bit. There have been too many holes in the team this season, which has seen the likes of Can go through spells where he's looked completely clueless as to what to do.

 

[Silver Sean]

It's been good, as Mark says, in that it's allowed the manager to get a better understanding of the squad as a whole (hopefully). It'll be interesting to what extent that influences the decision making in the transfer market.

The problem we have is that we've got almost too many at the first team development stage exacerbated by the fact that we've spent about 40M or so on players at a similar stage needing a lot of development and game time.

Assuming floating about mid-table whilst our young squad develops is unacceptable going forward in the future, we're going to have to make some tough decisions on the futures of some of these guys.

 

[Squiggles]

We've learned we've got some players who are capable of challenging for first team positions at a mid-table club.

There's no real stars there, but yeah it's good to see I guess. Although it makes some of our signings even more questionable when they are being out performed by someone who cost us a few grand at best.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Klopp on Brannagan:

“Jordan Rossiter is not in team training and Cameron Brannagan was ill, like kids are. He was one week ill, I saw him before the West Ham game and he lost two or three kilos. He’s back but we have to feed him and he’ll be available.”

LOL. I'm really high on this kid - I think of all the ones listed in my post, he's got the best potential to be a regular starter for us; Rossiter was the leading guy previously but unfortunately lost time due to his injuries, so he's going to have to work himself back into contention. Then there's the problem with the contract expiring this summer, which I'd assume (or hope) will be sorted soon.

 

[Mersey86]

Markovic is only 21 as well.

 

[Vlads Quiff]

For once Arn has something right - we don't need any squad padding now. We need a couple of class signings and get rid of some baggage