DAMIEN COMOLLI has revealed Liverpool are considering leaving their Melwood training ground to a new facility that would incorporate the Academy.
At present, while the first team trains at Melwood, the youngsters are based in their own separate home in Kirkby.
The Academy has come under increasing scrutiny given the scarcity of graduates to break through into the senior squad during the past decade.
And Comolli, Liverpool's recently-appointed director of football strategy, says he is in agreement with the club's new owner, John W Henry, that a training ground should be built to accommodate both.
“The first time I went to see the academy with John Henry we said it at pretty much the same time – it should be together,†said Comolli.
“We have discussed it and, in the long term, want to do something about it.
“Melwood is great but if you want to create a culture in the club you need a single entity, a single facility.
“I was involved with planning the new training ground at Spurs and I am sure that they will have the best in the world when it is finished.
“If we build one here it will be better.â€
Liverpool won the FA Youth Cup in 2006 and 2007, but Comolli added: “The question we have to ask is: are we producing teams?
“Or are we producing players? We need to produce players, not teams who win.
“We need to individualise training for these players and make sure they have their own specific programme, with a long-term view.
“You have to get it right at the Academy level because it is part of the genetics of the club.â€
Melwood, which is West Derby, has been Liverpool's training ground since the 1950s and, under the guidance of then manager Gerard Houllier, underwent a radical modernisation in 2001.
The Academy was opened in Kirkby in 1998.
At present, while the first team trains at Melwood, the youngsters are based in their own separate home in Kirkby.
The Academy has come under increasing scrutiny given the scarcity of graduates to break through into the senior squad during the past decade.
And Comolli, Liverpool's recently-appointed director of football strategy, says he is in agreement with the club's new owner, John W Henry, that a training ground should be built to accommodate both.
“The first time I went to see the academy with John Henry we said it at pretty much the same time – it should be together,†said Comolli.
“We have discussed it and, in the long term, want to do something about it.
“Melwood is great but if you want to create a culture in the club you need a single entity, a single facility.
“I was involved with planning the new training ground at Spurs and I am sure that they will have the best in the world when it is finished.
“If we build one here it will be better.â€
Liverpool won the FA Youth Cup in 2006 and 2007, but Comolli added: “The question we have to ask is: are we producing teams?
“Or are we producing players? We need to produce players, not teams who win.
“We need to individualise training for these players and make sure they have their own specific programme, with a long-term view.
“You have to get it right at the Academy level because it is part of the genetics of the club.â€
Melwood, which is West Derby, has been Liverpool's training ground since the 1950s and, under the guidance of then manager Gerard Houllier, underwent a radical modernisation in 2001.
The Academy was opened in Kirkby in 1998.
