Youth and Reserves thread - 2013/14
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Six appeal for U19s
Thursday, 05 September, 2013
Noel Blake's England U19s got their season off to a good start with victory over Estonia
England U19s got their season off to a winning start in fine style on Thursday afternoon with a 6-1 victory over Estonia in Tallinn.
Noel Blake’s side are preparing for the First Qualifying Round of the Euros in October and put in a good performance at the Kadriorg Stadium, scoring three goals in each half.
The game was initially scheduled for the Maarjamäe Stadium in Tallinn, but problems with the pitch meant the venue was altered to the Kadriorg Stadium.
But it didn’t have too much of a bearing on the performance, as the Young Lions took the lead after 12 minutes through James Wilson of Manchester United.
Liverpool forward winger Jordon Ibe doubled the lead after 30 minutes, as England took control before defender Leo Chambers, of West Ham United, then added a third goal five minutes before the break.
The second half saw Blake utilise his squad, with three substitutions made at the break and more before the hour mark.
And it took debutant Carlton Morris less than 20 minutes to make his mark after coming on for the second half, with the Norwich City midfielder scoring England’s fourth just after the hour mark.
It then was left to Chelsea midfielder Lewis Baker, on for his Stamford Bridge team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek, to finish the scoring with a late brace as he netted in the 88th and 91st minutes.
The result will now give Blake plenty of food for thought with October’s qualifiers in Slovenia coming sharply into focus.
England U19s: 1 Mitchell Beeney (13 Luke Coddington, 46), 2 Calum Chambers (c ) (12 Josh Aina, 46), 3 Harry Toffolo (16 Jake Cooper, 58), 4 Ben Pearson, 5 Leo Chambers, 6 Isaac Hayden, 7 Jordon Ibe, 8 Ruben Loftus-Cheek (18 Lewis Baker, 58), 9 James Wilson (15 Chuba Akpom, 54), 10 Adam Campbel (17 Carlton Morris 46), 11 Josh Murphy (14 Paul Digby, 58).
Thursday, 05 September, 2013
Noel Blake's England U19s got their season off to a good start with victory over Estonia
England U19s got their season off to a winning start in fine style on Thursday afternoon with a 6-1 victory over Estonia in Tallinn.
Noel Blake’s side are preparing for the First Qualifying Round of the Euros in October and put in a good performance at the Kadriorg Stadium, scoring three goals in each half.
The game was initially scheduled for the Maarjamäe Stadium in Tallinn, but problems with the pitch meant the venue was altered to the Kadriorg Stadium.
But it didn’t have too much of a bearing on the performance, as the Young Lions took the lead after 12 minutes through James Wilson of Manchester United.
Liverpool forward winger Jordon Ibe doubled the lead after 30 minutes, as England took control before defender Leo Chambers, of West Ham United, then added a third goal five minutes before the break.
The second half saw Blake utilise his squad, with three substitutions made at the break and more before the hour mark.
And it took debutant Carlton Morris less than 20 minutes to make his mark after coming on for the second half, with the Norwich City midfielder scoring England’s fourth just after the hour mark.
It then was left to Chelsea midfielder Lewis Baker, on for his Stamford Bridge team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek, to finish the scoring with a late brace as he netted in the 88th and 91st minutes.
The result will now give Blake plenty of food for thought with October’s qualifiers in Slovenia coming sharply into focus.
England U19s: 1 Mitchell Beeney (13 Luke Coddington, 46), 2 Calum Chambers (c ) (12 Josh Aina, 46), 3 Harry Toffolo (16 Jake Cooper, 58), 4 Ben Pearson, 5 Leo Chambers, 6 Isaac Hayden, 7 Jordon Ibe, 8 Ruben Loftus-Cheek (18 Lewis Baker, 58), 9 James Wilson (15 Chuba Akpom, 54), 10 Adam Campbel (17 Carlton Morris 46), 11 Josh Murphy (14 Paul Digby, 58).
Fuck yeah
Dario Gradi's August column in Daily Mail
[article=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2389337/The-Footballers-Football-Column--Dario-Gradi-The-FA-need-introduce-quota-series.html]We can’t hang on to our best players. For their benefit, too. We have to sell to survive. It probably led to my decision to step down as manager. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep winning and rebuilding. It wasn’t monotonous but it was taking up all my life. I felt it was time to do other things and particularly to coach kids, which I love doing.
One of our 15-year-old kids was approached by Manchester City. I told him he couldn’t go, certainly until he was 16 when we would receive compensation. Anyway, David Platt rang me up, City’s assistant manager at the time and a former Crewe academy product.
He said: ‘I’ve found out we are after one of your boys. Would you like me to come and speak to him and tell him not to come? There is no point in him going to City. We have hundreds of them here and don’t know what to do with them.’ He signed for Liverpool in the end. That was through an agent who used to play for us. He touted him around. His dad saw the money.[/article]
Trickett-Smith?
[article=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2389337/The-Footballers-Football-Column--Dario-Gradi-The-FA-need-introduce-quota-series.html]We can’t hang on to our best players. For their benefit, too. We have to sell to survive. It probably led to my decision to step down as manager. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep winning and rebuilding. It wasn’t monotonous but it was taking up all my life. I felt it was time to do other things and particularly to coach kids, which I love doing.
One of our 15-year-old kids was approached by Manchester City. I told him he couldn’t go, certainly until he was 16 when we would receive compensation. Anyway, David Platt rang me up, City’s assistant manager at the time and a former Crewe academy product.
He said: ‘I’ve found out we are after one of your boys. Would you like me to come and speak to him and tell him not to come? There is no point in him going to City. We have hundreds of them here and don’t know what to do with them.’ He signed for Liverpool in the end. That was through an agent who used to play for us. He touted him around. His dad saw the money.[/article]
Trickett-Smith?
Must be.
Definitely. I knew City had been interested in him and there were also some fairly bitter comments from Crewe around the time his signing was announced.
Good player but he's got a mountain to climb to make it here when just among the youngsters there's Teixeira, Suso, and Dunn ahead of him.
Good player but he's got a mountain to climb to make it here when just among the youngsters there's Teixeira, Suso, and Dunn ahead of him.
[article=http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/144448-rodolfo-my-pride-at-u13s-japan-visit]Came across this on the official site.
Rodolfo: My pride at U13s' Japan visit
9th Sep 2013 - Latest News
Last week, Liverpool's U13s squad embarked on a trip to the other side of the world to take part in a tournament in Japan – and in this week's Academy column, Rodolfo Borrell reflects on a truly memorable trip.
One of the most instantly-recognisable faces at the club's Kirkby complex, Rodolfo has been at the heart of Liverpool's youth development since 2009.
And in his first column of the new season, the Spaniard talks enthusiastically about the visit to Tokyo and how he'll be working hard to secure similar trips in the future...
Last week we took up the fantastic opportunity to attend a tournament in Japan with our U13s - and as soon as this competition came to my attention, I knew that it was going to be a great opportunity for the lads.
The squad we took was a mixture of U12 and U13 players, and our primary aim was for them to experience other cultures as well as face different styles of football.
The tournament was organised after Barcelona signed a Japanese U13 player. This was a massive event in Japan. So they decided to create a tournament, the very first edition, where all the best U13 sides that belong to Premiership clubs in the country, plus some teams from around the world, went head-to-head.
The competition was called 1st World Challenge, and I first heard about it when Barcelona's director of football contacted me and asked if we would be interested in taking part in the tournament. Very quickly, alongside academy director Frank McParland, we decided that it was something we had to do.
Put simply, our boys were fantastic over there. I don't say things that I don't feel, and I can honestly tell you that this trip and the way the young lads were was very impressive.
We were playing under really difficult conditions, with temperatures of 30 degrees most of the time. Our lads were also playing in 60-70 per cent humidity during each of the games, which makes it extremely difficult to perform, especially for young boys coming over from England.
The Japanese, as well as the Spanish and other teams, were used to the heat, but for our boys it was an incredible effort.
We had no problems at all. The first two days, a couple of lads were a little bit homesick, but we managed to sort that out by getting them on the phone and getting them to call their parents constantly.
Jan Pizzey, the academy secretary, and Ian Barrigan, head of local recruitment, were a huge help in that respect too. Each of the lads conducted themselves very well - and they supported each other.
It was a huge experience, not only from the football point of view, but from a personal point of view for them at such a young age. When I was an U13 player, it would have been almost impossible to go out and play in a tournament like this in Japan.
In the past, when I was at FC Barcelona, the club and I tried to have all the teams travel constantly, all around the world, and this is one of the targets that I have right now. I've got the backing of Frank McParland as academy director, from the assistant academy manager Phil Roscoe and most importantly from the manager Brendan Rodgers.
All of these people look at travelling to new countries to play football as a positive thing and I'm working really hard to get a lot more of these sorts of trips in place, especially for our younger age groups.
Why? Because usually the U21s and U18s get a lot more experience of this type of travel, but for the young ones, I think it's something they can benefit from too - and their development is pushed forward a lot by these type of events.
The main coach for the U13s was unable to join us on the trip to Japan, so Dave Rowe came along as he is the assistant coach for the U13s. Stephen Torpey also came with us. He's a good young coach, who is eager to improve and currently works with the U11s. Stephen knew all the lads because some of them were coming through last season with the U11s.
Tokyo and the surrounding areas have about 27 million people, so you can imagine how big the place is. It meant that we had more than an hour-and-a-half's travel to the event from our hotel. This meant at least three hours a day on a coach going back and forth.
Also, our games were held very early in the morning, and because there was no time to come back after the first match, we had to wait at the event for quite some time before we played the second game of the day. So it meant that, in total, we were out for about 10 hours each day - two hours playing and eight hours travelling and waiting.
This means you need to know how to manage the lads, entertain them and look after them. I'll be honest, it was exhausting! But everything was for the benefit of our players and so it was well worth it.
On the pitch, I was delighted with the football we played. I wasn't expecting such a high level, considering the weather and everything else I have spoken about already. The boys performed twice a day, four days in a row and played a total of eight games.
They went all the way through to the final, wining all seven matches on the way. But the most important thing was not the winning; it was seeing how they were beating their opponents, by playing the way we want them to.
Our young lads built their play from the back, keeping their discipline, focus and consistency at the same time. They were keeping the ball, and moving it the way we want them to.
If you do all that and win the games, like we did, then fantastic. But if not, the most important thing is the performance - and they did fantastically well.
In the final we lost to Barcelona. It was nice for me to see some old friends, but I've been here for four years and I belong to Liverpool Football Club. I'm not too fussed about playing against my old side, or against the likes of Real Madrid - I just try to defend the interests of our football club.
One of the main targets with these trips is for the lads to realise about the other cultures that exist around the world, where the mentality and the way of living is completely different to ours.
We arrived in Tokyo, very exhausted after more than 20 hours travelling, and we decided that we were going to go and visit a few places, like Shibuya, as we wanted the lads to keep awake until the night for them and ourselves to adapt as soon as possible to the new schedule and the eight hour difference.
On the second day, after the official opening presentation, we asked the organisers if we could see something of Japan - and so we went to the Imperial Palace. It's only possible to visit the gardens there, because the Imperial Family are living there. Later on we visited Senso-Ji, one of the most famous temples in Japan, which the lads also clearly enjoyed very much.
Overall, it was a superb trip. In the beginning, you have to take many things into account - the lads' ages, the distance and the staff too.
Ian Barrigan, who is the local scout at our Academy, alongside Jan Pizzey, the Academy secretary, know a lot of the lads' families and they coordinated everything brilliantly with them in terms of schedules ,information and many other things. Neil Davies also joined the trip as a physio-therapist and he made a great contribution to the trip.
Then it was important for us to select people who were professional and who had experience to deal with such a young age group. At the end of the tournament, I can look back and say that everything was fantastic. We've been receiving many emails from the families of our players, who have spoken about the experience their children enjoyed.
We also received an email from the organisers congratulating us for the way the lads behaved and performed during the tournament.
Obviously, this has encouraged me to look for a lot more of these events, because I think it's vital from many different points of view - from development as a player, as a team and as a human being too.[/article]
Rodolfo: My pride at U13s' Japan visit
9th Sep 2013 - Latest News
Last week, Liverpool's U13s squad embarked on a trip to the other side of the world to take part in a tournament in Japan – and in this week's Academy column, Rodolfo Borrell reflects on a truly memorable trip.
One of the most instantly-recognisable faces at the club's Kirkby complex, Rodolfo has been at the heart of Liverpool's youth development since 2009.
And in his first column of the new season, the Spaniard talks enthusiastically about the visit to Tokyo and how he'll be working hard to secure similar trips in the future...
Last week we took up the fantastic opportunity to attend a tournament in Japan with our U13s - and as soon as this competition came to my attention, I knew that it was going to be a great opportunity for the lads.
The squad we took was a mixture of U12 and U13 players, and our primary aim was for them to experience other cultures as well as face different styles of football.
The tournament was organised after Barcelona signed a Japanese U13 player. This was a massive event in Japan. So they decided to create a tournament, the very first edition, where all the best U13 sides that belong to Premiership clubs in the country, plus some teams from around the world, went head-to-head.
The competition was called 1st World Challenge, and I first heard about it when Barcelona's director of football contacted me and asked if we would be interested in taking part in the tournament. Very quickly, alongside academy director Frank McParland, we decided that it was something we had to do.
Put simply, our boys were fantastic over there. I don't say things that I don't feel, and I can honestly tell you that this trip and the way the young lads were was very impressive.
We were playing under really difficult conditions, with temperatures of 30 degrees most of the time. Our lads were also playing in 60-70 per cent humidity during each of the games, which makes it extremely difficult to perform, especially for young boys coming over from England.
The Japanese, as well as the Spanish and other teams, were used to the heat, but for our boys it was an incredible effort.
We had no problems at all. The first two days, a couple of lads were a little bit homesick, but we managed to sort that out by getting them on the phone and getting them to call their parents constantly.
Jan Pizzey, the academy secretary, and Ian Barrigan, head of local recruitment, were a huge help in that respect too. Each of the lads conducted themselves very well - and they supported each other.
It was a huge experience, not only from the football point of view, but from a personal point of view for them at such a young age. When I was an U13 player, it would have been almost impossible to go out and play in a tournament like this in Japan.
In the past, when I was at FC Barcelona, the club and I tried to have all the teams travel constantly, all around the world, and this is one of the targets that I have right now. I've got the backing of Frank McParland as academy director, from the assistant academy manager Phil Roscoe and most importantly from the manager Brendan Rodgers.
All of these people look at travelling to new countries to play football as a positive thing and I'm working really hard to get a lot more of these sorts of trips in place, especially for our younger age groups.
Why? Because usually the U21s and U18s get a lot more experience of this type of travel, but for the young ones, I think it's something they can benefit from too - and their development is pushed forward a lot by these type of events.
The main coach for the U13s was unable to join us on the trip to Japan, so Dave Rowe came along as he is the assistant coach for the U13s. Stephen Torpey also came with us. He's a good young coach, who is eager to improve and currently works with the U11s. Stephen knew all the lads because some of them were coming through last season with the U11s.
Tokyo and the surrounding areas have about 27 million people, so you can imagine how big the place is. It meant that we had more than an hour-and-a-half's travel to the event from our hotel. This meant at least three hours a day on a coach going back and forth.
Also, our games were held very early in the morning, and because there was no time to come back after the first match, we had to wait at the event for quite some time before we played the second game of the day. So it meant that, in total, we were out for about 10 hours each day - two hours playing and eight hours travelling and waiting.
This means you need to know how to manage the lads, entertain them and look after them. I'll be honest, it was exhausting! But everything was for the benefit of our players and so it was well worth it.
On the pitch, I was delighted with the football we played. I wasn't expecting such a high level, considering the weather and everything else I have spoken about already. The boys performed twice a day, four days in a row and played a total of eight games.
They went all the way through to the final, wining all seven matches on the way. But the most important thing was not the winning; it was seeing how they were beating their opponents, by playing the way we want them to.
Our young lads built their play from the back, keeping their discipline, focus and consistency at the same time. They were keeping the ball, and moving it the way we want them to.
If you do all that and win the games, like we did, then fantastic. But if not, the most important thing is the performance - and they did fantastically well.
In the final we lost to Barcelona. It was nice for me to see some old friends, but I've been here for four years and I belong to Liverpool Football Club. I'm not too fussed about playing against my old side, or against the likes of Real Madrid - I just try to defend the interests of our football club.
One of the main targets with these trips is for the lads to realise about the other cultures that exist around the world, where the mentality and the way of living is completely different to ours.
We arrived in Tokyo, very exhausted after more than 20 hours travelling, and we decided that we were going to go and visit a few places, like Shibuya, as we wanted the lads to keep awake until the night for them and ourselves to adapt as soon as possible to the new schedule and the eight hour difference.
On the second day, after the official opening presentation, we asked the organisers if we could see something of Japan - and so we went to the Imperial Palace. It's only possible to visit the gardens there, because the Imperial Family are living there. Later on we visited Senso-Ji, one of the most famous temples in Japan, which the lads also clearly enjoyed very much.
Overall, it was a superb trip. In the beginning, you have to take many things into account - the lads' ages, the distance and the staff too.
Ian Barrigan, who is the local scout at our Academy, alongside Jan Pizzey, the Academy secretary, know a lot of the lads' families and they coordinated everything brilliantly with them in terms of schedules ,information and many other things. Neil Davies also joined the trip as a physio-therapist and he made a great contribution to the trip.
Then it was important for us to select people who were professional and who had experience to deal with such a young age group. At the end of the tournament, I can look back and say that everything was fantastic. We've been receiving many emails from the families of our players, who have spoken about the experience their children enjoyed.
We also received an email from the organisers congratulating us for the way the lads behaved and performed during the tournament.
Obviously, this has encouraged me to look for a lot more of these events, because I think it's vital from many different points of view - from development as a player, as a team and as a human being too.[/article]
Borrell is incredible. I love this:
In the final we lost to Barcelona. It was nice for me to see some old friends, but I've been here for four years and I belong to Liverpool Football Club. I'm not too fussed about playing against my old side, or against the likes of Real Madrid - I just try to defend the interests of our football club.
He doesn't 'work' for Liverpool, he belongs. Liverpool is our club. His language is very telling about his passion for the club, and the responsibility he feels. He has been the best piece of recruitment we've done in recent years bar none.
In the final we lost to Barcelona. It was nice for me to see some old friends, but I've been here for four years and I belong to Liverpool Football Club. I'm not too fussed about playing against my old side, or against the likes of Real Madrid - I just try to defend the interests of our football club.
He doesn't 'work' for Liverpool, he belongs. Liverpool is our club. His language is very telling about his passion for the club, and the responsibility he feels. He has been the best piece of recruitment we've done in recent years bar none.
On a sidenote
[article=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2415409/Under-21-Premier-League-Cup-set-launch-featuring-Arsenal-Chelsea-Manchester-City-academy-teams.html#ixzz2eOrZ6Fqt ]The Premier League will launch its new Under-21 Cup competition on Monday, declaring it to be another positive step forward in the development of younger players.
Although Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham have opted out, 51 academies have entered, including Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, with the draw for the first two rounds on Monday featuring four Premier League clubs.
All matches have to be played in proper stadiums, which - in the week after Football Association chairman Greg Dyke expressed his concerns about the number of English youngsters forcing their way into the top flight - Premier League director of youth Ged Roddy feels is another significant development.
'The introduction of an Under-21 cup creates another competitive opportunity for players up and down the country, which can enhance and support what we're doing with the Barclays Under-21 Premier League,' said Roddy.
'Players who come through the academy system have been playing on training grounds since they were nine in some cases,' he said.
'One of the characteristics of that transition from the academy player to the professional player is the stadium experience, dealing with games that they need to win and dealing with, on occasions, a hostile environment that is created by a big crowd, and sometimes a very supportive environment.'
Following the establishment of the Under-21 Premier League last season, the introduction of a knockout competition will offer further invaluable experience for young players.
The draw will be regionalised until the round of 16, whereupon it becomes national. The final will be played over two legs, home and away at the main stadia of both teams.[/article]
[article=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2415409/Under-21-Premier-League-Cup-set-launch-featuring-Arsenal-Chelsea-Manchester-City-academy-teams.html#ixzz2eOrZ6Fqt ]The Premier League will launch its new Under-21 Cup competition on Monday, declaring it to be another positive step forward in the development of younger players.
Although Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham have opted out, 51 academies have entered, including Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, with the draw for the first two rounds on Monday featuring four Premier League clubs.
All matches have to be played in proper stadiums, which - in the week after Football Association chairman Greg Dyke expressed his concerns about the number of English youngsters forcing their way into the top flight - Premier League director of youth Ged Roddy feels is another significant development.
'The introduction of an Under-21 cup creates another competitive opportunity for players up and down the country, which can enhance and support what we're doing with the Barclays Under-21 Premier League,' said Roddy.
'Players who come through the academy system have been playing on training grounds since they were nine in some cases,' he said.
'One of the characteristics of that transition from the academy player to the professional player is the stadium experience, dealing with games that they need to win and dealing with, on occasions, a hostile environment that is created by a big crowd, and sometimes a very supportive environment.'
Following the establishment of the Under-21 Premier League last season, the introduction of a knockout competition will offer further invaluable experience for young players.
The draw will be regionalised until the round of 16, whereupon it becomes national. The final will be played over two legs, home and away at the main stadia of both teams.[/article]
Both Borrell and McParland really, and I sense that about Inglethorpe as well. You can just feel from their interviews and columns that they're really passionate about their job and (hopefully) enjoying it immensely here. They've also been very profuse in crediting the team that works in the background looking after the kids' well-being and development interests. Top guys all of them.
[article=http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/2617/youth-soccer/2013/09/05/4238905/liverpool-academy-director-american-soccer-is-improving]Liverpool's academy director spoke with Goal about his thoughts on the evolution of American soccer, Clint Dempsey and Marc Pelosi's recovery from a severe injury.
Liverpool’s U18s participated in a August youth tournament in United States and the club’s academy director, Frank McParland, came away impressed what he saw.
As the United States men’s national team continues to ascend in the rankings and Major League Soccer is starting to retain its high-profile American stars, McParland believes that soccer is entering a new phase in its evolution in America.
“Every season that goes by, American soccer is improving,” McParland told Goal in a phone interview. “The world rankings are getting better, the talent is improving so it’s a fantastic situation for football out here.”
McParland and the U18s were involved with Newark’s Liberty International Soccer Summit hosted by St. Bendict’s Prep high school. The man who helped developed many of Liverpool’s top young first-teamers, including Raheem Sterling and Suso, took some time to touch Clint Dempsey’s decision to return to MLS, Marc Pelosi’s recovery from a double fracture on his leg and how the club scouts North America for prospects.
[Editor’s Note: Responses have been edited for length]
Goal: Frank, what your thoughts on American youth talents especially considering that you are facing a few in this tournament that Liverpool’s U18s are in?
McParland: We delighted to be a part of this really prestigious tournament. It gives us a chance to look at some of the American players and it’s a really good competition. [American youth teams] They are always well coached with good technical players. As you know at Liverpool, we signed the captain of the U20s, Marc Pelosi, and he’s a very good player.
Where can youth teams improve?
As the league [MLS] gets better and it gets more [top] American and foreign players, it’ll improve. I think what the league has done is based on good concepts. They had Beckham come over along with real top players and I think his legacy will continue to help it grow. I think it’s a terrific place to play football and be involved with it as well.
Speaking about MLS signing top American players, are you surprised to see Clint Dempsey back in the league? It’s no secret that Liverpool tried to sign him just a year ago.
Obviously, I know that our manager [Brendan Rodgers] is really keen on the player because he was a fantastic footballer and a proven goalscorer. When you can score goals in the Premier League, I’m pretty sure you can score them in any league around the world. I’m not surprised that he’s come back. It’s his country, he probably got a really good deal and he enjoys playing football there so it’s a fantastic situation for him.
Back to Marc Pelosi, how is he recovering from the double break in his leg?
I was at the game when he did it and it was a really bad break. I speak with Marc and the physios everyday. He’s really way ahead of schedule because of his professionalism and his determination. He’s such a good professional and a good athlete. He’s desperate to get back quickly. He’s a couple of months ahead of schedule so everyone at the club is delighted for him.
Timetable on his return?
We would hope that he would back before Christmas. It’ll probably a year out [since his injury] but because of his age, we don’t want to risk it and bring him back too quickly. But he is chomping at the bit and I don’t think it’ll be too long before he’s training with the squad. He’s actually already weight bearing and running, so he’s certainly on the way back.
Speaking about young American talents, Juan Agudelo, a guy that trialed with you guys two years ago signed a pre-contract with Stoke. What are your thoughts about his talent?
Yeah he’s obviously a very talented and athletic boy. I think if he keeps on improving and gets comfortable... obviously we didn’t have him for too long but I know the coaching staff really liked him. Let’s wait and see but I think he has a good chance to do well in England.
Obviously, American soccer fans always want to see top prospects sign for clubs like Liverpool. How often does the club scout North America?
We don’t go scout colleges but we do scout a lot of leagues and the national teams [from the region]. I don’t have a major spreadsheet with all of the stats for example but we do scout the national teams a lot. I’m sure that the scouts have a number of targets that they look at.
How do you make sure that a player is the right fit for a team like Liverpool?
The best thing to do is to bring him for a few days and have a look. With Pelosi [for example], I had a number of meetings with his parents and you could tell by speaking to him and looking him into the eye… you know that he was someone who is very rounded and is able to cope with things. With the guys on the U.S. national teams, they are usually used to being away from home anyways.[/article]
On a sidenote, from a Marca article yesterday
[article=http://www.marca.com/2013/09/04/en/football/national_teams/1378315699.html]Cesc has had the ability to play in almost any position since he was a boy. In fact, when he was spotted by coach Rodolfo Borrell as a kid, he was playing at right-back wearing the number 2 shirt.[/article]
Liverpool’s U18s participated in a August youth tournament in United States and the club’s academy director, Frank McParland, came away impressed what he saw.
As the United States men’s national team continues to ascend in the rankings and Major League Soccer is starting to retain its high-profile American stars, McParland believes that soccer is entering a new phase in its evolution in America.
“Every season that goes by, American soccer is improving,” McParland told Goal in a phone interview. “The world rankings are getting better, the talent is improving so it’s a fantastic situation for football out here.”
McParland and the U18s were involved with Newark’s Liberty International Soccer Summit hosted by St. Bendict’s Prep high school. The man who helped developed many of Liverpool’s top young first-teamers, including Raheem Sterling and Suso, took some time to touch Clint Dempsey’s decision to return to MLS, Marc Pelosi’s recovery from a double fracture on his leg and how the club scouts North America for prospects.
[Editor’s Note: Responses have been edited for length]
Goal: Frank, what your thoughts on American youth talents especially considering that you are facing a few in this tournament that Liverpool’s U18s are in?
McParland: We delighted to be a part of this really prestigious tournament. It gives us a chance to look at some of the American players and it’s a really good competition. [American youth teams] They are always well coached with good technical players. As you know at Liverpool, we signed the captain of the U20s, Marc Pelosi, and he’s a very good player.
Where can youth teams improve?
As the league [MLS] gets better and it gets more [top] American and foreign players, it’ll improve. I think what the league has done is based on good concepts. They had Beckham come over along with real top players and I think his legacy will continue to help it grow. I think it’s a terrific place to play football and be involved with it as well.
Speaking about MLS signing top American players, are you surprised to see Clint Dempsey back in the league? It’s no secret that Liverpool tried to sign him just a year ago.
Obviously, I know that our manager [Brendan Rodgers] is really keen on the player because he was a fantastic footballer and a proven goalscorer. When you can score goals in the Premier League, I’m pretty sure you can score them in any league around the world. I’m not surprised that he’s come back. It’s his country, he probably got a really good deal and he enjoys playing football there so it’s a fantastic situation for him.
Back to Marc Pelosi, how is he recovering from the double break in his leg?
I was at the game when he did it and it was a really bad break. I speak with Marc and the physios everyday. He’s really way ahead of schedule because of his professionalism and his determination. He’s such a good professional and a good athlete. He’s desperate to get back quickly. He’s a couple of months ahead of schedule so everyone at the club is delighted for him.
Timetable on his return?
We would hope that he would back before Christmas. It’ll probably a year out [since his injury] but because of his age, we don’t want to risk it and bring him back too quickly. But he is chomping at the bit and I don’t think it’ll be too long before he’s training with the squad. He’s actually already weight bearing and running, so he’s certainly on the way back.
Speaking about young American talents, Juan Agudelo, a guy that trialed with you guys two years ago signed a pre-contract with Stoke. What are your thoughts about his talent?
Yeah he’s obviously a very talented and athletic boy. I think if he keeps on improving and gets comfortable... obviously we didn’t have him for too long but I know the coaching staff really liked him. Let’s wait and see but I think he has a good chance to do well in England.
Obviously, American soccer fans always want to see top prospects sign for clubs like Liverpool. How often does the club scout North America?
We don’t go scout colleges but we do scout a lot of leagues and the national teams [from the region]. I don’t have a major spreadsheet with all of the stats for example but we do scout the national teams a lot. I’m sure that the scouts have a number of targets that they look at.
How do you make sure that a player is the right fit for a team like Liverpool?
The best thing to do is to bring him for a few days and have a look. With Pelosi [for example], I had a number of meetings with his parents and you could tell by speaking to him and looking him into the eye… you know that he was someone who is very rounded and is able to cope with things. With the guys on the U.S. national teams, they are usually used to being away from home anyways.[/article]
On a sidenote, from a Marca article yesterday
[article=http://www.marca.com/2013/09/04/en/football/national_teams/1378315699.html]Cesc has had the ability to play in almost any position since he was a boy. In fact, when he was spotted by coach Rodolfo Borrell as a kid, he was playing at right-back wearing the number 2 shirt.[/article]
[article= http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk/news/article/joao-teixiera-signs-10.09.13-1045656.aspx#Y7vgdEqu5PozHArj.99 ]Brentford Football Club are set to complete their second loan signing of the day, bringing in Joao Carlos Teixeira from Liverpool on a Youth Loan.
The attacking midfield player trained with The Bees this morning and will complete the move in the coming hours.
He will stay at Griffin Park until January 5.
Joao Carlos joined Liverpool from Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal, better known as Sporting Lisbon, in January 2012.
The attacking midfield player has been part of the Under-21 set up at Anfield since his arrival and made 20 appearances in the new Barclays Under-21 Premier League last season, scoring two goals.
The 20-year-old, who has represented Portugal at Under-19 and Under-20 level, played for Sporting in the NextGen Series, the Under-19 tournament for the Academy teams at some of Europe’s top clubs, against Liverpool before joining The Reds.
Brentford Manager Uwe Rösler said: “We have been following Joao for a while.
“We have not scored many goals so far this season and it is not down to the lack of opportunities.
“I feel we needed another addition to give us extra quality in the final third.
“We have watched him and now he has become available we have been able to take him.
“We thank Liverpool Football Club for allowing Joao to come here, he will give us something creative we need, especially when teams sit deep against us.
“This is Joao’s first loan spell and we have to be careful with him and look after him.
“We could see today in training that he has enormous quality in terms of his work in the final third, releasing the ball at the right time.
“And he is a goal threat.”
Mark Warburton, Brentford FC Sporting Director, said: “Joao is a player Liverpool bought following very impressive displays in the NextGen Series.
“He is a highly talented Portuguese international and this is his first loan move.
“I am sure he will feel comfortable in a young squad and the environment we have created both at the Training Ground and Griffin Park.
“Frank McParland, Liverpool’s Academy Director, has been a great help to us in getting Joao to Brentford.
“We look forward to seeing him in action and how he develops during his time at Griffin Park.”[/article]
They finished 3rd last season but lost in the playoffs to Yeovil, thus missing out on promotion to Championship. Currently in 9th place, 6 points behind leaders Leyton Orient with 6 games played.
As a Brentford season ticket holder, I'm looking forward to seeing him play. Brentford play nice football so he should learn from the experience. Brentford have players on loan from Chelsea and Fulham and have had a couple of loanees from Everton, who've gone on to sign for them permanently, so Premier League clubs must think it's a good place to learn.
Liverpool U21 vs Sunderland U21
Ward, Kelly, Jones, Ilori, Flanagan, Rossiter, Brannagan, Ibe, Alberto, Sterling, Dunn
Subs: Mersin, Sama, Morgan, Roddan, McLaughlin
Ward, Kelly, Jones, Ilori, Flanagan, Rossiter, Brannagan, Ibe, Alberto, Sterling, Dunn
Subs: Mersin, Sama, Morgan, Roddan, McLaughlin
Hopefully!!!
That'd be the obvious reason, right?
He's got to be at least Wisdom's equal at RB, if not comfortably better.
Yeah, he's happy in that role and he's growing in confidence all the time. He's not the sort to be overawed at all.
Typical. Goal conceded after not clearing well from a corner. Cracking shot though.
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