Youth / Reserve Team Thread... 2010 - 2013

[Modo]

Why the fuck aren't Shelvey, Wisdom and Suso playing?

 

[gkmacca]

It's good to see fight but on another day we'd be down to 10 which is not what we need.

Whats your opinion on Morgan?

I'm a bit unsure these days. I'd love him to do well but he's been disappointing this season. I know part of that is down to the fact the coaching staff are working to develop his game by sometimes playing him out of position out on the wing or behind the strikers, but when he's gone back up front recently he's snatched at everything. I still hold on to hope but the first part of next season will be crucial for him.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Why the fuck aren't Shelvey, Wisdom and Suso playing?

I think Suso's away with the Spain U-20 or U-21s.

While beating the Mancs at any level is always desirable, I'd rather the chances go to the guys who need the minutes at this level. Shelvey and Wisdom will probably feature this weekend again, and they're already past this level in any case. I'd rather we give the minutes to the likes of Jones and Peterson / Dunn etc. to further their progression than play the over-qualified guys just to win a meaningless competition.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

I'd like to see Dunn come in for the second half, in place of the quiet and ineffective Peterson. Bijev for Morgan maybe, just to see what the young American is capable of.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Spurs beat Everton 3-2 in the other game I think. They'll beat whoever wins this game.

 

[Markeh]

I'm a bit unsure these days. I'd love him to do well but he's been disappointing this season. I know part of that is down to the fact the coaching staff are working to develop his game by sometimes playing him out of position out on the wing or behind the strikers, but when he's gone back up front recently he's snatched at everything. I still hold on to hope but the first part of next season will be crucial for him.

He is an extremely hard worker but fair play to the coaches, he needs more than running a lot and shooting.

 

[gkmacca]

Teixeira is surprisingly tough as well as talented. He held off a defender very well to get in a shot. Then Ibe did well to create a chance for Adorjan who fired over.

 

[gkmacca]

A bit ironic: The ex-Barca coach Borrell, when he managed, was absolutely going nuts on the touchline when we were losing, whereas ex-Spurs coach Inglethorpe, in the same situation, seems very calm and content to watch how the individuals fare. Both are good, but it's a bit of a cultural reverse. There's definitely been a change in emphasis: Borrell wanted progress individually and with team performance, while now Inglethorpe says his job is all about bringing on individual prospects.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Teixeira is surprisingly tough as well as talented. He held off a defender very well to get in a shot. Then Ibe did well to create a chance for Adorjan who fired over.

Yeah, I'm pretty surprised by the toughness and strength that he's shown today. And he showed good maturity and restraint when he stopped himself from kicking the ball away after he was pulled up for a handball when he thought he had been fouled.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Ward hasn't deserved to have 3 goals put past him - he's done well today. Dunn in for Peterson now.

 

[gkmacca]

3-0 and now the ref sends Flanagan off. Shambolic really but the ref is a big fat homer.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

The fat ref looks mighty chuffed for sending off Flanagan for kicking the ball at the Manc player and nearly killing that poor chap.

 

[gkmacca]

Now Lloyd Jones getting in a fight. Booked.

 

[gkmacca]

Christ, they even get the usual manc cretins at this level in the crowd. Nothing but 'you scouse bastards' and 'sign on' throughout the match. What a dump. At least Bobby Charlton isn't waving that ridiculous flag this time.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Jones reminds me of a young Carra. He's been our best defender today, which is pretty odd actually, considering Robinson and Flanagan have played for the first team or gone on loan in the Championship, while Sama is about 2 years his senior.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Streams have gone down for me with 5 minutes to go. Fuck that, it was a miserable game to watch anyway.

 

[gkmacca]

All over, 3-0, dismal night, but, yet again, Sama's sending-off wrecked our decent start. Lloyd Jones was good in defence, Coady fought hard in the middle and Teixeira and Ibe were inventive. Otherwise, a poor end to a good season, and well done to the mancs for finding some bloke from a burger van to ref the game.

 

[King Binny]

Jamie Stephens ‏@Jamie_stephens1 5m
Sad to announce I'll be leaving @LFC after 3 great years at the club at the end of the season. Amazing memories and world's best fans #YNWA

Signed in 2010 from Swindon as a 16 yr old.

 

[gkmacca]

He's currently on loan at the fantastic 'Airbus UK' side. Sad he didn't really progress because he came here highly rated by lots of goalkeeping scouts. We've still got quite a few keepers on the books who aren't good enough.

 

[Modo]

Goalkeepers Jamie Stephens and Tyrell Belford, defender Niall Heaton and attacker Nathan Quirk have all revealed via twitter that their time at Liverpool has come to an end, while Yusuf Mersin (goalkeeper), Sam Gainford (winger) and Henoc Mukendi (striker) are also expected to leave this summer.

 

[737Max]

Surprised regarding Mersin, didn't we sign him only a few yrs ago from Millwall? Thought he was highly rated. Not arsed about Bellford, every time I've seen him he's been shite.

How come we've bought a million keepers and not one of them can be classed as a good enough 2 to Pepe?

 

[gkmacca]

Fulton is fairly promising. Tough and talkative, the only young keeper that actually barks out orders at his defence and tries to organise them. Most of the other keepers look like they've been put in goal after losing a bet.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

I thought Ward was sound against the Mancs the other day. Made a great save and also came out and took a few high crosses early and strongly.

I think in general, our keepers from Reina down to those at the Academy have generally been unwilling to come out for high crosses - or they've been willing but not confident to do so. These last couple of weeks have seen a bit of a difference as I've noticed the likes of Reina coming out with early catches and of course Ward as well.

I doubt that anything's changed in the training though at this stage of the season and it's probably just the keepers deciding to do it on those few occasions. I'd love our keepers to do more of that though; it'd take some of the pressure off the centre backs and also send a message to the opponents that we have a confident keeper who will challenge them rather than waiting for them to lump crosses in and pick the ball out of the net.

 

[DHSC]

Could mean our goalkeeping coaches are not good enough.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Possibly that as well, or it could be part of a larger trend in football - it might just be me, but I think on the whole, goalkeepers in the league these days have been a lot more reluctant to come out and pluck crosses / corners as opposed to punching them out or staying on the line and letting the defenders manage them. I'm not sure if that has to do with the way the balls are these days, or a result of training influenced by some statistical analysis that says they have a higher chance of success staying on the line or going with a punch rather than a catch.

 

[King Binny]

What's good for us is that his son James is at the academy in Kirkby. Phil Carragher, Jamie's dad, is a regular there supporting his grandson and Jamie is there when playing commitments allow. James is with our Under 10s.

He's not settled into a position yet. He's only young and plays all over the place.

Jamie has always been a terrific representative of the first team and the club. If we need any help with anything at the academy, whether it's speaking to players or parents, Jamie has done anything we have asked him to do. He's been exceptional for us. We'll still see him as I know he enjoys coming up to watch all the games.

There could be some interesting conversations and tales from Memory Lane though as another former player, Salif Diao, will also be up at Kirkby regularly as his son has just signed for our Under Nines so there will be plenty of advice coming from the sidelines.

Another young player on the right path at the moment is Jerome Sinclair. He had a great experience the other night when he picked up the Ian Frodsham Young Player of the Year award from the Liverpool Supporters' Club at Anfield.

It's been a big year for Jerome moving to the club from West Bromwich Albion and making his senior debut against them to become the club's youngest ever player at 16 years and six days.

The supporters branch was surprised that he requested 10 tickets for the event but it was because all of his family came up from the Midlands while his headmaster from Rainhill High, the school where we place a number of our lads, also came along.
It was a proud moment for him, the staff and the other five lads we took along from the academy.

Jerome has been training regularly with the first team but we decided to take him out of the action for four or five weeks recently because we felt he had done a little too much and we want him to come back bigger and stronger next season.

It's amazing to think he is still on schoolboy registration forms because he is coming along well. Even in the FA Youth Cup side that faced Chelsea, a lot of our players were a year younger or more than those at Chelsea. Eight of the lads had food poisoning before the semi final second leg at Stamford Bridge, Jack Dunn was particularly ill, but they still managed to give a good account of themselves.

Full article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...McParland-Jamie-Carragher-missed-retires.html

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Thanks for that Binny. I'd recommend following that link to read the full article. As usual, McParland's interviews or columns are top class and filled with interesting bits about how the goings on at the Academy. He seems very enthusiastic about his job, and comes across as a delightful person to interact and work with.

edit: Thought I'd post a picture of him approving of and appreciating my compliments.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

And this part is nice to highlight.

-----
Of course the down side to the job and hardest bit of all is telling players that they do not have a career at the club.

The harsh truth is everyone that joins Liverpool leaves Liverpool, whether you are staff or a player.

It is of paramount importance the way we deal with someone who is leaving the club. You have to do it with dignity and sensitivity.

If we can help them get another club we always do; in fact most lads now normally get another club. If they need to go on trial while still under contract to us that's not a problem and sometimes, if they fail to find a club in England, we are able to help them get a scholarship in America.

The education and welfare department has a massive part to play in when a player leaves. It's important they feel comfortable enough to come back and ask for help if things don't work out and that we are happy to see them.

The process is not as blunt as at some clubs, which helps.

We talk to the players on a daily basis, assessing their path and chances of progress, so they know for some time if it is unlikely they will be offered a new deal.

I would be really disappointed if it was a massive surprise to anyone to be released because of the process we have put in place.

You love the kids, you really do because you are with them for so long and I believe that constant and gradual assessment lets them down gently and makes them realistic about where we believe they are at.

Hopefully, we don't get too many wrong and I think we do it quite well.

 

[gkmacca]

I'm pleased for Sinclair. Since Ibe arrived he's tended to be a bit overshadowed, as Ibe is very direct (and pretty greedy!) whilst Sinclair has worked unselfishly to make runs that create space for Ibe and generally aid his game. He's a really good prospect.

 

[King Binny]

Ryan McLaughlin ‏@RyanMcL2 3h
Emotional saying goodbye to friends that are leaving after 2 great years with them! @tybelford @Jamie_stephens1 @samgainford @nathanquirk

Kristoffer Peterson ‏@KrisPeterson7 3h
Very emotional day! Sad so say goodbye to all the players, like saying goodbye to a family member, big love @Jamie_stephens1 @tybelford

Lloyd Jones ‏@lloydjones95 2h
I hope all the boys leaving this summer have a great future! @samgainford @nathanquirk @Jamie_stephens1 @tybelford @niallheaton

Tyrell Belford ‏@tybelford 15 May
"After 4 great years at @LFC sad to say I'm leaving the club at the end of the season. Great club, great people, great memories #YNWA"

Brad Jones ‏@Brad_Jones1 15 May
@tybelford you'll be fine lad. Keep working hard like you always do and opportunities will come

Tyrell Belford ‏@tybelford 15 May
@Brad_Jones1 thanks brad was a pleasure to have the chance to work with u such a credit to all the other gks and top bloke all the best

Tyrell Belford ‏@tybelford 1h
And thankyou to all the fans who throughout my time at liverpool have give me overwhelming support there not wrong when they say best fans !

Heaton's moving to Bradford City

Jerome Sinclair ‏@jeromeNo9 15 May
Good luck to my bro @niallheaton In the future, top lad, wish you all the best at Bradford mate!

Niall Heaton ‏@niallheaton 15 May
On the way back to leeds having a think, the club did so much for me cant thank them enough. Once a red always a red ... #lfc #jft96

Academy doctor Nigel Jones also seems to be leaving

Dr Nigel Jones ‏@theboxingdoctor 2h
@RyanMcL2 @tybelford @jamie_stephens1 @samgainford @nathanquirk Yes - good luck lads. Strange to be moving on myself as well

Gainford and Quirk going to USA

sam gainford ‏@samgainford 6h
last day at liverpool today after 10 years loved every minute of it! hopefully onto better things for me now in america! #USA

nathan quirk ‏@nathanquirk 15 May
been a great 10 years at liverpool for me enjoyed every bit best club in the world hopefully onto better things now. america #YNWA

baio ‏@yalany50 6h
I will miss my boys they going USA @nathanquirk @samgainford

sam gainford ‏@samgainford 13 May
@nathanquirk @jordanlussey those were the days