Our Reserves

New faces? What about the ones we've got?

Some people may argue that had it not been for Kiko Macheda, United might not have won the league. Alright it's a bit fanciful - he scored one good crucial goal against Villa at a timely moment and aside from that did very little, but such are the margins of victory at the top level. (For the record, yes I know he 'scored' against Sunderland, but it was a shot that hit him and went in, and hardly proof of great talent.)

Anyway, the point is, what with United able to pull rabbits like him and Danny Wellbeck, Arsenal's production line getting both younger and more talented, and Chelsea still able to afford any top player they want and therefore not needing a youth system, the question remains, who could we soon see donning a Liverpool strip advertising a product that they're too young to buy?

This season just gone was actually quite a good one for the reserves, with the likes of Insua, El Zhar and Ngog all featuring regularly for the first team, and Darby, Spearing and Kelly all making their first team bows. But to be honest, their career paths are already more or less defined. Insua is basically a first team squad member now. Ngog will be looking to challenge whoever comes in as the genuine second choice striker behind Torres, El Zhar is 23 now and probably on the way out, or backup at best and Plessis seems to have disappeared off the radar, despite netting his first senior goal against Spurs in the Carling Cup. While the three scousers are all vying for positions in the team that either are already or very soon will be over-populated (CM, CB and RB).

This list looks to go younger, to the second line of players who are yet to have their first taste, and offers a guide to the uneducated as to the big names to watch from Liverpool's sadly under-productive youth academy.




1. Dani Pacheco
Age: 17 Nationality: Spanish Position: playmaker/forward.

One of two 'next Maradona's' we have at the club, though as he's Spanish it's a bit of a stretch to say that. Pacheco has been something of a revelation in the Liverpool reserves and academy teams over the last couple of seasons. Some of you may remember him featuring in pre-season friendlies at the beginning of the season just gone, where he set up a couple of Voronin goals.

Critics would argue that at 17, if you haven't broken through into the first team squad in his position there might be something holding you back, but the counter to that is look what happened to the last two teenage prodigy forwards Liverpool introduced to the first team, Owen and Fowler. Both had fantastic early careers, but faded alarmingly and dramatically in their late 20s as long-standing injury issues took hold. They were pushed too far too quickly, and though we got their best years out of them, their peaks were behind them by the time they were 27. Rafa hopefully won't make that same mistake with Pacheco, who has shown enough promise in his season both as a scorer and creater to suggest that we might have a genuine diamond on our hands.

Of course, who better to train him up in that position than the legend that is Kenny Dalglish next season? One to watch indeed.


2. Gerardo Bruna
Age: 18 Nationality: Argentinian Position: Left winger.

The second 'next Maradona' we picked up from Spain. While Pacheco was pinched from Barcelona's academy, Bruna's defection left many an angry red face in the ranks of the Real Madrid hierarchy, as he was one they'd tipped for the top. A pacy, silky winger, he is another who has probably had to spend most of his training time bulking up, as his abilities and skills are already at quite a high standard.

Critics will again argue about the age, he's 18 already now and hasn't even made the first team bench, and the general feeling is that he needs to prove himself in a loan move to a lower league club. One things for sure though, if he does end up living up to the billing the distraught Real Madrid youth academy coaches claimed, he'll be a top quality number 11 in years to come.


3. Nathan Ecclestone
Age: 18 Nationality: English Position: Centre forward.

Like his namesake Bernie, this guy is all about speed. A striker with a keen eye for goal who made his name in the reserves with crucial strikes in the victorious FA Youth Cup runs. His promotion to the reserves has perhaps exposed a lack of strength, but that never stopped Owen at his age.

Another one who perhaps needs a loan move to a lower league club to develop a bit of grit and bulk about his game, the fact that he already has a squad number is quite some achievement by Rafa's reserves standards, and he could be one to make a surprise breakthrough next season.


4. Dean Bouzanis
Age: 18 Nationality: Greek/Australian Position: Goalkeeper

When Steven Gerrard was passing through the academy grounds one day a couple of years ago, he happened upon a tall young goalkeeper taking a trial with a view to signing for the club from Sydney FC. The story goes that Gerrard was so impressed with what he saw of the then 16 year old keeper that he gave him his mobile number and told him to call him if he needed anything during his stay.

Being a goalkeeper at Melwood is hard, if you're not the immovable Pepe Reina. Being a young goalkeeper at Liverpool is even harder - Reina is only 25 and could easily play at the top level for another 10 years or so.

Nevertheless the man currently leading the charge to oust Charles Itanje and Diego Cavalieri as Pepe's understudy is Bouzanis, who has a Greek mother but was born and raised in Australia. He has had to overcome several challenges in his rise up the pecking order at Melwood, and currently sits behind Hungarian stopper Peter Gulacsi as the reserves main keeper.

The two of them are both in a fairly lose-lose position for the moment, as a loan move allows someone else to show their form, as they did to David Martin who spent last season on loan at Leicester with Jack Hobbs, while if they stay the closest they can hope to get to the first team in the usual run of events is a bench place in the cup games. However, they are both just two injuries away from having their big chance.


5. Christopher Buchtmann
Age: 17 Nationality: German Position: Left back/midfield/wing

It would be easy to dismiss this arian kid as a jack of all trades, given that he plays in a variety of positions and never one for particularly long. However as Carragher would say, just because you can play a lot of positions doesn't mean you can't be a master of one (or more) and Buchtmann's strength, pace and ability with the ball mark him out as a definite one to watch.

He dazzled spectators and reporters in the recent Uefa U-17 Championships in his native Germany, where after the tournament he was named as one of Uefa's 5 'players to watch in the future' alongside Arsenal's Jack Wilshire.


6. Lauri Dalle Valle
Age: 17 Nationality: Finnish Position: Striker

Hyypia may have gone, but there is still a Finnish presence at Anfield, and if his reports are anything to go by, he might well be worthy of mention alongside compatriots Hyypia and Jari Litmanen.

Sometimes there just comes along a striker to whom putting the ball the goal is just the easiest thing in the world to do. In recent years the likes of Mellor, Linfield and Nemeth have failed to convert this ability at a higher level, but to Dalle Valle failure to do so would be quite astounding.

Perhaps his largest critisism is that, like such great poachers as Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Jimmy Greaves (no pressure by comparison!) he's largely useless outside the penalty area, which is something of a big no-no these days. However his talent is such that sorting that out shouldn't be much of a problem.

Looks like Mikel Forssel as well, which probably bodes well!


7. Alex Kacaniklic
Age: 17 Nationality: Swedish Position: Left wing

As a general rule, players who spend more than one year in the senior youth squad tend to have little hope of making the progression up to the reserves, though there are exceptions.

As such, the odds are something against Kacaniklic, but when you have his natural ability, such challenges are the bread and butter of making it to the top.

Speed, skill and crossing, those are usually the only three basic requirements to make it as a winger, and he has them in abundance. He has the challenges of the aforementioned Buchtmann and Paul Ince's son Thomas as challengers for his left wing berth, and if he manages to overcome them and break through, then surely his will be a career to keep an eye on.


8. Adam Pepper
Age: 17 Nationality: English Position: Midfield/Attack

When a player is given the title 'next Steven Gerrard', people tend to smile wryly and dismiss it as wishful thinking. When that player is a young scouser trying to break through Liverpool's academy system, obviously Liverpool fans are going to sit up and take notice.

In truth, the Gerrard comparison is loosely-based. He's a midfielder who can play in other positions, he's English and Scouser, he's a Liverpool fan and he's coming through Liverpool's academy. The similarities do end however. He's a little short and this is rumoured to be a worry for the coaches, and like Pacheco and Bruna he does a lot of work on bulking up.

I couldn't really write an article like this without mentioning Pepper, as mis-guided comparisons to Gerrard aside, he is still believed to be the best hope we have of seeing a Scouser in the side long-term if and when he breaks through - he turned down advances from Chelsea and United to sign his professional contract, so don't just take my word for it!



That's more or less a pick 'n' mix selection of the best players in Liverpool's reserves/youth team. There are others I've either mentioned only in passing or left out entirely, like Gulasci, Ayala, Nemeth, Mendy, Saric, little Ince and Duyan, but these are the ones currently with the highest profiles and best chances of getting in next

England’s stranglehold on Europe’s youth

Whilst Manchester United fans were jumping out their seat in the third minute of injury time against Aston Villa, Lazio fans will have been cursing their television screens as Federico ‘Kiko’ Macheda turned neatly and curled the ball into the net to relight Manchester United’s chance of winning the Premiership.

Macheda, a product of the Lazio youth academy, is yet another example of how Italian and Spanish clubs are struggling to keep their top youth players and are losing out to English teams.

In England, once a player turns 17 he can sign a professional contract, however the age is 18 for Italian and Spanish teams. That year make a huge difference.

A professional contract means a bigger wage, an earlier start and quite possibly a bigger chance of success – it also means stability for the player and his family. Macheda was offered a reported £70,000 a year to sign – a decision of which he and his family were unlikely to turn down.

Most people hadn’t heard of Federico Macheda - and why would they? Six more months until he even turns 18, the impact he has made already is bigger than some players make in their first three or four years at a club. But whilst Lazio fans are angry, Roma fans will be outraged - robbed of the heir to the Totti dynasty, Davide Petrucci will be another introduced into the Manchester United team within the next year. It’s a kick in the teeth for Rome and Italy – comparable to Manchester United getting deprived for their next Ryan Giggs or David Beckham – there’s undoubtedly an element of unfairness.

Marcello Trotta of Napoli has voices his concerns over losing a bunch of players to Manchester City.

“There are rules that don’t safeguard clubs”

And he’s right, the current rules in place don’t.

Italian clubs aren’t the only ones losing out. Even top youth academies such as Barcelona’s fail to hold onto their youth as big contracts come in from across the channel. Cesc Fabregas is the obvious one, but there are a lot more and Spanish clubs will be totalling the damage done.

All that the clubs are entitled to financially is a ‘training fee’ – a nominal amount. It won’t, however, be the money that is driving these clubs crazy – it’s the fact that they’re losing out on their brightest starts – they’re losing the future of their clubs.

Is this just a case of what goes around comes around though?

Italian and Spanish clubs have unrivalled access to the South American players of which they can nurture into their team easily with smaller language and cultural barriers – the players are born to play in Italy and Spain. English clubs however face this culture barrier coupled with the struggle to gain a work permit - the problem stretches beyond football and is evidence of an ever-increasing political aspect to the modern game.

This situation does no good however for England producing their own talent, and the national team will suffer, but as the focus shifts more and more towards the club teams it’s English teams and the Premier League who will prosper.

Scouting Report: Lauri Dalla Valle, Liverpool

It is plain to see why much was made of his capture by Liverpool. The striker has a touch of the Fernando Torres about him

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Lauri Dalla Valle impressed against Birmingham as Liverpool raced to a 3-0 lead in the FA Youth Cup semi-final. Photograph: Keith Williams/Action Images

Have Liverpool discovered the new Fernando Torres? I say that partly in jest but Lauri Dalla Valle, although having an awfully long way to go, certainly has many similarities with the dashing Spaniard. Both are centre-forwards, blond, exceptionally sharp mentally to spot a pass, physically quick, do more than their fair share of work without the ball and certainly find goals easy to come by. It is plain to see why so much was made of Liverpool's capture of him.

I had the privilege of watching this young lad play in the second leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final at St Andrew's where Liverpool took a 3-0 lead after half an hour and never looked in danger of relinquishing it. The damage was done by two players in particular and I would like to give David Amoo a special mention as his partnersship with Dalla Valle was almost unplayable for an overstretched Blues defence. The young Koppites tore into their opponents, creating chances at will and Dalla Valle showed he had that knack of being in the right place at the right time as he finished off a scramble in the box, neatly placing the ball with his weaker left foot in the bottom corner perfectly beyond the keeper's reach, neither snatching at the chance or trying to put too much power on the ball.

After Amoo had danced his way past two defenders to put them 2-0 up, the Finn took centre stage again with a little help from the home keeper who went to throw the ball out, changed his mind and let go of possession. The ball dropped between him and Dalla Valle, who reacted brilliantly by making a difficult opportunity look easy as he lifted the ball over the goalie's despairing dive and side-footed it into an empty net.

At 3-0 the game was effectively over and no one could have blamed him if he thought his work was done, but he chased and closed down, picking when he was best able to win the ball to affect the play which is important as you can't use all your energy trying to win the ball back.

He never gave it away when he had his back to goal, holding the ball up and making sure he retained possession for his team. His first touch and speed of thought meant he was very rarely tackled in tight areas and he always had a picture of what to do when being closed down.

Everything he does comes naturally. Some things can't be taught – qualities that separate ordinary players from very good ones – and even at his age his positioning in build-up play and knowledge of where to stand when the ball comes into the box seems spot-on. Some players have lots of the ball but make very little impression in games, but everything he did seemed to impact on the match in some way.

Little wonder his signaturewas coveted by so many big clubs. As a 15-year-old he chose Internazionale but then moved back home to Finland after only a year in Milan. At 17 sometimes the choices you make off the pitch can be as important as the ones you make on it and his decision to go to Liverpool, which looks a perfect match, means he's got both just about right.

How he rates

Age 17

Born Joensuu, Finland

Position Centre-forward

Height 5ft 11in

Weight 11st 7lb

From Jippo

Pace 8

Heading 8

Shooting 9

Awareness 9

Passing 9

Team responsibility 9

Value £1m

Link

Telegraph piece about our youngsters

Liverpool's youth players show promise for the future - Telegraph

Liverpool have handed young striker Nathan Eccleston a new, two-year contract to stave off interest in one of Anfield's brightest prospects from a number of their Premier League rivals, with Blackburn and Everton thought to be among those tracking his progress. 

By Rory Smith 
Last Updated: 5:33PM BST 06 Apr 2009

The club's youth system has come under fire in recent weeks for not producing a single first-team player since Stephen Warnock, now at Blackburn, despite millions of pounds of investment. 

Eccleston, an 18-year-old England youth international, though, is just one player whose promise suggests that might be about to change. 

Krisztian Nemeth - Hungarian international striker likely to be the first of Rafa Benitez's imported youngsters to make the breakthrough at first-team level. Picked up from Liverpool's feeder club MTK, Nemeth is a ruthless finisher, although doubts remain over his lack of pace. A broken cheekbone on his debut put an end to a January loan spell at Blackpool, but that Benitez namechecked him as a reason for selling Robbie Keane two weeks later suggests his future his bright. 

Dani Pacheco - Rafa Benitez plucked the Spanish prodigy from Barcelona two years ago and Liverpool's staff retain high hopes they may have unearthed a gem. His displays for the first team in pre-season hinted at what was to come, full of clever touches and excellent control, and the 18-year-old is expected to be promoted from reserve level next season. 

Adam Pepper - A 17-year-old attacking midfielder in just his first year at Liverpool's Academy, Pepper is already regarded as the brightest prospect on Merseyside since Wayne Rooney. After a string of excellent performances for the under-18s, Pepper gave a glimpse of his potential when he scored from the half-way line against Blackburn last month. Xabi Alonso would be proud. 

Lauri Dalla Valle - Another beneficiary of Benitez's global scouting network, Dalla Valle is a Finnish youth international boasting a clinical ruthlessness in front of goal. Hughie McAuley, the under-18s manager, regards him as a "real asset" while his countryman Sami Hyypia regards him as "one of the names for the future." 

Thomas Ince - Despite his father, former Liverpool captain Paul Ince, making his name as a snarling midfield enforcer, the younger Ince is a quick, exciting left winger who has made a big impression in his first year at the club's Academy. Only 17, his physical presence has improved and, along with Pepper, he is seen as the home grown youngster most likely to make it to the first team in the coming years.