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Ask David Moyes. You know you must be doing something right when
Rafa Benitez decides to have a go at you. According to the sage
of Spain, Everton are a small club who should be grateful to play
the likes of Liverpool - four points out of six for the Toffees
this season does tell a rather different story though.
Benitez has also turned his fire on the Academy system, claiming
that it simply isn’t working, and that it needs a complete
overhaul if it is to produce top class English talent in the future.
This from the manager of a football club whose youth system of the
1990s brought forth Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler,
Steve McManaman and Jamie Carragher, all regular internationals.
But now, the fruits of Liverpool’s youth system aren’t
up to scratch for some reason, the pool of talent having dried up.
And
if Liverpool’s youth system is hopeless, then it follows that
everybody’s youth system is hopeless. I am Rafa Benitez. I
am a man. Therefore, all men are Rafa Benitez. Erm, no, not quite.
The first question is whether Liverpool’s system really is
hopeless. I’d suggest it isn’t. I’d also suggest
that the fact that Liverpool haven’t brought through a crop
of youngsters into the first team says a lot more about how different
Premier League football is in 2007 compared with 1997, particularly
at the top end.
Way back when, in the days when you won nothing with kids, managers
piloted a route of succession through the different levels at the
club, from youth to reserves to first team. Now, if a vacancy crops
up at right-back, bring somebody in from Portugal / Spain / Argentina
/ France at a cost of several millions.
Expectations, demands, are ever greater at Liverpool than they were
a decade ago. Then, the fact that they hadn’t won the title
for a while was an irritation. Now, as we push towards 20 years
since last they were champions, and as Manchester United close in
on their record number of titles - just two short if they clinch
it again this season - the pressure mounts and mounts and mounts.
And it’s not going away, European Cup win or no European Cup
win. And in those circumstances, you can understand Benitez’s
reluctance to play the youngsters and his desire to go out and buy
proven players, a desire that will only increase now that he’s
working for the Yankee dollar.
When you look at the talent Liverpool have produced in the last
few seasons, lads like Stephen Warnock, Neil Mellor and Darren Potter,
most sides would be pleased with that return on investment, because
all three of those will go on and have more than handy careers at
Premier League level. But for Liverpool, the bar is that bit higher,
the demands that bit greater.
The other issue of course is that as well as a good education, young
players need to be given the right opportunities to play in the
right games at the right times. If they don’t get that, their
development stalls, frustration sets in and they can go backwards.
Had Stephen Warnock been offered more opportunities, perhaps he
might have gone on to be the next Jamie Carragher. But that is the
key - opportunity.
That is why Ashley Young is an England international in the making
- because he was at a club that gave him a chance to play early
on. Why are Aidy Mariappa, Hameur Bouazza and Anthony McNamee similarly
thriving at Watford? Because they have a manager who believes in
them and will give them their chance. A manager who himself is a
product of the Academy system.
And why won’t West Ham unearth any more Lampards, Coles, Carricks,
Ferdinands? Because Alan’s gone to Iceland.
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