Rafa's youth policy

[Fagan]

Was talking to a mate of mine today and he was telling me about a guy he knows whos son (irish) has just been given a youth contract by liverpool. the kids 16.

 

He had a lot of offers from clubs and his father went with him to talk to all the clubs.

 

The day he went to anfield, rafa came and met them face to face which he was surprised at, the father asked him straight out about what the chances were of his kid making the grade.

 

Rafa said he could give no guarantees, but stated that the club is absolutely convinced that UEFA are bringing in the 6-5 rule, whereby you can only have 5 foreign players, and on that basis they are signing shed loads of youngsters from all over the place, because when they buy them at a certain age and the kids stay with them for a certain amount of time, they become naturalised and therefore technically 'british' so the irish and foriegn kids will qualify as domestic kids.

 

he also said that that is another reason why liverpool will be pursuing more english players.

 

he said carragher came in and said a brief hello and was giving out because hed been done for speeding again and was worried hed be put off the road for while cause of all the points he had on his license!

 

The kids father also said he overheard rafa giving out yards about Crouch's agent looking for way too much money in his transfer out of the club!

 

not saying its gospel, but interesting all the same if the club are planning ahead on the basis that this rule will come in

[Hassony]

Was talking to a mate of mine today and he was telling me about a guy he knows whos son (irish) has just been given a youth contract by liverpool. the kids 16.

 

He had a lot of offers from clubs and his father went with him to talk to all the clubs.

 

The day he went to anfield, rafa came and met them face to face which he was surprised at, the father asked him straight out about what the chances were of his kid making the grade.

 

Rafa said he could give no guarantees, but stated that the club is absolutely convinced that UEFA are bringing in the 6-5 rule, whereby you can only have 5 foreign players, and on that basis they are signing shed loads of youngsters from all over the place, because when they buy them at a certain age and the kids stay with them for a certain amount of time, they become naturalised and therefore technically 'british' so the irish and foriegn kids will qualify as domestic kids.

 

he also said that that is another reason why liverpool will be pursuing more english players.

 

he said carragher came in and said a brief hello and was giving out because hed been done for speeding again and was worried hed be put off the road for while cause of all the points he had on his license!

 

The kids father also said he overheard rafa giving out yards about Crouch's agent looking for way too much money in his transfer out of the club!

 

not saying its gospel, but interesting all the same if the club are planning ahead on the basis that this rule will come in

 

I would expect that if the player was 16 he probably would have been too old to be spotted now, and is Rafa always this happy to talk about everything with anyone who comes in the club!

[Fagan]

I would expect that if the player was 16 he probably would have been too old to be spotted now, and is Rafa always this happy to talk about everything with anyone who comes in the club!

 

 

well the kid has signed for liverpool at the age of 16 and was told hed be involved in the youth cup team this year, so apparently not in terms of being too old and id expect rafa to say that about the youth policy to any potential signing.

 

the crouchy stuff sounds like absolute bo**ox i agree, but in fairness, your man said he overheard benitez saying when he was getting off the phone to people.

[Guest spk]

Was talking to a mate of mine today and he was telling me about a guy he knows whos son (irish) has just been given a youth contract by liverpool. the kids 16.

 

He had a lot of offers from clubs and his father went with him to talk to all the clubs.

 

The day he went to anfield, rafa came and met them face to face which he was surprised at, the father asked him straight out about what the chances were of his kid making the grade.

 

Rafa said he could give no guarantees, but stated that the club is absolutely convinced that UEFA are bringing in the 6-5 rule, whereby you can only have 5 foreign players, and on that basis they are signing shed loads of youngsters from all over the place, because when they buy them at a certain age and the kids stay with them for a certain amount of time, they become naturalised and therefore technically 'british' so the irish and foriegn kids will qualify as domestic kids.

 

he also said that that is another reason why liverpool will be pursuing more english players.

 

he said carragher came in and said a brief hello and was giving out because hed been done for speeding again and was worried hed be put off the road for while cause of all the points he had on his license!

 

The kids father also said he overheard rafa giving out yards about Crouch's agent looking for way too much money in his transfer out of the club!

 

not saying its gospel, but interesting all the same if the club are planning ahead on the basis that this rule will come in

 

interesting post. ive heard rafa meets and greets all the lads and that wenger has a similar policy. im interested though in why there are other reasons why he is intrested in signing english players ... pm me if you cant publicly post

[Fagan]

interesting post. ive heard rafa meets and greets all the lads and that wenger has a similar policy. im interested though in why there are other reasons why he is intrested in signing english players ... pm me if you cant publicly post

 

 

no, if your read my post, i was saying that the new rule coming in is another reason why rafa is signing english players, rather than because they are less risk in terms of adapting to english life.

 

no secrets im afraid!

[Mr Makaveli]

Rafa would be the best manager in the world if only he could stop thinking out loud. This story is nothing but toss.

[billybunter]

dont see quite why its 'toss'.

 

UEFA could well introduce that ruling, and I imagine that Rafa is more in the know than we are.

[Eiler99]

I'd love to hear Rafa say "so we are signing shed loads of youngsters from all over the place, no?"

[Magic8Ball]

what ever the reason:

To save money on transfers, to 'grow' our own world class player, to make money for transfers .... whatever the reason we're going to see a lot more youth come in, with only the best staying and going on loan before making the first team.

 

Hope Rafa gets to stay to see this come to fruition

[Sion]

If I had a son who Liverpool were after i wouldn't send him anywhere near Liverpool. You'd have to be mad to

When you consider the number of academy players that were promoted beyond their age this year, I think it was two or three, and the amount of youngsters that are bought in at ages 17/18, we must have the worst youngster to first team ratio in the World.

Edited August 31, 2008 by Sion

[Magic8Ball]

If I had a son who Liverpool were after i wouldn't send him anywhere near Liverpool. You'd have to be mad to

When you consider the number of academy players that were promoted beyond their age this year, I think it was two or three, and the amount of youngsters that are bought in at ages 17/18, we must have the worst youngster to first team ratio in the World.

have you thought, that could have something to do with the quality of the youngsters ? - you instantly blame the management - may not be their fault. How often doesn a Rooney, an Owen a Gerrard come along ? - not very often and you need to be near that quality to make it into the first team permanently.

 

In recent months and this summer Rafa seems to be actively trying to remove the dead wood to create space for the youngsters to make more appearances

 

Also would you deny your son the best coaching just so they could play more games ? - its about developing the player properly and having them reach their max potential and that requires top coaching not just games

Edited August 31, 2008 by Magic8Ball

[meepins]

If I had a son who Liverpool were after i wouldn't send him anywhere near Liverpool. You'd have to be mad to

When you consider the number of academy players that were promoted beyond their age this year, I think it was two or three, and the amount of youngsters that are bought in at ages 17/18, we must have the worst youngster to first team ratio in the World.

and this surprises you considering we are one of the worlds elite football teams?

[R A Softlad]

Was talking to a mate of mine today and he was telling me about a guy he knows whos son (irish) has just been given a youth contract by liverpool. the kids 16.

 

He had a lot of offers from clubs and his father went with him to talk to all the clubs.

 

The day he went to anfield, rafa came and met them face to face which he was surprised at, the father asked him straight out about what the chances were of his kid making the grade.

 

Rafa said he could give no guarantees, but stated that the club is absolutely convinced that UEFA are bringing in the 6-5 rule, whereby you can only have 5 foreign players, and on that basis they are signing shed loads of youngsters from all over the place, because when they buy them at a certain age and the kids stay with them for a certain amount of time, they become naturalised and therefore technically 'british' so the irish and foriegn kids will qualify as domestic kids.

 

he also said that that is another reason why liverpool will be pursuing more english players.

 

he said carragher came in and said a brief hello and was giving out because hed been done for speeding again and was worried hed be put off the road for while cause of all the points he had on his license!

 

The kids father also said he overheard rafa giving out yards about Crouch's agent looking for way too much money in his transfer out of the club!

 

not saying its gospel, but interesting all the same if the club are planning ahead on the basis that this rule will come in

 

Hence the eagerness to sign Barry.

[Fagan]

Hence the eagerness to sign Barry.

 

 

indeed and another reason to lump a premium on to british players transfer fees.

 

wouldnt be surprised if the agents are demanding higher wages on that basis either

Edited September 1, 2008 by Fagan

[honourablegeorge]

Accroding to Dave Usher, Rafa doesn't get on with piet Hamburg, in much the same way as he didn't get on with Heighway, so there's almost no chance o facademy kids getting promoted, and Rafa's simply bringing in his own reserve squad directly to Melwood.

[CaptainXabi]

Accroding to Dave Usher, Rafa doesn't get on with piet Hamburg, in much the same way as he didn't get on with Heighway, so there's almost no chance o facademy kids getting promoted, and Rafa's simply bringing in his own reserve squad directly to Melwood.

WTF? Rafa doesn't seem to get on with too many people these days (if true and all that).

Edited September 1, 2008 by CaptainXabi

[Hassony]

WTF? Rafa doesn't seem to get on with too many people these days (if true and all that).

 

was he the one who brought in piet Hamburg?

[CaptainXabi]

was he the one who brought in piet Hamburg?

I thought he had a big say in it, which is why I'm confused. At least he apparently supported it at the time:

 

Reds’ boss Rafa Benitez said: “We have had some very good reports about Piet and he will bring great experience to the new role. Our youngsters can only benefit from working with someone with his background in youth development.”

 

Link

[ManxRed]

I've been scratching my head about our interest in Stewart Downing (and also why we'd be happy to pay umpty ump squillion pounds for Barry) for some time now, and now I know.

 

Thanks.

[Gravy]

Accroding to Dave Usher, Rafa doesn't get on with piet Hamburg, in much the same way as he didn't get on with Heighway, so there's almost no chance o facademy kids getting promoted, and Rafa's simply bringing in his own reserve squad directly to Melwood.

 

That is all very true - something to do with Hamburg being a Parry appointment and also being absolutely s****. Do you know who Hamburg's assistant is?? Rick Parry's son I believe!!

[Maldini]

Accroding to Dave Usher, Rafa doesn't get on with piet Hamburg, in much the same way as he didn't get on with Heighway, so there's almost no chance o facademy kids getting promoted, and Rafa's simply bringing in his own reserve squad directly to Melwood.

 

He's said that before about them not getting on, but to suggest Rafa wouldn't promote a good player from the academy just because of Hamberg is ridiculous. Rafa is ridiculously pragmatic, if a great young player comes out of the academy he'll play him. We've promoted over a dozen lads from the academy to Melwood in the last two or three years. Jay Spearing was on the bench for our last CL game.

[Maldini]

I suppose this thread is as good a place as any to stick this. Interesting move by the Premier League, a positive one as well I think. Not overly intrusive, but it gives young players a chance of featuring.

 

Premier League plan subs shake-up to up number of young 'home reared' players

 

The Premier League want to introduce a rule next season whereby two of the seven substitutes on each bench must be under-21s developed at the club's academy.

 

The move comes as Uefa and Fifa step up their plans for quota systems.

 

Concerned that many players are graduating from academies and then struggling for games in a foreigner-filled division, the Premier League are keen for "home-reared'' youngsters to be involved on match-day.

 

The plan, which should have been brought in for this season to coincide with the increase of substitutes from five to seven, is also designed to help England, although the rule would not differentiate between foreign youngsters developed at a club and English.

 

Two of those starting on the bench for Arsenal at Blackburn, the 20-year-old Dane Nicklas Bendtner and the English 16-year-old Jack Wilshere, would both qualify as under-21 academy graduates.

 

Chelsea would need to promote some of their youngsters, as Saturday's bench contained Juliano Belletti, Didier Drogba, Alex, Hilario, Branislav Ivanovic, Wayne Bridge and Salomon Kalou, none of whom would meet the proposed academy under-21 requirements.

 

Liverpool would also need to alter their bench with their seven comprising Steven Gerrard, Sami Hyypia, Ryan Babel, Diego Cavalieri, Andrea Dossena, Fernando Torres and David Ngog, none of whom qualify. Manchester United have plenty of "home-reared'' talent but few regular bench-dwellers who meet the under-21 requirement.

 

The Premier League scheme is a softer version of Michel Platini's Uefa's plan to bring in quotas based on age, not nationality like Sepp Blatter's Fifa idea of 6+5. For this season's Champions League and Uefa Cup competitions, English teams must abide by Uefa's 4+4 stipulation: four members of the 25-man squad must have been trained by the club for a minimum of three years, from 15 to 21, as well as four more developed at other English clubs.

[Stevie H]

i like that move from the premier league, sounds a decent idea for a change.

[Hassony]

Scottish football have had this for a while haven't they

[honourablegeorge]

He's said that before about them not getting on, but to suggest Rafa wouldn't promote a good player from the academy just because of Hamberg is ridiculous.

 

Not suggesting he wouldn't promote them under any circumstances, just that it's gotten much much harder - Rafa has a squad of youngsters at Melwood that's probably even larger than our first team squad, and is constantly growing - there's two or three players in every position that an academy lad would have to get past, just to get into the reserves team.