09 Aug 2015 03:42:04
Hi eds, thanks for all the hard work you put in, especially this time of year, although I know each player is different I was just wondering about rossiter, you said about Suso {Ed001's Note - he was badly handled and that was always going to happen to him.} (just after he left) do you think this could possibly happen to Jordan too or is it a different situation??

Thanks in advance

Henlow red

{Ed001's Note - we are not handling any of the youth players well at all, our whole youth system is still a bit of a mess, sadly. It does take time to set up, but we have not started work on what happens with them outside of the academy itself. We just look to see who will loan them, rather than finding a club that we can work with continually and build good ties with, so that we can continue to work closely with the youngsters even while they are on loan. While it can benefit them being left to their own devices, they can gain maturity, but usually it is the last thing you want a youngster to do. You need the right people around them advising them and helping them pick the right paths for their career. They need to feel like they still are a part of their loaning club, rather than being sent away and forgotten. When you are 18 and away from home, it is easy to fall into the wrong mindset and spend your time off partying, especially when you are as well paid as young pros today. When the best thing for a player to do after training is rest, preferably to sleep. Frank Lampard is one of a number of pros that had lengthy careers at the top level partially due to the fact that they spend the afternoons sleeping. The right rest is just as important as the right exercise. Now Swansea, Chelsea and Middlesbrough have places for the players to sleep after training. We need to do more to ensure that our young players see how it helps and so want to do that for themselves, showing the benefits so they understand rather than just feeling forced. Then when they go out on loan, we need to have a guy for each of the players out on loan who watches them in training, watches their matches and helps them learn from what they are doing, while making them feel like Liverpool does care about how they get on.}

1.) 09 Aug 2015
09 Aug 2015 09:11:34
As always Ed, very informative post. I have often wondered what happened to the hard work Rafa and his team put into the academy. But as you say if we do not have strong links to other clubs to ensure progression of young players then it defeats the object of investing in the academy.

{Ed001's Note - Rafa did a great job bringing in Borrell etc, but the club have still not built on that work to create a pathway from academy to first team. It is stupid really as we are just wasting money at the moment.}

2.) 09 Aug 2015
09 Aug 2015 09:36:13
We have the infrastructure and the setup in place, but we need to add to the subtleties, such as player liaison etc. Alex Inglethorpe is the guy in charge of the academy, and perhaps he could do with more help in this side.

3.) 09 Aug 2015
09 Aug 2015 09:36:22
Frustrating when there's such a clear opportunity to massively improve an obvious weakness, but none of the decision makers at the club seem to see it

4.) 09 Aug 2015
09 Aug 2015 10:22:14
Eds do you think Ljinders appointment will improve the transition between academy and first team?

{Ed001's Note - I certainly hope so and that is meant to be a part of his role, but it takes a lot more than a coach to make it work.}

5.) 09 Aug 2015
09 Aug 2015 10:59:24
Hopefully this new link with Swindon becomes the first of many. Bolton would be a good shout possibly Burnley

6.) 09 Aug 2015
09 Aug 2015 12:44:58
Looks like we could be building a good relationship with Swindon.

{Ed001's Note - no Inglethorpe had a relationship with them through Spurs, which he brought with him. Not really us building one, yet.}

7.) 09 Aug 2015
09 Aug 2015 13:30:56
Great post, Ed! For all the steps you mentioned to come to fruition, there needs to be a total commitment to a sustainable youth policy just like Barca who regardless of the stars they buy, still bring thru youth products because that is just who they are, who are we?