McParland Outlines Academy Direction

[Owen]

Code is 100 percent correct though. Truth hurts. Where are you Jack?

 

Couldn't give a shiny shite whether he's right (hey, that rhymes!). He's a very boring individual.

[George Costanza]

Hardly fair to compare our youth system to arguably the best youth system of the last 10 years in world football.

[The Party Boy]

We play in England, the most succesful English clubs have picked a manager and went with his ideas.

[Cardie]

Did it take 10 years to unearth Anelka and Vieira and make them into superstars? Did it take 10 years to make £6m Overmars into a £25m player? Did he play Anelka because he couldn't "buy players in"? He already had Bergkamp and Wright at their peak.... You don't make sense mate.

 

Anelka - Blazing a trail through the french you system.

Vieira - 'Unearthed' by Milan surely?

 

As for Overmars, Arsenal didn't want to sell and Barcelona were desperate to overturn their fortunes. You make it sound like Wenger had planned the purchase and sale to the letter but in reality Arsenal are/were a glorified selling club.

 

You can bang on all you like about Wengers amazing net spend totals but it's only happened because they lose their best players ever few years, you freaked out at the prospect of losing one in 5 years (despite advocating his sale a year before Rafa to raise cash).

[Dr.Filth]

But McParland was a Rafa appointment and that niggles, I don't believe the manager of a football club should have that type of remit. Obviously it was written into his contract but I cannot agree with that at all.

 

He job is with the first team, his own mini academy at Melwood has proved that just by "overlooking" things doesn't mean it is a success. LFC has brought through some world class players in the past 20 years - McManaman, Owen, Fowler and Gerrard at their peak are every bit as good as Iniesta, Xavi and Puyol.

 

The biggest issue we have is that the manager and the academy don't work in harmony, having the manager select his own man will help that process but isn't and should never be the long term solution at a club the size of ours.

 

So who else at the club would you have trusted to make such an important footballing decision? Gillett? Hicks? Ayre? Moores?

[Maldini]

Where are the players in the first team from the mini academy? Why don't you answer the question?

 

Insua and El Zhar are proper first team squad members now. Leto would be if he were still here, Duran probably would be if he'd had better look with injuries, same goes for Nemeth. San Jose, Spearing, Pacheco and Darby are all on the fringes of the first team. What's your point? We've only really had a proper reserve team for the last 2 seasons as well, and we've signed nowhere near 100 youth players, it's more like 30/40. Producing the players listed above in that period is a pretty great ratio

[theghost]

wahey, Rashid ruining another thread by acting like a twat. Quelle surprise.

[Maldini]

What I love about Wenger is that he has the balls to play the young players, he played Fabregas at 16 against Man United. He also has a great record at spotting young players and making them into superstars, how many superstars has Rafa nurtured from nothing?

 

What I love about Wenger is that he abandons all efforts to win trophies in order to play the young players, he played Fabregas at 16 against Man United. He also has a shit record building teams with these young players in them who are capable of winning trophies, how many trophies has Wenger won since Rafa's been here?

[theghost]

Code is 100 percent correct though. Truth hurts. Where are you Jack?

 

Suck a fucking dick Rashid. Somebody had to say it.

[Woo]

Suck a fucking dick Rashid. Somebody had to say it.

 

They didn't.

[ToxtethTerror]

I am out of this thread, don't like the way its going.

[Jose Jones]

I am out of this thread, don't like the way its going.

 

But you just posted in it. I'm confused.

What are you doing up this early anyway you madman?

[ToxtethTerror]

Woke up for morning prayer. Going back to sleep now!

[Jose Jones]

Woke up for morning prayer. Going back to sleep now!

 

Morning prayer = posting on TLW.

Got to admire that kind of devotion.

[theghost]

They didn't.

 

You can suck it too big boy

[Heinze]

they did.

[Whelan]

I thought Bruce Rioch bought Marc Overmars?

 

Vierra was 19 and playing for AC Milan, doesn't that tell you something about him!

Arsenal have a tremendous set up, and anybody, anybody, who doesnt think that is all down to Arsene Wengers input is kidding themselves, it is Arsene's project, just like Uniteds is Ferguson's project.

And Barcelonas youth set? not a patch on Ajax, not a patch.

[hamstrung]

I thought Bruce Rioch bought Marc Overmars?

.

 

He didn't.

 

He bought Bergkamp.

[Pawlu]

New Academy Head Looking to re-establish a Liverpool Way

 

#fullpost{display:inline;}Re-hauling the overall philosophy at the academy. That is the task that Rafael Benitez has set for new academy head Pep Segura who will be looking to see that all teams in the set-up play in a specific manner and with a particular style.

 

Talking to the Spanish paper AS, Segura said that as the head of the technical areas at the academy, he will be the reference point for all coaching and training sessions. With a large number of staff at the academy being released last week, which included high profile figures like Hughie Macauley and John Owens, it looks like Segura has already set about his job in an area where, yet again, Liverpool seem to have fallen behind.

 

“Arsenal and Manchester United having been working well with young players for a number of years and Liverpool is now trying to do likewise,” he said.

 

“At Arsenal, Wenger has had total control [on the academy] for the past fourteen years. The same is now happening at Liverpool where Rafael Benitez is now involved in the day-to-day operations but also in the players’ contracts as well as the technical staff.”

 

Benitez newly gained power over the academy is evidenced by the fact that Segura was handpicked by him, contrary to what had happened two years back when Piet Hamberg had been appointed. “He (Benitez) asked me what I was doing and at the time I was at out of work. At that point he asked me to come over for a weekend where he told me that he had thought of me for this role. I thought about it for a couple of days and then accepted.”

 

Having led Olympiakos to a league and cup double, it might seem surprising that Segura has accepted to move back into youth football. Yet, that is where he seems to be most comfortable at.

 

“I have been in football coaching for the past twenty-six years but only for the past three years have I been working in the senior game. I was the link between Barcelona B and the first team in my final season at the Nou Camp and then spent two years in Greece.”

 

Given their success in the Champions League with a squad built around home grown players, it is fashionable to try and copy the Barcelona model. That seems to be what Liverpool have gone for and Segura, with eight years of experience at the Catalan giants, seems perfectly suited to do just that.

“One of the keys to success at an academy is to have a clear training and playing ideology throughout the different age-groups so that the players can learn about their positions. Once that’s in place you can leave them on their own.”

 

“Then there’s the ability to spot players: Messi, Bojan and Iniesta are there because they’re good. True, they came and liked what they saw so they decided to stay at Barcelona. That is also very important.”

 

“Yet, the secret to continuing with this production line is that everyone knows what their role is, which makes it all easier. Once you have set up the way you work, then year on year you can build on it and get results. I remember that there were some problems when the 4-3-3 style was imposed but they were overcome and the teams play well.”

 

Which is not to say that clubs with a distinct ideology between the youth and senior set-ups cannot work but, as Segura hints by using Real Madrid as an example, it is more difficult to integrate players into the senior side.

 

“It is curious because Madrid have a bigger pool from which to choose from than Barcelona and they always have great players. But that is precisely it: Madrid is a factory of individuals but you need to define the philosophy of the club.”

I recall that Angel Pedraza (a former Barcelona and Real Mallorca player) once told me that he wasn’t the best player of his [youth] side but made it to the first team because there was a gap in his role. The same applies to [sergio] Busquets who is another example of a player who has been trained for a specific role.

 

It wasn’t a coincidence neither for Pedraza nor for Busquets. They were chosen because they had specific abilities that fitted into the characteristics of a particular position. Lately, I’ve talked a lot about this with Benitez: if you see what way you want to play and are clear about it then you can say that you need a player to play as a 2, 7 or 11 in this or that team. That way everything is better”

 

“Pedraza was casual about it or is about Busquets. Arrived with a clear profile is set to play and fit into that idea because his features were those of that position. I've commented a lot lately with Benitez: if you look you see a clear way of working what you need: a 2, 7, 11 in this or that team. And you're all the better.”

 

http://www.aliverpoolthing.com/2009/06/new-academy-head-looking-to-re.html

[Whelan]

He didn't.

 

He bought Bergkamp.

 

Can we not just pretend that he did, Just to back up my point? I think I would make more sense if Bruce Rioch bought him.

[Jose Jones]

Interesting that Pawlu. Ta.

[Whelan]

It is interesting, especially this bit which I fully expect to be completely ignored!

 

“At Arsenal, Wenger has had total control [on the academy] for the past fourteen years. The same is now happening at Liverpool where Rafael Benitez is now involved in the day-to-day operations but also in the players’ contracts as well as the technical staff.”

[dirty_sanchez]

I am out of this thread, don't like the way its going.

 

[RedinSweden]

What I love about Wenger is that he has the balls to play the young players, he played Fabregas at 16 against Man United. He also has a great record at spotting young players and making them into superstars, how many superstars has Rafa nurtured from nothing?

 

I had to neg this as it made me feel sick.

[dirty_sanchez]

It is interesting, especially this bit which I fully expect to be completely ignored!

 

“At Arsenal, Wenger has had total control [on the academy] for the past fourteen years. The same is now happening at Liverpool where Rafael Benitez is now involved in the day-to-day operations but also in the players’ contracts as well as the technical staff.”

 

But...but...if Wenger leaves, then they would have to start again....and you can't let a manager manage the thing that he's a manager of.....