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In the latest in our series of in-depth chats with members of Rafael Benitez's Melwood staff we spoke to chief scout Eduardo Macia about life at Liverpool. Whether he's scouring Europe for the next big thing or casting a keen eye over the latest South American superstar, Eduardo Macia knows exactly what he wants when it comes to signing the right player for Liverpool. In an in-depth interview with Liverpoolfc.tv he talks openly about his success with Rafael Benitez at Valencia, how he came to join the Reds and how he is playing his part in trying to secure a golden future for the club. Eduardo, you've been at the club since 2006 as Chief Scout. How did you come to join Liverpool? Well, Rafa was trying to procure me every day. I met him through Valencia and then he asked me to come here. Rafa said I need a chief scout to head up our global scouting network. He wanted to build up the system. That's not to say I wasn't happy where I was. I was very happy in Valencia. It was a good life that I really enjoyed. So coming here was a big decision. If I hadn't been happy in Spain then it would have been an easy choice to come to England. But it wasn't easy, although I do think I made the right choice. Along with the decision to get married this was the biggest choice I've ever had to make in my life. My dad was a fan of Liverpool and he told me all about Dalglish, Hansen and Phil Thompson. In Spain before the Premier League started we'd get one English game on TV every month and it was nearly always Liverpool. So for me the club had a mythical quality about it. Now to be working for this club and with these people makes me feel like I'm very lucky. People tell me that all the time. What about your time at Valencia. You were very successful there... We won the league with a fantastic team. There were a lot of young players involved like Marchena, Baraja, Vicente, Angulo, Albelda... From that Rafa knew I could help him build a strong squad. We won two league titles in Spain and the UEFA Cup in the space of three years. That was despite the fact that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Deportivo and Atletico all had more money than us. But we were working with the idea of combining all the older players such as Carboni, Anglomar, Luque with the up and coming players. With those guys we knew we had a foundation to build a great team. What about your future with Liverpool? Now we are building for the future here. We've brought in a lot of young players in the last few years. Guys who are 16, 17, 18 years old and they all have the mentality we want. That's why they won the reserve league last season. We know they can still improve as players, but they have the right mentality. Guys like Nemeth, San Jose, Bruna, Spearing, Darby, Insua, Gulacsi... Now we are hoping to add more players to that quality. It's a young side, in Spain it would be described as a B team. The idea is to provide first team players for the future so that when they are 20, 21, 22 they are ready for the Premier League. Another type of player we are bringing in is someone like Lucas Leiva who was one of the best young players in Brazil and then there's Ryan Babel. Both of them are in their early 20s and are players for the future. On the next level it's Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger. They are still young, but have lots of experience and can go straight into the first team and should be here for many years. The idea is that in the future we will be bringing through enough players for the first team that the manager might only need to buy one or two players every summer. He won't need to go out and sign four or five. Steven Gerrard, Carra, Sami Hyypia and Finnan are all fantastic veterans. And we've tried to add to that with guys like Kuyt, Alonso, Reina and tried to unite the team. It's not possible to spend £200m to win the Premier League. We can't do that so we have another way. Now Rafa is happy with the young players we have and wants to continue improving the senior squad. You talk about looking for players with the right mentality. Do you feel the Liverpool squad have the same winning mentality as the Valencia team you were involved with? This group of players we have now is one of the best I've seen during my time here. I think it's better than the squad we had at Valencia when we won the league and UEFA Cup in 2004. That was nearly five years ago now and the level of football has gone up since then. The game has progressed a lot in such a short space of time. That's what we've got to keep doing, improving. If you're not then you're going backwards. Even when you win something you've still got to try and become better by bringing in more quality. For example, Lucas Leiva says give me the ball, even if I make a mistake I'm not afraid to take responsibility in big games. That's the mentality we require; strong players who can think for themselves and don't need to be told what to do. They are clever guys who can make their own decisions on the pitch and help you win games. Mentality of the player is the most important thing. There are probably a million players with quality in the world. That's not enough. I don't want someone who is fantastic in September and November. I want someone who is fantastic all year round. If you want to be a successful team you need players who can still be at their best when it comes to the end of the season and the big games arrive almost every few days. It's not a matter of quality. You can improve a player's fitness, technique and make them tactically better. What you can't do is give them the mentality. You can be a fantastic player at a lower level team but if you want to come here then you've got to be a winner. When you play for a big club, particularly in the Premier League, everyone else will be doing their utmost to beat you every weekend. You've got to be able to deal with that and produce 100 per cent every week. Can you explain to us how your scouting network works? We have scouts located all over the world. They live in the country that they cover. That's the way we like it to be. If you are based in England and just travel over to watch the player you don't get the full picture. It's easy to see if a player is performing well or not. We want to know everything about the player, not just how he performs. For example, Lucas Leiva, our scout watched him and asked lots of different people about him. Then we spent two weeks in Brazil watching him training as well as playing. From that we hope to be certain about a player. Of course you can still make a mistake but this method reduces the chances. Sometimes even when you know everything you can still get it wrong. There are lots of factors to consider, such as language, wife or girlfriend not settling in a new country. You can still get it wrong, but we hope to make the least number of mistakes. And it's not only a system we use when signing first team players, we also use it for bringing in younger lads. If you are 17 or 23 it doesn't matter. If your family is not okay or your mentality isn't right then it won't work. So we spend a lot of time gathering lots of info on possible signings. What qualities do you look for in your scouts? They've got to be totally professional. The scouts who work for us are not friends of mine. I never work with friends. We use guys who have worked for big clubs like Real Madrid or been a sporting director in Italy and been at the biggest club in Brazil. They are all very experienced, strong people. They don't say maybe, they give definite answers on players. They are usually the best scouts in each country. I think the best scouts should find you the best players. Being discreet is very important. Nobody can know who you are. I try to stay out of the spotlight because it's more beneficial if people don't recognise my face. I don't like to be in the newspaper. If they know you then they will be able to know what player you are looking at. You are working for your club, nobody else so it's important not to show other clubs what you're doing. You will have Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter, Milan, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Lyon all chasing the same players. They are all powerful clubs with a lot of money so you have to make sure everything you do is secret. The scouts can't be telling anyone they work for the club. So if your scouts can stay discreet it helps. Would you say scouting is something of an art form? No. Football is not a science, therefore scouting can't be either. It's all about decisions and relationships. One and one doesn't always add up to two in football. What you think will work doesn't always and vice versa. For example Ryan Babel's impact in the Arsenal Champions League game. 44,000 people in Anfield and they all have different ideas about what to do after Arsenal score. We're going out of the competition and then Rafa sends on Ryan Babel. Within seconds he's won a penalty and then he scores a goal. That is something that's beyond your control. So a scout can never be 100 per cent sure that a player will go on to be a success in the first team. But you've got to find players who have all the requirements to do that. How many times will you watch a player before deciding whether he is the right man for Liverpool? Sometimes five times, sometimes ten. Sometimes twice and you are sure because you already know everything about him. Normally we watch them five, six or maybe seven times - and it's not just me. At the end, when you hand the report to Rafa you have to be certain. I have to convince Rafa that this player is right for Liverpool. He is the most difficult one to convince. You have to believe in the player's capabilities. If Rafa isn't sure and you're not convinced yourself then the player will never be signed. When you are starting out it's a long process. Sometimes it's more difficult to find younger players rather than senior guys. When they are 16, 17 years of age they play less games. So making a decision with the scout, working with Rafa, and then finalising the move with Rick Parry is a very long process. When you are watching the unveiling press conference everyone is very happy. You are relaxed at that stage. That is a fantastic feeling. People are very happy when the player signs. They say: 'yes, we've signed a new player,' but behind the scenes it's a difficult process. How does your family cope with your job. I assume your job involves very long hours... I never stop. Even at the weekends I am still going to watch a game on a Saturday and Sunday. It could be an U17 or U19 UEFA tournament. Or during the season I might be attending a Champions League game on Tuesday and Wednesday and then a UEFA Cup game on a Thursday. It's a special job that you have to love a lot. If you don't then it would become impossible. I don't see much of my family, although they are very happy here. When my wife and young twins went to Spain recently she said it was too hot. That shows how accustomed they've become to life here. Another problem is the language. I try to teach them Spanish and also the dialect from my home town. While they're obviously learning English now. It gets very confusing at times. When they started saying: 'ta' for thank you I didn't know what they were talking about because I'd never heard of it! But I love this job and I'm proud to work for the club; it's a price worth paying. What does an average day at Melwood involve for you? We start with a breakfast meeting when we talk about everything that has to be done. I have to organise the scouting team. Some days I chat with Rafa and update him on different players. It's not a typical office routine. It varies from day to day. Scouting is not set every day. You are working looking for players and everything can change quickly. For example you might plan to watch an U18 game but if the player you are checking on doesn't feature then you can't work. It means you always need a plan b and sometimes even a plan c. You have to be flexible. RAFA'S BOOTROOM: EDUARDO MACIA

Okay, here's the script, My brother and I set up a skateboarding company, we sell skateboard parts and accessories and clothing seen as fashionable by skaters. I've since been saving my own 'kitty' and can't decide whether or not to plow it into the company and buy a bigger share or to set up a side project of my own........ If I was to do my own thing I would produce good quality clothes without the stupid price tag. Obviously I know everyone likes good quality clothes, and it's also a cert that everyone likes to pay reasonable prices. So the questions I put to the GF is; -What style of clothes would you like to be more readily available? -Would you mind wearing a garment that states a reletively unknown name rather than the likes of HUGO BOSS or Ralph Lauren? I know some of you wouldn't touch a designer name with a yard brush...... -The style I had in mind was a sort of casual range, Polo shirts (plain colours in long and short sleeved), Jumpers, Shirts(plain, maybe a few stripes, possibly a check or two) and various jackets and knitware along the lines of cardies and stuff. What would you think of this kind of gear? I know I've been on here and messed about a fair bit, but let's try and keep this serious-ish as I'm looking for a cross section of views and for this the GF is ideal. By the way, feel free to get involved girls, let me know what you would like to see lads wearing and so on.............

anyone ever done one? people say not to do it for whatever reason but why not its just like a one night stand isnt it? i ask as i am considering doing one, met a right nice girl and she has a top personality but i'd see her as more of a mate but she fancys the pants of me and i've all but confirmed i'll shag her (obviously her not knowing its out of pity) as i see shes nice enough and the pitys just really coming from how desperate she seems to be, not much of a looker but im pretty desperate and have to say i havent been laid in a while so its partly for my benefit too

Top of the league... Its great to say that at this stage of the season... We are where we belong, And we have yet to play to our best.. Big up rafa and the players....And the best of luck lads for the crimbo period... Y.N.W.A

.... to blame OOTers and what not for the shit support and booing as there are a gang of fannys who sit in front of us every week who never sing or cheer but always get on the lads cases. i'm sure ther are people like this all over the ground. i think it's a discrace. i'v seen lads laughed at for trying to start a song and i'm not talking about the main stand or the kemlyn, this is in block 106 on the kop. to be honest they're not scouse (they sound like wirralites or southport or something) but they're season ticket holders and it's just not on. where is the support? don't people realise that to win things you not only have to beat united and chelsea but the rest of the dribble aswell? why only support against chelsea, united and blueshite? don't you see that it's the smaller teams that will be affected by a big atmosphere? they are my questions. if you can answer them, go for it.

just thought i'd pick the brains of the GF..... what do you think it is? i'v heard both of the following; A) you or your bird shit on clingfilm and freeze it before screwing her with it and B) shit in your hand and have a wank. we live in some seriously fucked up times in terms of sexual expression. both of these are fucked up!

Saw the Maestro on Friday night in Belfast with the Rome Orchestra and the Belfast philarmonic choir. Absolutely mindblowing. That's Morricone and Tom Waits in the space of 3 months, all i need now is number 19 and the Lord can take me into his arms a happy man.

... according to Marca, UEFA has closed Vicente Calderon for three matches because of the grave incidents against Marseille. The tie will be played at least 300 km from Madrid.... Should be pretty good news for us. A shame for the atmosphere though. Link: La UEFA cierra tres partidos el Calderón - Marca.com

Just been watching SSN and he's travelling to Spurs for a medical after fee has been agreed with Spartak Moscow. Very impressed with him during the Euro's and think they've got a bargain. If they finally sign Arshavin, they'll have some decent replacements for Keane and Berbatov. Shame their defence is utter shite. :biggrin:

That is, Alan Sex and my Liverpool history. I recently learned some very interesting information about my heritage. No, I'm not Bill Shankly's love child - but my connection to all things Liverpool FC has grown just a bit stronger. Let's start at the logical place - the beginning. 1970. I was born at a very young age in Stafford, to parents that did not follow football at all. At the age of 4 we moved to Colwyn Bay - closer to my father's family in Anglesey. My father was a rugby man, so I did not have a football affiliation passed down to me. I fell in love with the game of football despite the protestations of my father, and as I grew older it made sense to me to follow the team that was the closest to me - Liverpool FC. (Of course, for those purists who are shouting "what about Wrexham?" or something similar - I'm not at all certain I knew Wrexham existed, let alone having a team!). So it was done. I had become a Liverpool FC fan. I followed them on the radio (I remember hiding under the covers after bedtime listening to European matches on the old wireless I got for Xmas one year) and TV every chance I got, and I staunchly represented the club in schoolyard matches and arguments. By the time my family emigrated to Canada (aged 12) I had only managed to see one live football match - Wales vs. Turkey (1-0 Wales on a Nick Deacy header). I have still not made the trip to Anfield - or back to the UK at all - although I will hopefully be able to rectify both things while Anfield still stands! Anyway, to cut a long story short I recently discovered a little information about my background that meant a lot to me. It seems that my maternal grandmother (Nain) was an orphan (not unusual in the earlier parts of the last century) who I had always assumed was from Anglesey like the rest of my father's family. Not so - it seems that my Nain's background was from Liverpool. Therefore I would like to declare that I, Alan Sex (not my real name, for those that are wondering) am 1/4 Liverpudlian. That might not seem like a big deal to a lot of you - but believe me, to discover at almost 38 years of age that I have more than just an emotional tie to the City of Liverpool - and furthermore Liverpool FC - means a heck of a lot to me.

The shortlist for this year's UEFA European Club Footballer of the Year awards is dominated by Premier League players. Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool all reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, with United overcoming Chelsea on penalties in the Moscow-hosted final. That is reflected in the shortlist, announced today by UEFA, with 17 players from the 25-strong shortlist currently playing in England's top flight. Last year's Champions League top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Chelsea's Frank Lampard will all be leading contenders for the award. Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol are also in contention. The coaches of the 16 teams which reached the knock-out stages of last year's competition will cast their votes next Thursday, at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco. There are also awards for goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the year. The list of nominees, from which the overall winner will be selected, is: UEFA club goalkeeper of the year: Manuel Almunia (Arsenal), Petr Cech (Chelsea), Manuel Neuer (FC Schalke 04), Jose Reina (Liverpool), Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United). UEFA club defender of the year: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United). UEFA club midfielder of the year: Michael Essien (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Paul Scholes (Manchester United). UEFA club forward of the year: Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).

Went to see him in the Empire last night. He was fucking quality. You either love him or you hate him. I fucking love him. He's hilarious.

given - what. a. man. coluccini - apart from looking clumsy in the challenge and having an over all dopey style of play, his hair makes him a cunt. guiterres? - looked ace. i lost count of the amount of 50-50 (the ones yossi and pennant tend to lose) balls he won and started a good break from. he mad a boss ball from the left that was only just cut out. done well to spot the open man running in at the back. martins - still always good for a goal. taylor & beye - still fucking yard dogs. as a team they done well yesterday and done us a massive favour by putting united on the chase from the word go.

mine is the usual...condoms. i'v tried all the usual ways around it, garage on the way home, pub toilets and what not. someone walked in the toilet in the pub and i felt a twat and i knew the girl in the garage. today i went to superdrug as they had a lad on the til and boots had 2 girls... so theres me in the que with a hand full of jondoms, second in line and some old dear comes and opens the second till and says 'next please'. she didn't even look at me and i didn't feel too bad until she said 'do you want a phone credit... the fact was i did and decided to get it there to save going to supercigs. the silly old woman left the screen on the till saying 'condoms'. i don't think anyone behind got onto it, atleast i hope they never. whats the most embarassing thing you've got from a shop? i'm guessing the ones with kids and stuff have the worst...

if you havent got a form (the on they printed in the paper) what do you do? if you send five teams off together you get your own mini league and all that jazz so we want to do that but the bastards have stopped printing the forms! anyone who knows the score please let me know. cheers.

with the number 96 on are the bollocks. that is all. but the gang of gypsie / circus people in the shop at the time of purchase where a joke. i said to the girl doing the printing 'these have got to be a joke, they look like a circus cast'. sure enough they had jungling things and what not in their bags. also the main fella (complete with purple suede flairs with yellow flower detail) was shocked at the £94 price tag his 3 shirts swith names and what not came to! the girl felt embarassed when he questioned it but to me thats a fair deal.... anyway my shorts are ace. JFT96

my mum takes the piss. not with us, we were normal but my cousin was fucked up. he had a fucked up family and his dad was a skag head and his mum was just a looser. he moved in with my nan from about the age of 2. we'v got a very close family and he acts as though my mum is his mum. he's been living with us for the last 2 years and he came home last weekend with a calipso (lolly ice). as he walked in to come and play pool in the conservatory my mum shouts 'get here with that, put it in the sink and let it melt. i'm not having you running up and down the stairs all night'. the lads 28 for fucks sake and still getting his E numbers counted! the other day he came down to go to work and she started tucking his shirt in and combing his hair. he was telling her to leave him be for 10 minutes as she ran down the path trying to polich his shoes. i guess it's because she feels that he hasn't had a nice upbringing or something. maybe he's secretly a mong. who knows! there must be some stories of over parentive parents on here! cough up!

i'm not (in fact they're all way cooler than me) too cool for the techy nerd forum. anyone know any providers currently offering unlimited download? i'v just got a laptop and my dad won't get wireless internet because he has work things and what not on the computer so i'm thinking of hooking up my own. the problem is most providers are offering around 3gb of download a month. i have been told that some providers offer unlimited download offers at certains times and these offers are on and off at various stages. any help appreciated, feel free to tell me i don't know what i'm on about. (as long as you're prepared to set me straight) cheers.

i know a few people on here thought it was a good name for them but they seem to be causing confusion. some formites are seeing it as an actual season ticket and it comes across as if only 'proper match going fans' can get the full benefits from the site / forums. maybe a change in name or something could be looked into to avoid people feeling left out for such reasons?

Despite having always had some great individual players, Spain's inability to gel at international level as a team is the reason for it's relatively poor record in Euro/World Cups. Many think this is due to the fractions within the playing group, whether subconscious or not, that stem from the political and geographical divisions that have been in the country for hundreds of years. Would winning this thing help that at all? Or is it much deeper than that? I know a Basque girl who is very passionate about it and I get the idea that she isn't the only one like that, so maybe not, but still.... It'd be something big for Germany too, though. Given their less than impressive history, they aren't exactly the most patriotic people going around, but once a tournament like this starts, the flags come out everywhere! It is really the only thing that they can generally be proud of as Germans, especially since they have anything but a poor international record. So for more than just football reasons, this will be a very interesting game, indeed. I want Germany to win, but it wouldn't disappoint me a hell of a lot to see Spain get up, especially if Our Number 9 fires one or two home. :D

big up your favourite take aways. here goes; in mine (kirkby, melling, aintree, maghull area) i would go for the Gui Garden. full chinese menu plus kebabs that rock my socks. i had a kebab and the missus had a chinese, everyone happy and nobody is hungry. the food is ace and only takes about 20 minutes. (a game of pro evo makes this time fly by) in my girlfriends (ford, litherland, bootle area) i would go to for a Cheung Lok. ace chicken satay and cool chips. i hate chippy chips but 'cheungy' chips rule. hard. as you can see i'm not a fan of indian although i quite often venture to kahns on walton vale. pizzas from there are far better than pizza hut / domino's or anywhere else. they come on a mad sort of nahn bread. (jacky mundo's still stands as the best pizzeria in the city mind)

really do rule don't they? i have and and have just got these fresh today....... next week............beef's gazelle page.