What is his future at the club if any? He is the starting England right back but you don't hear may Liverpool fans worrying about his injury. He has performed well at left back this season but with Kelly, Flanagan, Robinson and Wilson in the wings is it time for him to move on?
I dunno but the commentator on the stream I watched had a dig at Rafa - surprise surprise - that playing youngsters didn't happen under him, forgetting or being entirely ignorant of Ayala, Spearing, Pacheco, Darby, Kelly, Ngog's 19 games in '09 and Insua debuting in '07 at 19. Martin Kelly would've played more last season if he hadn't been injured early doors and it stands to reason that as youngsters get a year older the likelihood of them playing increases. It's also pertinent that as much as Kenny has encouraged the youngsters it was still injuries which really gave Flanagan and Robinson their chance to shine. The fact they shone is as much a tribute to Rafa's and Kenny's Academy work as sticking them on the teamsheet. And you can tell 'em I said so.
Rafa came in and completely revamped the youth academy, broke it down and rebuilt it to produce future players. As he realised this was something that was vital to the clubs future progression. Rafa gets no credit off the English media, so what? All Liverpool fans with an ounce of common sense can see the effort he put in, and his passion for the club.
It was Rafa that revamped it. Do you remember what the reserve team was like when he took over. Kirkland at 6 million in goal,Henchoz at centre back,Cheyrou,Le Tallec,Diao,Murphy. Now the reserve team is packed with 16-18 year olds.
I remember the criticism of Rafa when he axed Heighway, not an easy thing to do, but we hadn't produced anybody since Gerrard and Carra. Now we're producing by the bucketload. I loved the way Rafa gave the media nothing. It meant we had to work harder against the cliches - net spend, anybody? - but he had the Us v Them mentality and he's still one of us.
Bollocks was it was Rafa. We have had a well established youth academy for quite some time. The guy who unearthed all the talent over the 90s was fired by Rafa. We had nothing throughout his period, and he never gave any of our young guys a chance. Instead they were sent elsewhere and were replaced by Josemi and ancient Argies. There was never any chance for them to proove themselves over a period of games. The one person who states this is the man who has been there throughout the period. Jamie Carragher. And he likes Rafa!
Rafa was the one that revamped it.As I said,Go onto http://www.liverpoolfc.tv and go back to 2004,and see Liverpools reserve side.It contained,Diouf,Diao,Murphy,Cheyrou,Le Tallec,Kirkland.The reserve side at times cost more than the first team. Now the reserves is filled with promising kids,that are either home-grown or cost a pittance.Its also one of the youngest in England too,as its made up of 16-18 year olds.
Rafa remade the youth academy; most of the players that were previously in the youth academy were actually sold by Houllier. Although he only made the youth academy what it is now when he brought in Rodolfo Borrell from Barcelona - this happened to be his last act as Liverpool manager. I have to agree he should have begun the youth development much sooner; but let's be honest - it wasn't the lack of youth letting us down that was the problem. It's the fact we went in the red for the last 2 seasons, and I don't think any amount of untested youth talent would have changed us going into that drop. If anything I'd blame it on Houllier.
Okay maybe i'm being a little harsh. I would atribute blame to Houlier for selling all our crop of British players from the nineties, which is also backed up by Folwer and Carragher. What I would say is though, regardless of his impact on the academy, if he was still in charge there would be no way Robinson or Flana would of been given their chaces. Probably not Jonjo or Spearing either. We would have several dud back-up players to cover the first team instead. I like Rafa, but he's not the angel that people percieve him to be.
I agree with Ze Liverbird. Houllier packed the reserves with players that weren't in his plans.It even had Diomede in it at one stage.Rafa got shot of all the players that weren't in his plans and put all the youngsters in the reserves.Rafa's philosophy was that no first team player played for the reserves,both were seperate.Thats unless they needed match practice having returned from an injury,but generally Rafa called it Squad A and Squad B.Squad B being the reserves.Okay he signed players that were never going to progress into the senior set-up,he signed them to make up the numbers.Rafa's work is coming to fruition now.
Not convinced. However I do welcome the new talent. I will give credit for Rafa getting the Barca guy in who seems to have made a difference. However were these sorts of players not here before and never given a chance? Young scousers? Carragher states there were many locals coming though but they never given a chance as Rafa would just send them out on loan, never to be seen again, never having had a chance at Liverpool. They were instead replaced by the likes of Josemi, Jan Kromkamp, Dossena, and Pelligrino. Carragher is not stupid.
Rafa gave Spearing starts. He bought Shelvey; he gave Kelly a few starts last season and clearly would've given him more if he hadn't been injured; Darby also got starts. That's three local lads all getting starts. And like I said, as much as Kenny gave Flanagan and Robinson a chance it was forced on him by injuries. If Aurelio hadn't been injured we wouldn't be talking about Robinson now. Nobody said he was an angel but the criticism of him often seems to be based on the fact he isn't Mourinho, or the greatest Manager in the World, therefore he's rubbish. Comments like "several dud backup players" create that impression. He didn't sign several duds backup players, he signed about as many duds as Fergie. He also signed quite a few mid-range players and turned them into world class players. That's because he is an excellent coach. When he signed squad fillers he was wheeling and dealing, something he's said himself and which I always suspected, to counter the lack of funds from H&G. Our first 11 stayed pretty consistent. Below that some came in and improved, such as Benayoun, some were shipped out at a loss and some were clear profit. Again, Spearing, Darby and Kelly all got starts under Rafa. Having placed faith in them over a year ago it seems obvious he'd have played them even more this season. Spearing went out on loan and it paid off so Rafa loaning out youngsters wasn't so stupid. He never gave them away to buy donkeys, as Hodgson did with Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic in the Konchesky deal. That's the Dalle Valle that Barca and Ajax were interested in. And Carra rates Hodgson. But Rafa is? When it comes to coaching I'd put my money on Rafa's smarts before Carra's. If the players were there then they'd have been noticed. Rafa put Kenny in the Academy. Are you suggesting Kenny was in cahoots with Rafa because he's also stupid? Did they bring in Borrell and Segura just for the hell of it?
In the years Benitez was there, how many starts did those young guys get? I bet it's the same as Kenny as already done in 4 months. Granted perhaps he does deserve more credit with our current crop of youngsers that what I have given him. Those during his reign? Sorry i'm not sold by a handful of guys who played the odd league cup game. I reject your claims that I raise criticism because he wasn't Mourinho, that's simply not true. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, I happen to like Rafa, but I do reject some plaudits, in particular his handling of young players during his time in charge. Preparation for the future, okay, granted.
I mentioned this before that Rafa had to clear the mess with regards to the reserve and academy squads left by Houllier.Yes he did have to inflate the reserve and youth team squads with players,half of which would never have a chance of making it.He did say that if five within a couple of years made it into the first team squad then it would be successful.Well he's almost there,as 4 have made it,KellySpearing,Flanagan and Robinson,and it looks like its going to overachieve as the next batch tipped by Kenny to make it are Andre Wisdom,Conor Coady and Raheem Sterling.This is similar to the amount achieved by Alex Ferguson with his batch of ''fledglings'' in 1994.Believe it or not,He set his youth plan into action in 1987.
