Kelly Wilson Shelvey Pacheco Flanagan These are all youngsters who had a fair bit of involvement in the first team last season. Who do you rate the most? who do you think could be a big part of the team in the future? What do you think they should do this season to improve? What other thoughts do you have on each player? Who do you think could feature heavily this season?
Kelly, Shelvey, Flanagan, Wilson, Pacheco. In that order. I think the first 4 could get first team spots, not sure about Pacheco, he seems to have stagnated at Liverpool.
Kelly: I really rate him. I believe he will be a big part of the future of Liverpool Football Club. Wilson: I haven't seen much of him but I think he can be a future centre-back at Liverpool. I think sending him out on loan to gain first-team experience would be crucial to his development. Shelvey: I also rate him. Gaining some first-team experience would help his development massively. Pacheco: I'm not too sure now. A couple of years ago, I really rated him but he seems to have stalled. Make or break season for the lad. Flanagan: When he has come into the team, he's been excellent. Competition at right-back could be an issue though. In order: 1) Kelly. 2) Wilson 3) Shelvey. 4) Flanagan. 5) Pacheco.
I guess I should do a review to. Kelly: I see Kelly as the most promising youngsters right now. He had to play in some very big games last season and done brilliantly every time. His bigges positive I feel is that he always looks very comfortable, confident and composed on the pitch. He never seems intimidated or phased by any thing. He just slots into the team very well. He is also strong, determined and not afraid to get stuck in. Shelvey: Like Kelly, very confident, composed and always looks like a part of the team. When Shelvey has played this season he has never looked like a youngster being given a run out to me, he looks like a well raised player. Not a world beater or star man but a good player, which at his age is great. In a few years Shelvey could become fantastic. His movement, energy, passing and shooting are very good. I feel he needs to work on his strength a bit though to make sure he can win all hose 50/50 challenges. A loan could be good this season with so much competition in midfield. Wilson: I like Danny Wilson. I dont feel he can quite be judged the same as Kelly though as he is a little bit younger and only been in Liverpool 1 season. Again, like Kelly and Shelvey, Wilson always looks very relaxed and comfortable on the pitch, he never looks phased or intimidated (this is actually what impress me most about most of these guys because I am going to say it about Flanagan to). He has a lot of SPL and Champions League experience for his age, due to a long first team run at Rangers, which will serve himvery well in the future. I feel Wilson has the potential to be a star, but should go out on loan if he wont see many starts this season. Flanagan: Same as Kelly and Wilson, very confident, comfortable and composed. He was rushed into the team at a very young age due to injuries, but he straight away looked a real part of the team. He worked hard and got his reward. Flanagan had to incidents last season that worried me a bit, one was when he collided with Carragher and Carragher was left unconscious. The other was a few games later when he miss timed a tackle and got a telling off and a yellow card. But he was able to just pushed it to the back of his mind and carry on, just like a true professional would. Flanagan could be a big part of Liverpool in a few years, but I agree about the right back competition being a worry for him. Possibly a 6 month loan could be a good idea. Pacheco: well, what do I say here. I have started the other three by saying the exact same thing, about how confident and composed they are on the pitch. But I am afraid I can not say the same about Pacheco. I have seen three moments in Pacheco's game that have really impressed me. One was a brilliant run in field and lead back heel to set Joe Cole through on goal. One was a brilliant, Gerrard style sprint and slide tackle and the other a perfectly placed 'Hollywood' pass. But unfortunetly it really is just those three moments. Most of the time Pacheco has seemed very cautious to me, and looks very nervous when some one tries to tackle him. He has also seemed a bit lazy at times, staying in one place a lot and not making many runs. But this could be caused by a fear of being tackled. I know there is a great player in there, but he has to beat the nerves if we are going to see it. Maybe a loan or some extra coaching can help this along.
For what its worth: 1 Kelly 2 Shelvey 3 Flannagan 4 Robinson I'm not convinced about Pacheco (I see another babel on our hands) and Wilson still seems to be over-awed by being on the pitch and desperately not wanting to make a mistake.
The frightening thing and its a good thing is that Liverpool have two fantastic youngsters waiting in the wings to take up positions.Kelly is good,and Flanagan is just as good.The sure sign of whether a player will make the step up from reserves to first team is whether they are fazed or not.John Flanagan looked like he was playing for the first team his whole life.He may have been playing in the reserves.He was ice cold.Jack Robinson same thing.Now Martin Kelly has a few years on them,as he's been involved for quite a while/.The good thing however is that they have Carra constantly talking to them and cajoling and nurturing them.
Wisdom is miles ahead of Wilson in my books. Kelly: Definetly a future star for us and England. Whether he stays at RB or moves back to CB doesn't matter as much, because whichever position he plays I can see him fitting in and doing well. Quite possibly the best player to come out of the academy since Gerrard. Wilson: A tough one because I don't feel he's been given too many first team chances yet. His natural position is CB, and so far he's been played mainly in LB so it's hard to judge what he's like at CB. One to watch out for I feel. Shelvey: He could go either way. A star or a flop; it mainly depends on whether he can sharpen up his play and stop giving away position. He has very good vision, and his long range shot should improve with age and practice. With experience at a premier league club and some good training and discipline behind him I could see him developing into a future CM star with Coady. Pacheco: Another tough one... For some reason he's brilliant for Spain, but doesn't quite cut it at all the time for us. He has his moments, and I remember when he got his debut he got an assist in the first 10 minutes. That's the type of player he is, and I think the sooner he's converted to a CAM the better. If he gets his consistency sorted out, then a starter for the future. Flanagan: Our future RB, depending on where Kelly goes in our lineup. He has a little way to go yet, but I see plenty of Carragher in him. Hotheaded, has good acceleration and will chase a ball all the way to the line. No doubting his passion, he just needs to improve his ground ball skills and his attacking ability and we'll have quite a RB on our hands.
I reckon we're blessed that we produced a youngster as good as John Flanagan.He's definitely in the Carragher mould.No nonsense,no bullshit.He can handle himself and won't allow himself to be bullied.He and Jack Robinson passed one hell of a test when they were up against Walcott and Nasri.They gave both nothing.Everything else should be academic.They are definitely two for the future.I also believe both are light-years ahead of the Da Silvas.
Personally I can't wait to see Wisdom in action in the premier league. Watching him in pre season, he was all over that right flank, despite the fact he was playing CB.
