LFC Academy 07/08 Season Review

[Jayesh87]

LFC Academy 07/08 Season Review

---->>>Academy 07/08 Thread<<<----

I said i would review the Academy 07/08 season a while ago but just never got round to it but seeing as Niko Bellic is boating with Brucie today i thought i would bash this out. All the tables and stats have been updated for this season (and i have no idea why Stoke have only played 27 games while the rest have played 28).

Sean Highdale

For those of you who don't know, Sean was involved in a car crash where 2 of his friends were killed and Sean was left in a critical state [link]. The latest news we have heard that Sean is making a steady recovery and the doctors believe he will make a full recovery in time. Lets hope that this is the case as Sean was a popular member of the squad and a genuine prospect for Liverpool FC. Also i’d like to take this opportunity to pass on our condolences again to the families who lost someone in the crash.

Get well soon Sean lad.

YNWA.


Academy Season 07/08

It's been an interesting season at the Academy this year, the boys started with a 5-0 defeat to Villa and ended the season with a 1-0 loss at Leeds. Although the season may of got of to a bad start and ended very badly with only 2 wins after X-Mas, the under 18's did have a purple patch after the heavy Villa defeat. The under 18's side finished the season in 5th and 24 points of the leader, which is very disappointing as up until X-Mas the side had a chance of taking the title. Although we shouldn't worry about this as at the start of the season Piet Hamberg who is the Technical Manager of the Academy said it is all about developing the young players and not about winning trophies and he should be judged by how many players make the 1st team.

Although the team may not have had the best results there have been lots of positives to come out of the season. Dean Bouzanis the young aussie goalie we signed last summer has had some impressive displays and made the step up to reserve team level, although he needs to work on his kicking. Captain, Steve Irwin has been very consistent and has been very versatile playing in every position except upfront, he may not grab the headlines but i think possibly a new lil carra in this lad. Highdale and Adjarevic partnership in the middle of midfield was impressive and they formed a good partnership together. Adjarevic being one of the stand out players this season with his pin point passing and his thunderbolt shots from his left foot. David Amoo who was bought as a striker had been given the job to play on the right wing and the lad did well, although his formed dipped towards the end of the season but he will be one to watch for next season. Finally the 2 strikers: Pourie and Eccleston who got off to a flyer and caused defensives all kinds of problems. They’re both big, powerful centre forwards with pace to burn and they scored 30 goals between them in all competitions and it will be interesting to see how they combine next season.

Also i'd like to give a quick mention to Joe Kennedy who started every single league and cup game this season and was the only player to do so. Joe was a boyhood blue but since joining the reds he has shown a real passion for the shirt and has done well in defence, he struggled at times this season but this is probably down to having so many different partners at the heart of our defence and not being allowed to start a good partnership and get the understanding needed.

Sadly this season the Academy players fell short in the Youth Cup in the 5th Round against Sunderland. After winning the cup 2 seasons running they were looking for a record 3rd consecutive win but sadly they came up against an inform Martyn Waghorn who bagged a brace and showed why he already has had a taste of the 1st team at Sunderland. Although we did beat Arsenal 1-0, a team that Wenger described as "my best crop of youngsters i've ever had", so that shows that they can mix it with the best of them but are just too inconsistent. A problem i felt the boys had was the constant tinkering, for example when we played Sunderland we had Eccleston and Amoo on the wings and Pacheco (who was bought in just for this game) and Pourie upfront, so in theory there were 4 strikers playing. Hughie Mcauley should have kept faith with his league side that did so well against Arsenal in the previous round.

Academy Player of the Season

Nathan Eccleston

For me this was the obvious choice, even though he is a Manc like Shaggy. Nathan who started the season on the bench but when given the chance he took it by scoring 13 goals in just 14 league games. This lad has the potential to be a star, he has all the attributes needed: pace, strength, skill, finishing, passing and he has the confidence. Something i noticed is that Nathan gets into goal-scoring positions so many times in games and even when he was having an off day he keeps getting into the positions which shows alot of character. He also has the ability to create chances for himself using his pace, power and skill, which is very encouraging. At the start of the season i likened him to Stan Collymore and i think that comparison is fair as the boy really has it all, i just hope he has the mental attributes to take him to the next level.

Rift Rumours & Players Leaving

Hmmm, sadly it seems the off field trouble runs throughout the club with the owners at war, Rafa's future unclear, ladies team cull players and manager and now the Academy seem to be at it. There have been plenty of rumours doing the rounds with apparently coaches falling out with each other and players unhappy with each other. It seems to me that people seem to be passing the blame on to others to why the results went south after X-Mas, rumours of players being upset with Pourie for ball hogging have surfaced with the German striker being dropped towards the end of the season. With Ajdarevic being told he can leave their seems to be some truth in the rumours as Ajdarevic has been one of the top performers this season and i can't see how or why he would be asked to leave other than some kind of falling out but I wish him the best of luck at his new club and I hope this doesn’t come back to haunt us. Other players leaving are Mattone Awang, Ben Parsonage and Michael Collins.

Academy games on TV?

It is hard to review the season with LFC.TV just showing 10 min highlight packages of each game and i have contacted them (a few times) asking if they plan on showing academy games live in the future but sadly they have never responded to my enquiries.

The Future: Academy squad for 2008-09

1st Years

Christopher Buchtmann
Deale Chamberlain
Alex Cooper
Lauri Dalla Valle
Hakan Duyan
James Ellison
Thomas Ince
Pajtim Kasami
Jack Metcalf
Adam Pepper
Michael Roberts

2nd Years

Steven Irwin (c)
David Amoo
Nathan Eccleston
Sean Highdale
Joe Kennedy
Chris Oldfield
Marvin Pourie
Alex Kacaniklic

3rd Years

Gary MacKay-Steven
Shane O'Connor
Michael Scott


Newbies to look out for:

Adam Pepper

The lad that every big club in England wanted to sign when he was just 11, was dubbed the 'New Rooney' by the press. Not much pressure for an 11-year-old ey?? Well the bluenose ended up joining the reds, and scored 16 goals for the under 16's this season. He played a few games for the under 18's already this season and scored a goal against Barnsley. His preferred position is just behind the striker and has the potential and skill to shine next season, lets just hope he lives up to expectations.

Lauri Dalla Valle

The lad who spent 4 months at Inter and scored for fun, he got homesick and when back to Finland before joining the reds (no doubt his dad- massive Inter fan will be happy). Lauri joined us in January and has since scored 5 goals in 6 matches for the under 16’s and made a sub appearance for the under 18’s against Man City. Again his best position is just behind the striker, so it will be interesting to see who gets to play in that position next season. Lauri is known for scoring lots of goals from midfield, it will be interesting to see how he adapts to playing at a higher level next season, so watch out for the fin in flashy white boots.

[Rigadon]

Cheers Milky