Adam Lallana

[Daffy Duck]

Martin Kelly's there also, and Wisdom once we bin him (although at the moment it seems unlikely he'll actually stay in the PL).

[danperkins]

I'm not sure our development is any better than others. Ibe has looked like a young player who isn't ready for the PL but that we have been forced to play because of a lack of other options. Chelsea and Man City develop a lot of kids that we would probably play, but they won't because they don't need to.

[Exiled_red]

Martin Kelly's there also, and Wisdom once we bin him (although at the moment it seems unlikely he'll actually stay in the PL).

Kelly - I forgot about him, he is probably one of the more successful ones, but as I say there aren't really that many.

I guess Stephen Warnock is another one who had a bit of time in the PL before slipping down a level.

It's worrying how close some of these players get to our first team and a couple of years later they are playing in the championship or league 1. The likes of Warnock and Spearing played a decent amount of games for us.

[Gibbo]

Why people keep banging on about Tex is baffling.

He played for Brighton last year and was their stand out player for the season but they scraped through to stay in the division.

They are the only team this season in all the leagues to be unbeaten as yet. The summer additions have not been outstanding by any stretch of the imagination.

Klopp isn't playing him for a reason. He watches him everyday and I feel safe in saying that there will be a very good reason he isn't getting a run out and that his contract is nearly up and nothing is being done about it.

Yep. Spot on Boogs.

We have a habit of overrating our youngsters though.

[dww]

I'm not sure our development is any better than others. Ibe has looked like a young player who isn't ready for the PL but that we have been forced to play because of a lack of other options. Chelsea and Man City develop a lot of kids that we would probably play, but they won't because they don't need to.

When Sterling was coming through it was out of necessity wasn't it? Lack of a better option, and the fact that he is clearly a high level talent combined to mean he had a chance.

I dont think English talent does come through very well at the larger clubs to be fair, before Sterling it was Gerrard and before him it was Carragher for us. Hardly a prolific academy.

I honestly believe that clubs have academies now to create a steady income through selling the players on, in the hope that one in every 500 who pass through the doors breaks into the first team squad. There isnt much incentive to create home grown players in the UK at the top level premier league clubs. Its way simpler to just hoover up a talented 21 year old than nurture a promising 14 year old.

I think the necessity thing is always likely to be true for all but the really stellar talents. We have seen some clubs go into games with less than a full bench rather than use youngsters in the PL. We as a club (and to be fair the top 4, other than Chelsea until recently) tend to have younger players there where could potentially take opportunities if they arise.

My feeling is that it is worth dividing the development into preparation for the first team and then polishing in the first team. It might well be right that other teams do the former part better than us but I think for whatever reason we have of late done more in terms of putting young players into a top level competitive environment. I also think that we've handled the inevitable down turn of form suffered by Sterling and Ibe pretty well.

To my mind there is a lot in the Rodgers/Martinez point that the problem with developing English talent is the lack of opportunities in first team football.

Southampton had to go down to League One before discovering a system that allowed them to bring players, like Lallana, through regularly. It is to their great credit that they at least appear to be trying to keep doing it.

[The_weatherman]

To my mind there is a lot in the Rodgers/Martinez point that the problem with developing English talent is the lack of opportunities in first team football.

I agree, but I felt Rodgers was a tad too eager to play and develop English talent, it seemed to me like he gave the English players more of a chance than others. Ibe over Markovic, Gomez over Moreno, Rossiter over Texeira being some examples, and buying Milner, Clyne, Lallana, Lambert and Ings.

He really wants to improve the English players which is fair but it's hard to do a big club IMO.

[brightred]

Is it just me or does Lallana look ridiculous in that Nivea ad.

[fah-q]

Is it just me or does Lallana look ridiculous in that Nivea ad.

I didn't realise you were in that advert.

[Tee]

Struggling for England tonight and hasn't really made an impact for us. Starting to think he is not the player I thought he was....

[Assassin]

Struggling for England tonight and hasn't really made an impact for us. Starting to think he is not the player I thought he was....

Thanks for a honest assessment brendan....

[Tee]

To be honest, for what we invested he is ****.

[Fosterbloke]

Me either, but as Klopp methods are ingrained more, we'll have a true assessment of his worth.

[tanner]

An absolutely absurd amount we paid, as many stated at the time. He's just an average player, for which paid a premuim, as we did for many others under Brendans tenure.

[Slinky Skills]

He's not average, he will come good.

[tanner]

He's not average, he will come good.

I disagree, he's had plenty of time and chances but other than the odd instance of something decent, he's been bang average IMO. A top player would've shown it by now.