catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
I remember watching our current under 19's/18's a fair bit when they were younger and keeping an eye out for their development. If you vault back you probably see posts of cautious excitement from that time about the lads we had coming through. I always remember thinking it was the best youth team we'd had since 98 and arguably the best crop we had since the 60's! You obviously don't want to be proven wrong and it would have been a huge call to make but I always felt we could see 5 or 6 coming through.
I always wondered when we would see each of them making a first team debut. In my head it was pictured as a game we'd won and a sunny summers day. As under 16's they were the strongest age group by a fair distance but as they get older other sides do start buying in talent. At Everton as well they do move through the ages quickly. Ledson hardly ever played for the under 18's once he was an under 17 and neither did Kenny.
My favourite memory was probably watching us dismantle Liverpool 5-0. Walsh just cut them apart with a goal and assists and Davies ran amok. It was clear we were a cut above and they needed to be moved onto better things.
When watching them I thought Ledson & Kenny would be starters from the older age group while Walsh & Dowell would get a chance from the younger of the two. There were then lads like Davies, Williams, Brewster, Donuhue, Yates & Connolly who stood a chance. Davies has really stood out and improved significantly. Lads like Brewster, Yates and Donuhue (who I really liked) haven't really developed to date as they had before 16. Williams and Connolly have done very well but not quite as fast as the other lads.
My hope was that the class of 14 would be a bit like our class of 92. All of the lads I mentioned are local scouse lads. A bunch of scouse lads, Evertonians who had played together could begin to drive the club towards trophes. Howards comments on a "goldmine" and Hibberts comments about their togetherness have been very telling. They are a strong age group and are driving each other forward.
I hope the best manager who comes in can continue that development. Our academy still continues to produce good players, but that age group was a freak year. Other age groups who are ok may have 1 player who is at the level of any of the 7 or 8 lads I've mentioned above. We had 7 scouse lads from our academy in the squad yesterday. We had at one stage 3 lads from our academy who were teenagers and local lads on the pitch at the same time (having played over 70 minutes). 5 Lads involved who were under 23 and local lads. Remarkable really I can't remember the last time we've done that. I doubt Liverpool have ever done that in their entire history. We probably gave more local lads a game yesterday than they have done in 15 years.
A lot of credit to the club and the academy. We almost have more talent than we know what to do with at that level.
I always wondered when we would see each of them making a first team debut. In my head it was pictured as a game we'd won and a sunny summers day. As under 16's they were the strongest age group by a fair distance but as they get older other sides do start buying in talent. At Everton as well they do move through the ages quickly. Ledson hardly ever played for the under 18's once he was an under 17 and neither did Kenny.
My favourite memory was probably watching us dismantle Liverpool 5-0. Walsh just cut them apart with a goal and assists and Davies ran amok. It was clear we were a cut above and they needed to be moved onto better things.
When watching them I thought Ledson & Kenny would be starters from the older age group while Walsh & Dowell would get a chance from the younger of the two. There were then lads like Davies, Williams, Brewster, Donuhue, Yates & Connolly who stood a chance. Davies has really stood out and improved significantly. Lads like Brewster, Yates and Donuhue (who I really liked) haven't really developed to date as they had before 16. Williams and Connolly have done very well but not quite as fast as the other lads.
My hope was that the class of 14 would be a bit like our class of 92. All of the lads I mentioned are local scouse lads. A bunch of scouse lads, Evertonians who had played together could begin to drive the club towards trophes. Howards comments on a "goldmine" and Hibberts comments about their togetherness have been very telling. They are a strong age group and are driving each other forward.
I hope the best manager who comes in can continue that development. Our academy still continues to produce good players, but that age group was a freak year. Other age groups who are ok may have 1 player who is at the level of any of the 7 or 8 lads I've mentioned above. We had 7 scouse lads from our academy in the squad yesterday. We had at one stage 3 lads from our academy who were teenagers and local lads on the pitch at the same time (having played over 70 minutes). 5 Lads involved who were under 23 and local lads. Remarkable really I can't remember the last time we've done that. I doubt Liverpool have ever done that in their entire history. We probably gave more local lads a game yesterday than they have done in 15 years.
A lot of credit to the club and the academy. We almost have more talent than we know what to do with at that level.
