Barnfred 55
Player Valuation: £80m
As regards our Academy mate, I think it's fair to say that, historically, we haven't had the best of records. Most of the better local players tended to go to Liverpool, or even Tranmere Rovers who had a pretty good reputation 10 years ago. All that changed when Houllier introduced a policy of bringing young players in from abroad, so we basically had the pick of all the best local players for the first time. Whilst we had the odd outstanding player like Rooney and Barkley, these were very much the exception rather than the rule.
We are only just now seeing the benefit of our change in fortune. We had 2/3 good sets of scholars which saw us get to the final of the U18 league 3 years on the trot and also win the U21 league. Those 3 years saw the likes of Ledson, Kenny, Connolly, Walsh, Dowell, Davies, Robinson, Baningime, Evans and Feeney all come off the production line and whilst they may not have the individual star quality of Rooney, they are a class above the level that have come through before. Plus to have the volume of quality coming through at the same time is quite unique.
Every now and again you get players that are very exceptional at a young age, usually because their bodies develop earlier. Rooney and Barkley are such players (albeit Barkley didn't get anywhere near fulfilling his potential). We just happen to be lucky to have had 2 come from our academy. Most clubs have never had any. But because we have had those players we judge our academy by their standards, but that's totally the wrong thing to do. Most players don't reach the level where they are good enough to start regularly in the premier league until they are 22/23. You just have to look around the premier league clubs for proof of that. Yes you get the odd exception, but not many.
Also, if you are to judge our academy, do it by comparing against other premier clubs academies. Even top academies like City, Chelsea and Arsenal don't have a great record of bringing players through. I would guess that only Southampton and United probably have a better record than us of bringing premier players through in recent years. Personally, I don't think it is the academy system per se that is at fault for the lack of players breaking through. You can see from the success of England youth teams that we are doing many things right. The problem is that the clubs/managers are reluctant to introduce young players into the first XI. Probably because of the money involved in the premier and the owners and fans demanding instant success. Compare that to the likes of Germany and France.
As regards Davies, the lad is clearly not yet at the level required to be a regular starter for us. I think that's safe to say. The only reason he has played so many games is bad management by the club plus a very unlucky run of injuries. But because he isn't good enough now, doesn't mean he will never be good enough. How many players just turned 20 are running games from midfield in the premier, or in any of the top European leagues for that matter. It's not a trick question as I don't know the answer, but I'd bet my house in it not being many.
I don't understand why so many of our fans expect and demand him to be the finished article now. Like all our young players, including Richarlison, he needs time to develop under a manager who is a coach of players, not just tactics. They've never had that before. Not all of them, including Davies, will make it here, but any that do will save us multiple millions in the transfer market and justify the existence of the academy.
