Our young prospects

[Ravenhill]

Over the last couple of years we've brought in a good deal of highly rated prospects, and had a good few trialists in from all over the world too, such as the recent four from Uruguay.

However, I personally cannot keep track of all these players, whether they've joined or not, been loaned out or not, the fees involved, their best/preferred positions, or even their names.

Therefore I thought I'd ask your good selves to help me out

Below are the names of the players I can recall off the top of my head, as well as those I can find some info on on our homepage. I'll put them all in a list, and fill in as much info as I can. I think it would be interesting to see just who we've brought in for the Academy over the last couple of years, both to get up to speed but also to see what kind of prospects we've got on our books. I'll try and update the list with improved or new info as you post it.

I want the list to be a compilation of our most highly rated talent, though I won't include the likes of Sterling, Robinson or other established reserve team players, as we should really know who they are by now. I haven's seen too many games with our youngsters, so maybe some of the names on the list are redundant (see point above), and maybe some names really shouldn't be there at all. Please feel free to enlighten me, and fill in the blank fields in the list, as well as give suggestions for players that I've failed to mention

Also, feel free to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of any of the players, as well as how and why you rate them. Personally I know too little about these kids to really make much of a contribution in that respect.

NAME	POSITION	AGE	FEE	BROUGHT FROM/NATIONALITY
Yalany Baio	Defensive midfielder	18	?	Portugal
Jordan Lussey	Midfielder	18	?	? (local lad?)
Ryan McLaughlin	Right-back (LB too?)	18	?	Northern Ireland
Yusuf Mersin	Goalkeeper	18	?	Turkey
Marc Pelosi	Midfielder	18	?	DeAnza Force Club in California
Matty Regan	Central defender	18	?	Wrexham
Brad Smith	Left-back	18	?	Australian (played in England)
Jamie Stephens	Goalkeeper	19	?	Swindon Town
Joao Carlos Teixeira	Midfielder	19	Around 1 million	Sporting Lisbon
Danny Ward	Goalkeeper	19	?	Wrexham
Jordan Ibe	Forward	?	?	English
Nacho	Attacking midfielder	?	?	Spanish
Villyan Bijev	Striker	?	?	American/Bulgarian (or possibly German...)
Marco Bueno	Forward	17	?	Pachuca (Mexico), joining summer 2012
Dan Smith	Midfielder	16	300,000	Crewe Alexandra

[Kellydoscope]

Wrong Nacho.

Lussey, McLaughlin, Pelosi and Ibe are probably the cream of that crop listed, although I'm quite sure Ibe is a couple of years younger than the others.

[Creed-of-Lucas]

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/academy

[SweetSilverSeven]

Brad Smith is Australian (Born in Norway) but has English heritage so he has been playing for England youth teams
Jordan Ibe is also an England youth international... might have been born in Jamaica, but I might be getting confused with Sterling
Nacho is a young spaniard who plays in the "number 10" as a creative/attacking midfielder
Villyan Bijev is an American striker with German heritage

Marco Bueno is a Mexican striker who will join us in the summer as he will be 18. Currently playing as a squad player for Pachuca, the Mexican club he was brought through. Has scored 4 goals and 3 assists... a very bright prospect indeed

[GiorgosCarraGoonies]

Jason Banton left a while ago.

[GiorgosCarraGoonies]

Brad Smith is Australian (Born in Norway) but has English heritage so he has been playing for England youth teams
Jordan Ibe is also an England youth international... might have been born in Jamaica, but I might be getting confused with Sterling
Nacho is a young spaniard who plays in the "number 10" as a creative/attacking midfielder
Villyan Bijev is an American striker which German heritage

Marco Bueno is a Mexican striker who will join us in the summer as he will be 18. Currently playing as a squad player for Pachuca, the Mexican club he was brought through. Has scored 4 goals and 3 assists... a very bright prospect indeed

Got good pace, technical ability, and is a finisher

I think Bijev has Bulgarian heritage, not German, but I could be mistaken.

Also, it was Sterling who was born in Jamaica, (although Ibe may have been too - I don't think so though).

[SweetSilverSeven]

The prices of the players are very much unknown

The likes of Suso/Sterling were big prospect that we apparantly paid slightly over the odds for, in respects to the "typical" prices you pay for youngsters

BTW, you sound like you're only interested in the U18s
Only Teixeira is a reserve team player in that list.... Oh! BTW, we brought him for an alleged £1m

[Ravenhill]

Wrong Nacho.

Lussey, McLaughlin, Pelosi and Ibe are probably the cream of that crop listed, although I'm quite sure Ibe is a couple of years younger than the others.

Have I got my Nachos mixed up? Ah, yes Google tells me I have

Will fix that and do a small update.

[NorthernCarollina]

I remember reading about our signing of Mersin on the homepage I think. Presumably has some potential although the fact he wasn't mentioned as one of the potential back up keepers if we hadn't recalled Gulacsi makes me doubt his future at the club

[SweetSilverSeven]

I think Bijev has Bulgarian heritage, not German, but I could be mistaken.

Also, it was Sterling who was born in Jamaica, (although Ibe may have been too - I don't think so though).

Well it should be one or the other

I heard that he had German heritage (might be mistaken myself), so when he went to a German club on loan, I thought it made sense

[GiorgosCarraGoonies]

Well it should be one or the other

I heard that he had German heritage (might be mistaken myself), so when he went to a German club on loan, I thought it made sense

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...in-dusseldorf/

It's Bulgaria

[Ravenhill]

The prices of the players are very much unknown

The likes of Suso/Sterling were big prospect that we apparantly paid slightly over the odds for, in respects to the "typical" prices you pay for youngsters

BTW, you sound like you're only interested in the U18s
Only Teixeira is a reserve team player in that list.... Oh! BTW, we brought him for an alleged £1m

That makes me sound like a perv

I just wanted to get up to speed with our bright young talent, really. I haven't put the likes of Sterling in the list, since they're so established in the reserves right now.

[SweetSilverSeven]

I believe that we have a very strong team at our reserve level. However, the one area of the pitch I think we are being let down at, is in the holding/defensive midfield positions. Remember that all the youth teams play a 4-2-3-1 formation

Right now we have Coady/Rodden/Roberts rotating for those two holding positions in the midfield. I do not believe any of them will make it. I know Coady has a high reputation, but he has either regressed or hasn't adapted to the reserve level, because I think he has been quite poor this year. I do not believe he has enough quality on the ball, doesn't seem have enough composure, or penetration on the ball. I know he is a DM, but he does lose the ball quite a lot unless he plays it really simple... that's what I mean by a lack of penetration. You can generally see the dip in quality from the holding midfield positions and the rest of the team

On the other hand, we do have some very bright prospects in the holding midfield positions, in the U18s

Jordan Lussey looks great. He's a bit like "Carrick" in that he's not particularly adventurous, but has a lot of composure on the ball, and aims to to try and get the team keeping possession whilst having the ability to play a few exciting passes. He will definitely be able to add more quality to the reserve midfield, once he progresses.

In Marc Pelosi, we've got a very strong, athletic and powerful midfielder with quality/composure on the ball. I think we should develop him in that holding midfielder position as I think he's got extremely good potential there (He can also play LB and left winger, but I think he should settle in midfield).

Also, Yalany Baio is the more out-and-out defensive midfield player... very very similar to Javier Mascherano

Over the next two years, I can see these three players slowly advancing into the reserve team, significantly improving that area of the pitch for us. Plus, giving us some genuine youth options for the first team, in those positions

[Ravenhill]

I believe that we have a very strong team at our reserve level. However, the one area of the pitch I think we are being let down at, is in the holding/defensive midfield positions. Remember that all the youth teams play a 4-2-3-1 formation

Right now we have Coady/Rodden/Roberts rotating for those two holding positions in the midfield. I do not believe any of them will make it. I know Coady has a high reputation, but he has either regressed or hasn't adapted to the reserve level, because I think he has been quite poor this year. I do not believe he has enough quality on the ball, doesn't seem have enough composure, or penetration on the ball. I know he is a DM, but he does lose the ball quite a lot unless he plays it really simple... that's what I mean by a lack of penetration. You can generally see the dip in quality from the holding midfield positions and the rest of the team

On the other hand, we do have some very bright prospects in the holding midfield positions, in the U18s

Jordan Lussey looks great. He's a bit like "Carrick" in that he's not particularly adventurous, but has a lot of composure on the ball, and aims to to try and get the team keeping possession whilst having the ability to play a few exciting passes. He will definitely be able to add more quality to the reserve midfield, once he progresses.

In Marc Pelosi, we've got a very strong, athletic and powerful midfielder with quality/composure on the ball. I think we should develop him in that holding midfielder position as I think he's got extremely good potential there (He can also play LB and left winger, but I think he should settle in midfield).

Also, Yalany Baio is the more out-and-out defensive midfield player... very very similar to Javier Mascherano

Over the next two years, I can see these three players slowly advancing into the reserve team, significantly improving that area of the pitch for us. Plus, giving us some genuine youth options for the first team, in those positions

That sounds very good. Agree on Coady not being quite good enough, and that position being one of the weakest in our reserve team, but if the above three are as talented as you suggest, it bodes well for the future.

[Eric03101]

I think Bijev has Bulgarian heritage, not German, but I could be mistaken.

Also, it was Sterling who was born in Jamaica, (although Ibe may have been too - I don't think so though).

Almost 100% positive he is American, came from an American youth club in California.

I personally think Suso could develop into a great prospect. I have watched a few of the Under 18s and Reserve games. He is smart on the ball, always looks to go forward, and can play some execptional balls.