Nemeth, The Reserves, and The Academy

Rafael Benitez has recently expressed his view that young striker Krisztian Nemeth is one of the best prospects in Liverpool’s already talented reserve side. The Hungarian youngster, who only arrived from MTK Hungaria this season, made his debut in November of last year against Manchester City, and bagged a brace.

To show that it was not just a one-off, the 19 year-old went on to score another two in his next game against Everton’s assortment of youngsters, and then, for further effect, scored another in his third game for the reserves against Middlesbrough. Indeed, of late, the boy has only gone and scored seven goals in seven games, prompting even Rafa to take notice. “He is a player we are keeping an eye on,” which is about as good as a reserve team player can expect from that affable Spaniard.

The reserve team coaches Gary Ablett, and Angel Vales all recognise Nemeth as part of Liverpool’s future, and an integral part in Rafa Benitez’s master plan.

For those of you who are still in the dark, the plan was to send Eduardo Macia and his team of scouts out across Europe, and Britain, and pick out some of the best young talents that the continent, and in some cases, the world has to offer. This no doubt saw an exit of players like Lee Peltier who joined Yeovil, and Danny Mannix to Accrington Stanley.

Many people are quite two-faced on Arsene Wenger’s foreign policy (of which Benitez’s new ploy draws remarkable similarities). They can criticise the Gunner’s lack of British talent (Walcott apart), and in the same sentence, nay, the same breath, they can praise the emergence of world-class stars such as Cesc Fabregas. Football fans are oh-so fickle. In any case, Gary Ablett’s continental Reds seem to be showing a lot of promise.

Their 1-0 win against basement boys Bolton Wanderers at the Halliwell Jones stadium, took them eight points clear at the top of the reserves league (that boy Nemeth grabbing the winner).

That match saw a player who not many people expected much of (me included). Midfielder Damien Plessis was released by French Champions Lyon in the close season, and quickly snapped up by Rafael Benitez as part of his un-seen Rafalution. Indeed the strapping Frenchman has been more than pulling his weight for the reserves, and put in a Man-of-the-Match performance.

Liverpool will hope to make a Lyon pay for that, by developing Plessis into a quality player. Which brings me onto another part of Rafa’s new adopted policy. Arsene Wenger did not just create a team of young superstars on his own. He has a backroom staff who understand his ideals, and are willing to develop the players to perfection. Benitez has attempted to do the same. Most notably the appointment of Piet Hamburg as the club’s technical manager for the academy. The former Ajax player comes to Merseyside in the wake of Anfield legend Steve Heighway’s departure.

The club then decided to diverge the roles of Academy manager. The recruitment side of it will be handled by Malcolm Elias, and the coaching and development side will be handed to Piet Hamburg, who was also the assistant manager for Togo when they made the World Cup in 2006. The footballing future of our future Reds will rest squarely on his shoulders. This is likely to be an important job because, stepping a level down from the reserves, a lot of Eduardo Macia’s scouting work has ended up in the academy as well.

Krisztian Nemeth has rapidly become the hottest prospect in the up and coming Liverpool setup, but for even longer now, Astrit Ajdarevic has held the title of the club’s brightest talent. The Kosovo-born, Sweden U-17 international signed from Falkenbergs FF earlier last year, and did not waste any time in being touted as the next Patrick Berger - how we could do with another one of them. He was instrumental in the youth team retaining the FA Cup last year. This lead Academy manager John Owens to comment, “He’s very elegant and has a tremendous touch. His vision in picking out attacking passes is great, and he really showed his worth…” Certainly Ajdarevic will have to work harder to stand out from a vastly improved Academy squad.

New signings like young British talents, Derek Amoo and Gary Mackay-Steven, along with one of Germany’s starlets, Marvin Pourie, and the foundations are there right down to the bottom of the club for a truly brilliant Liverpool first teams of the future. Of course, not all will make it through, but we have the coaches to develop these rough diamonds into jewels that will grace the pitches of Anfield, and indeed Stanley Park in times to come.