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Rafa Benitez believes the inclusion of youngsters Nathan Eccleston and David Amoo in his Champions League squad can be an invaluable one for their development.

The Academy graduates join the likes of Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly and Stephen Darby in Rafa’s squad for the group stages, after the trio made their first team debut in the Champions League last season away at PSV Eindhoven.

Speaking about the 28 man squad, Benitez said: “We had to leave two players out of the list which was a difficult decision.

“For the young players to be involved is a very good experience for them. It is important for them to be on the list and if they are in the squad, or play, it would be fantastic for them.

“Always when you go away with the senior players you can learn something so I think that will be really important for them.

“We have to prepare the team for these six games and then hopefully we will have more games when the group finishes.”

Meanwhile, during the international break the Reds boss has been working with a shadow squad at Melwood with some of the younger starlets getting a chance to impress.

“We have been working with some senior and young players and have been playing five-a-sides and doing some tactical work,” said Benitez.

“We played a match against our under-18 team at the Academy the other day and it was good to see the players. The relationship with the Academy is good and it’s positive and much better.

“The young players know if they work hard and improve then they will get their chances.”

Benitez cited the example of Daniel Ayala who has made his first team debut this season.

The Spanish defender made his first start against Stoke City at Anfield and Benitez said he will get further chances in the future.

“Ayala has done really well for us and he is playing very well for the reserves,” he added.

“He is only 18-years-old and is learning and will be a good player for the future.” (Official Liverpool Site)

It’s great to see that the club has some genuine talent coming through and given our financial position it’s doubly so. It’s been far too long since we had some good quality youngsters coming through the youth academy and representing the club on the field of play effectively and now we appear to have six good kids coming through, five Brits and a Spaniard.

The likes of Spearing, Darby, Eccleston, Kelly, Amoo and Ayala are all exhibiting signs of being able to live up to Premier League standards and perhaps even more pleasing is that the majority of these new names grew up a stones throw from Anfield. Rafa Benitez has been putting more of an emphasis on the youthful talents coming through the club and the vexed issue of the homegrown quota that will surely come to pass sooner rather than later was a useful spur to get the club pumping resources in that area. All of this and we haven’t even mentioned the likes of Krisztián Németh and Daniel Pacheco who are also not prospects for the future.

YNWA

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Much has been made of how injury prone Philipp Degen is costing us x amount per game played but that is probably more than a little misleading as by that rationale Alberto Aquilani is probably costing us a small fortune but you can little about whether a player just happens to be perennially sidelined but one does wonder if the Swiss full back will ever play another game for the club and his omission from the Champions League squad must not have come as a surprise to anyone.

Clearly the homegrown player ratio is probably the main reason Spaniard Daniel Ayala wasn’t selected either but it will come as a bitter blow to the youngster who looked impressive against Stoke City. So could anything have been done to squeeze the teenager into the 28 man squad.

Given the eight ‘homegrown’ players needed in the squad of 28 it seems very hard to remove any of the other 20 that made the side. Sure you could drop a player like Andrea Dossena, but then we would have been stuck with praying that Fabio Aurelio would be fit throughout the group stage otherwise Insua would have no cover. It’s tough to consider taking a player from the other positions as they too are pretty thin on the ground so in many ways Rafa had no choice with regards to Daniel and he is forced to miss out in much the same way as Sami Hyypia was.

I have to say that whilst I do not agree wholeheartedly with the ruling that insists on a certain ratio of youngsters from the youth programme it is clear something had to be done to try to redress the balance and if it means that some of our kids get a good shot at some playing time in the Champions League, perhaps when we have already qualified (fingers crossed) then I am all for it. Hopefully this season will see the likes of Spearing, Darby and Kelly push on with their Anfield careers.

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Liverpool youngster Daniel Ayala is hungry for more opportunities after a brief taste of Premier League football.

The Spanish defender played in Liverpool’s first two games of the season after Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger were struck down by injuries.

Rafa Benitez then ventured into the transfer market to sign experienced Greek international Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Ayala realises he will now have to wait for his next chance.

But he is determined to prove his worth in training and put as much pressure on the senior centre-backs as possible.

“I need to keep working hard and prove myself,” said Ayala.

“If I keep training well and playing well for the reserve team then maybe I might get another chance in the Carling Cup later this month.” (Sky Sports)

This is good to see. A talented young player who after two years progressing through the ranks at Anfield really wants to show what he can do. He put in a superb performance in his full debut at home to Stoke and that’s no easy task. The Potters are a side who always give 100% and are a very physical side and its a tough job keeping the likes of Beattie and Cresswell quiet.

Remember Ayala is still shy of his 19th birthday but he gave a manful display and in a way I would be glad to see more youngsters thrown in at the deep end in the manner the Spaniard was. Arsenal are a team who are not afraid to blood their kids early and it hasn’t harmed them.

It’s a shame that Nemeth was loaned out to AEK Athens as he is another talent I would have hoped to be given a shot in the first team, even if it was only in the Carling Cup or as a late sub.

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LIVERPOOL were in Bilbao last night to run the rule over their £10million-rated central defender Fernando Amorebieta.
Bilbao’s 6ft 3in stopper was facing Barcelona in the first leg of Spain’s version of the Community Shield.

He has been attracting attention around Europe because so many teams want an imposing leader at the back.

While Amorebieta has yet to make his debut for Spain, he has been in the international squad and is tipped to break into the starting line-up this season. (The Sun)

After Martin Skrtel and Jamie C collided yesterday the fear must have been that we had crocked two centre backs in one incident but they should come out of the incident with only bruising. We did get to see Daniel Sanchez Ayala in Premier League action and he looked nervous, which is fair enough.

I have to admit to being a big fan of Amorebieta having watched him in action on the box a few times. He is solid and dependable and perhaps most importantly he’s a reliable figure who can generate confidence from those around him and at 24 is a good age to sign having already built up a good grounding of experience. Obviously we have three solid customers to pick from for the centre back berths but much like clubs dream of having four top notch strikers in their armoury they should also look to have a quartet of central defenders to cope with the demands of a long hard season.

I think this is one deal that Rafa may well push on with and could work out far better value for money than opting for the likes of Michael Turner.

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