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Liverpool striker Daniel Pacheco has set his sights on a move away from Anfield.
The Spanish forward has been nominated for the 2010 Golden Boy award – a poll across European sports journalists to select the best young player in Europe – and he hopes that will be enough to attract a new club.
Speaking to Spanish newspaper Marca, he said: “I am really happy to be included in the list of finalists for the Golden Boy 2010 award.
“Now what I need to do, in order to keep growing as a player, is play. We are going to see what offers arrive and then I will decide.”
The 19-year-old is a regular for the Liverpool reserves and has been given the number 12 shirt but has played just seven minutes of Premier League football this season. (TalkSPORT)

Ask any Liverpool fan about the way in which Daniel Pacheco has been treated and they will all respond in the same fashion with a mixture of confusion and irritation. The young Spaniard has been considered a hot prospect for quite some time and yet has never been given a chance to prove himself and now he seems likely to be looking for an Anfield exit.

This whole situation of a young player not getting enough of a chance to prove himself, a player who is considered to have a great deal of potential but failing to getting first team action, is all eerily similar to what happened with Hungarian Krisztian Nemeth.

It seems that Liverpool as a club is not as prepared to throw youngsters in at the deep end as other sides, like Arsenal for instance, and perhaps with NESV reportedly looking to impose a transfer policy that serves to bring in only younger players, will help to force the club to take a chance.

When I have seen Pacheco in action I have seen signs that there is talent there, as I did with Nemeth, but how is he to grow and prove himself unless he gets a chance, and perhaps more importantly, if he can’t get a chance in a failing team then there is surely something wrong.
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Danish Teenager Alexander Jacobsen Hailed As ‘Mini’ Ronaldinho
A long-locked youngster of exceptional talent has been likened to the Brazilian wizard…

As presented by Spanish sports daily AS, a youngster who has been hailed as ‘the mini Ronaldinho’ has become the next footballing sensation in Denmark.

Alexander Jacobsen, a 14-year-old youngster with an Egyptian father and a Danish mother, is billed as the successor to the Brazilian’s legendary ball handling and deft touch, which won the toothy midfielder the World Player of the Year award at Barcelona. (Goal.com)

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is closing in on Danish starlet Alexander Jacobsen according to reports in Spanish publication AS and the Daily Mail. The highly-rated youngster has been courted by Barcelona and Real Madrid, but it looks as though Benitez has won the race to sign the player up to Liverpool’s academy.

Jacobsen, who is also eligible to play for Egypt through his father, has been compared to AC Milan and Brazilian forward Ronaldinho because of his unique ball skills and tricks with a football at his feet. (Sport.co.uk)

Now it is always a problem when an up and coming player is dubbed the “New Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo/Maradona/Zidane” but on this occasion I hope we have indeed beaten off the competition for a wonderkid, but only time will tell.

The recent financial crisis at Anfield has left Rafa Benitez having to be more cautious about who he brings in and the Spaniard has started to boost numbers in his academy by adding some top notch foreign talent who he is looking to bring in through the Liverpool system in the hopes of producing some cost effective ways of improving the squad.

We have certainly not been overly blessed with good quality players coming through the ranks in the past decade or so but recent graduates like Jay Spearing, Daniel Ayala, Martin Kelly and Krisztian Nemeth have given us cause for optimism.

YNWA

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Krisztian Nemeth admits that he would seriously think about making his loan move to AEK Athens permanent.

The Liverpool forward is on a season-long loan and after two seasons at Anfield without any first-team opportunities is considering his options.

Despite injury disrupting his time on Merseyside the 20-year-old is seemingly enjoying a change of fortune in Greece having scored three goals in seven league games.

AEK have endured an inconsistent start to the season and currently sit sixth in the Greek Super League, 14 points off leaders Panathinaikos.

“The fans keep telling me that AEK is a great club,” he said.

“They’re really impressive and certainly more enthusiastic than Liverpool’s. What I experienced at the derby with Olympiakos (in which Nemethscored) was something that I’ve never felt before.

“I really wondered what the fans would be able to do if we performed better in the league. I think that if Liverpool and AEK work something out, I’d be extremely thoughtful about staying in Athens permanently.”

Nemeth added that just because AEK were struggling in the league would not put him off signing permanently.

“It never crossed my mind to ask terminating my loan deal due to AEK’s bad performance,” he stated.

“Certainly, we should be better. I’m sure that we’ll get better and along with the team, I’ll improve myself too. I’ve fallen in love with Greece and AEK’s fans.” (Sky Sports)

This is a little worrying. Perhaps the Hungarian is wisely trying to get Rafa’s attention because surely his career aspirations extend beyond playing in the Greek league and I am sure a great many fellow Liverpool fans would agree with me that we should bring back the starlet as soon as possible.

The 20 year old looks like a player with a very bright future and he has shown in the reserves and youth sides what he is capable of and he has already begun to make a name for himself in Athens. We would be better off hauling him back to place him on the bench and give him some much needed senior team action and given the fact we do not exactly have a wealth of options in attack must surely affirm the need to cut short his time at AEK.

YNWA

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Whilst it would be churlish to suggest that Fernando Torres was the only decent striker we have I think its safe to say that when El Nino is out we struggle to find the back of the net but there is a youngster, Mr Krisztian Nemeth, who is beginning to get a bit of a reputation for himself. The Hungarian has a handy knack of scoring goals and has been doing so throughout his time at the club, be it in the reserves or youth team and now he is doing pretty well at AEK Athens and can’t stop scoring for the various level of the national team he has been representing.

There is a ground swell of opinion among Liverpool fans that Nemeth should be brought back from Athens as soon as possible, but for some reason Rafa doesn’t feel this is the right time to do so. I think that on occasion Benitez doesn’t trust enough to youth, if such a player had been at Arsenal he would be playing regularly in the Carling Cup and be on the bench ready to make an impact in the Premier League but here he is aged 20 and still yet to play a single minute in the senior set-up.

Whilst its good to see the likes of Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly and Daniel Ayala in the first team picture there is also good reason to try some of the other youngsters we have, if nothing else it may put some pressure on the regulars and cause them to buck up their ideas.

Please bring him back Rafa!

YNWA

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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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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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