How do you measure the success of a football club’s academy? There can never be one definitive assessment which works for every single team, of course, but clearly the players produced are the broad standard by which they must be judged.
The ultimate dream is to produce footballers of sufficient quality that they can become first team fixtures for the majority of their career, if not the duration. This is an area in which Liverpool have been successful over the years, from the days of Ian Callaghan during Bill Shankly’s time in charge, through to the likes of Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard in the modern era.
The standards required have arguably never been higher. Trent Alexander-Arnold has broken records for assists by a defender in the Premier League and is one of the most creative and progressive passers in Europe’s big five leagues. Yet all you ever seem to hear from pundits is that he is defensively suspect and not suited to Gareth Southgate’s England.
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Jurgen Klopp will not hear a word said against Alexander-Arnold’s defending but a narrative that he is poor in that area has undoubtedly become embedded in the discourse regarding the Liverpool right-back. If a player of his elite abilities is not deemed a resounding success, what chance do other academy graduates have of reaching that level?
Take Curtis Jones, for example. He has made 81 appearances for Liverpool, which is a serious achievement for a 21-year-old. Jones will struggle to become a permanent fixture in the Reds’ midfield thanks to the competition for places, but that does not mean he is not a successful product of the club’s academy.
After all, the reality of football finances for teams who are not funded by nation states is that their youth team products can be sold to raise funds which can contribute to transfer spending. Jones recently signed a contract extension until 2027, which protects his value should Liverpool at some point decide his future belongs elsewhere. He either becomes an essential player for the club or he raises funds to secure one. It’s a win-win situation no matter the outcome.
And it's one of the major reasons why Liverpool owners FSG have investment £50m to bring the Reds' training ground on the same site as the Academy, as the club looks to ensure the next crop get an even better chance of success.
Another way to evaluate the pedigree of a club’s graduates is to see how they far they go in international football. While the World Cup can’t match the standards of quality seen in the Champions League, it remains the level to which all players aspire.
A study by CIES Football Observatory has shown that few clubs can compete with Liverpool in terms of former youth team players who have been at the 2022 World Cup. They defined a training club as “those where players have stayed for at least three years between the seasons of their 15th and 21st birthdays,” then counted how many men who matched that criteria were at the tournament in Qatar with their national sides.
Ajax led the way with 11, one ahead of Deportivo Saprissa, the Costa Rican side who the Reds faced in the Club World Championship semi-final in 2005. Nine graduates of Qatari side Al-Sadd made the cut, then a trio of clubs – Dinamo Zagreb, Independiente and Sporting CP – had eight former youth team players at the tournament.
Liverpool were then one of 11 clubs with seven at the World Cup, a group also including Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Real Madrid. The Reds were a little further down the table for knockout stage players, but their total was still impressive.
Alexander-Arnold was joined in the England squad by Raheem Sterling and Conor Coady. Wales also selected three Liverpool graduates for their first appearance at the tournament for 64 years. The Welsh trio of Danny Ward, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams all played in the Group Stage too. Completing the seven was Polish goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, who never made a senior appearance for the club but is now playing Champions League football with Copenhagen.
Chances are that clubs with fewer youth team representatives in Qatar saw more action. Only five of Liverpool’s seven players got onto the pitch and Williams led the way with a relatively modest 204 minutes. But CIES’ findings illustrate that Liverpool’s academy had plenty to be proud about with regards to the 2022 World Cup nonetheless.
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