1. If Youre Good Enough To Play, Youre Old Enough To Play
The promotion of youth has partially been forced on the Northern Irishman this season. Liverpool have had to rely on youth in certain positions but the managers decision to not just test players in the Europa League but to offer them a genuine route into the first team through these fringe competitions is something rarely seen by Englands big clubs. Raheem Sterling is the obvious example of how giving the youth at LFC a chance is paying off not just for the player but the club and most surprising of all for country. In Sterling Liverpool have a wide player with genuine pace, an 84% pass completion rate and bags of confidence derived largely from being given the opportunity to play week in week out. http://youtu.be/g_AojzNeEg0 With Suso, John Flanagan and Andre Wisdom finding themselves ever increasingly in the first team training sessions, the club are starting to reap the rewards from players they either brought through the ranks from scratch or paid very little for. Much like Man Utd during the 90s utilising the youth at a football club ensures an understanding from the academy to the first team of the clubs culture and playing style. You lose a lot at a club by constantly signing players for the first team instead of bringing those through that know the city and the fans. And as Alex Fergusons kids proved, Hansens idea that you cant win anything with kids was way off the mark and Brendan is now hoping to cement that.