Rafa Benitez has urged his young generation at Liverpool FC to start realising their potential this season.
The Anfield manager has given an opportunity to many of his reserve and fringe players throughout the summer warm-up campaign.
Teenage centre-back Danny Ayala started Saturday’s 2-1 home friendly defeat against Atletico Madrid and was joined by young substitutes Mikel San Jose, Martin Kelly and Jay Spearing.
Now Benitez wants such fledglings, along with more established youngsters David Ngog, Ryan Babel and Lucas, to step up their career progress.
“I think we have some young players who need to improve,” said the Liverpool manager yesterday.
“Players like San Jose and Ayala, but also Ngog, El Zhar, Babel and Lucas. These are young players with quality.
“If the young players want more experience they have to be here, play and train with the senior players.
“The priority over the summer was to extend the contracts of the senior players to make sure we kept the spine of the team.
“Andriy Voronin has come back and he has game intelligence and he was very good last year with Hertha Berlin.
“Maybe we will miss Sami Hyypia in terms of his aerial threat but we are working with the younger players on this.
“To sign better players than we have now is not easy. If you analyse it, you have to spend big, big money to sign these players.
“We have to manage with the players we have and I am pleased with them and hopefully with the experience of last season they will be better.”
Alberto Aquilani completed his £20m transfer from Roma over the weekend, but is expected to be sidelined for the next two months as he continues his rehabilitation from an ankle operation in May.
Despite Aquilani’s lack of fitness and concerns over his recent injury record, Benitez does not accept he has taken a gamble in signing the 25-year-old Italy international.
“We couldn't change the situation of Alonso,” he said. “He decided to go, we had to progress. You have to manage in the best way you can.
“If Aquilani was in a normal market he could cost £25-30m but because of the operation he was a bit cheaper. We have to wait but he is a player we are signing for five years not for five matches.
“He had a bad tackle and an operation and that's normal he missed matches. It would be the same with Torres or Gerrard. I was talking with a lot of people in Italy and people are saying it is a fantastic signing.
“He is now under the control of our medical staff because he had been going to different people. I think it will be easier and he has the quality to settle down.”
The Anfield manager has given an opportunity to many of his reserve and fringe players throughout the summer warm-up campaign.
Teenage centre-back Danny Ayala started Saturday’s 2-1 home friendly defeat against Atletico Madrid and was joined by young substitutes Mikel San Jose, Martin Kelly and Jay Spearing.
Now Benitez wants such fledglings, along with more established youngsters David Ngog, Ryan Babel and Lucas, to step up their career progress.
“I think we have some young players who need to improve,” said the Liverpool manager yesterday.
“Players like San Jose and Ayala, but also Ngog, El Zhar, Babel and Lucas. These are young players with quality.
“If the young players want more experience they have to be here, play and train with the senior players.
“The priority over the summer was to extend the contracts of the senior players to make sure we kept the spine of the team.
“Andriy Voronin has come back and he has game intelligence and he was very good last year with Hertha Berlin.
“Maybe we will miss Sami Hyypia in terms of his aerial threat but we are working with the younger players on this.
“To sign better players than we have now is not easy. If you analyse it, you have to spend big, big money to sign these players.
“We have to manage with the players we have and I am pleased with them and hopefully with the experience of last season they will be better.”
Alberto Aquilani completed his £20m transfer from Roma over the weekend, but is expected to be sidelined for the next two months as he continues his rehabilitation from an ankle operation in May.
Despite Aquilani’s lack of fitness and concerns over his recent injury record, Benitez does not accept he has taken a gamble in signing the 25-year-old Italy international.
“We couldn't change the situation of Alonso,” he said. “He decided to go, we had to progress. You have to manage in the best way you can.
“If Aquilani was in a normal market he could cost £25-30m but because of the operation he was a bit cheaper. We have to wait but he is a player we are signing for five years not for five matches.
“He had a bad tackle and an operation and that's normal he missed matches. It would be the same with Torres or Gerrard. I was talking with a lot of people in Italy and people are saying it is a fantastic signing.
“He is now under the control of our medical staff because he had been going to different people. I think it will be easier and he has the quality to settle down.”
1 comment:
rafa, please stop with tthe ayala and san jose, martin keelly is way better than all of them.
Reasons:
1. san jose got killed by aguero in pace and nearly scores if it wasn't for fantanstic reina.
2. martin kelly is more experienced and bere in mind he has been loaned.
3.martin kelly is faster than mikel, that at a point he made slide tackle that aquero was making.
4. mikel is huge and slow. martin is huge but fast and players like lennon or defoe in tottenham's game have certainly alot of speed.
5. ayala has not played alot of reserves game and it showed how he let aquero have a free header.
6. if martin is 4th chose defender, he's england international and he's a great prospect and champions league criteria ( he's a english player and there fore can help the squad with uefa foriegn player rule).
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