'NextGen Excites Us All'

In our first Academy column of the new campaign, Frank McParland discusses the NextGen Series as well as the adventures of our youngsters during a memorable pre-season.

First of all, it's great to be back following a productive summer both on and off the pitch for everyone involved at Kirkby.

We have implemented some important changes involving our staff, had up to seven players away at the U17 World Cup and seen a number of our lads feature for the first team as part of Kenny Dalglish's preparations for the new campaign.

Everything about the club is very positive at the moment and there is a general consensus that big progress is being made at all levels.

Rodolfo Borrell has taken charge of the reserve team which has allowed Mike Marsh to assume the U18 post. These are two coaches that we rate very highly and we have already seen some enjoyable football from both teams - even at this stage of the pre-season.

I can't wait for the new campaign to start now and I have to say I am really excited about our involvement in the NextGen Series.

It all kicks off on August 17 with a clash against Sporting Lisbon at Anfield. We have been drawn in a really interesting group as the Portuguese side have one of the finest youth set-ups in Europe. Molde have also stated that their home game against us is going to be a sell-out with over 10,000 spectators, while Wolfsburg have got a strong group of young talent coming through.

There's no doubt the boys are going to be stretched but that's exactly what we want. They will be playing against the continent's most exciting young talents and every last one of them will be hungry to make an impact, which maybe can't be said with regular reserve team football.

The NextGen games will all be played at big stadiums and I think that will help make it a great spectacle. I'd urge our supporters to get along to Anfield and watch these matches. It's all very new and will benefit our players massively.

Last season the U18s were getting 400-500 people at their matches in Kirkby. I'd never seen so many people watching us in action before, but hopefully we can get into the thousands for these eye-catching games in L4.

It would make for a fantastic atmosphere and would certainly help our young lads. We do urge everyone to come along, bring the kids, and let us entertain.

Both the boss and Damien Comolli have been massive in their support for this tournament and it will be great to fly the flag for the club in Europe this season.

I'm delighted it's all come to fruition as I was involved in the initial talks about it three or four years ago. I did a brief stint as first-team scout at Watford with Mark Warburton, who is the man who has got the competition off the ground.

He was the Academy director at Vicarage Road at the time and we often talked about how we could improve and advance youth football.

We used to throw ideas like this one around and say how fantastic it would be to pit kids from the biggest clubs in England against the giants of Europe.

Now it's become a reality and I'm delighted that Mark took this project on after leaving Watford. It's been in the pipeline for some time and I just can't wait for it to get started now.

Like I've said, this will only benefit our young players in the future and the involvement of a number of our lads in the first team's pre-season matches will also be invaluable experience.

The manager has taken players directly from the U18s as well as the reserves and given them a taste of what it's like to represent Liverpool's senior squad.

When they are right to go, they can go. But you need to have everyone on the same page. We have a plan for every player and we will only look to progress them at the right stage for both them and the club.

Not one of the young lads who have gone away with the first team has let themselves down and I'm sure the boss would back me up on that.

A few of them have been involved recently and that's great. Who knows what will happen at the start of the season. They may all be back here with us or one or two might stay at Melwood.

What we are emphasizing to them is that they look to give the same performance in training every day, whether it be with the U18s, the reserves or alongside Luis Suarez with the first team.

I'm watching that situation very closely and speaking to the boss and Damien about our players on a daily basis. We can't have someone coming back thinking they have made it because if that's the case, they won't be going to Melwood again.

It's up to them to show their quality and do it week in, week out.

I was speaking to Conor Coady the other day and he wasn't sure at that stage whether he was going away with the first team to Galatasaray.

He asked me if he could play for the reserves if he didn't travel. That's the type of attitude you are looking for.

It's all coming together nicely as we adapt to being a centre that develops youngsters as well as reserve team players.

We feel we are making good strides in what we are trying to achieve here and we are now looking forward to what we hope can be an even better year this time around.