Liverpool Academy Director Frank McParland is delighted by the progress of the Reds’ young players. 30 of them have been called up by international squads this month and McParland told Liverpoolfc.tv:
“It proves that the work the staff are doing here is paying off. It shows that the scouts are finding the right players to play for us, the coaches are working hard on developing the lads and the physios have done a great job enhancing the level of their fitness too.
We think we have a lot of good players and the fact over 30 of our youngsters have been called up shows we are doing the right things. It’s a great team effort and it’s satisfying for everyone involved when international managers recognise that by calling up your players.”
McParland however believes the priority of the Academy is to get players playing in the Liverpool first team:
“We’ve got four lads that have been called up for the European U17 Championships with England so they are going to be away again for over two weeks next month.
If they win that then they will play in Mexico in the World finals so it’s a great experience for them. But the highlight for me is when our manager phones up and asks to take a couple of the lads up to Melwood to train with the first-team.
Obviously a couple of them have gone on and actually played for Kenny Dalglish over the past week or so and that’s exactly what our aim is. Our job is about trying to help the first-team. It’s nice to get players recognised at international level but our priority is always trying to help the boss.”
David Tully is the Editor of Live4Liverpool.com
