Liverpool wonderkids could save Arne Slot millions after Academy success

The immediate aftermath of a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out defeat doesn't seem the most obvious time for positive contemplation. But then little was as would have been expected for Liverpool's Academy this season.

A memorable Premier League 2 campaign ended at Tottenham Hotspur when the Reds' under-21 side, having fought back from 3-1 down to force spot kicks, were eventually eliminated by the side who went on to beat Sunderland in the final.

But the pain of that loss didn't take long to fade. "After the game we were really disappointed, but the day or two afterwards it was really nice that I could look back and think over the course of the season how each player has developed," says U21s coach Barry Lewtas. "There will be some who catch the headlines and go on to the first team, but across the board all the players have stepped up. The rate of progression some of them have made was probably the real highlight for me."

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That development saw teenagers Jayden Danns, Lewis Koumas, Trey Nyoni and James McConnell elevated through the Academy ranks to the first team, following the path of earlier graduates Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley and Bobby Clark who all made definitive breakthroughs into the senior set-up.

Such accelerated growth has been required given a season in which injuries throughout the club and the departure of loan players left the U21s regularly fielding on one of the youngest teams in the competition.

"Against Tottenham we had six youth team players start," says Lewtas, speaking to the ECHO. "But with the group we never mentioned age. The reality is we were much younger than many teams this year in the U21s, but that doesn’t mean the others were doing it wrong. Premier League 2 gives a club an opportunity to develop players how they see fit.

"I’ve done this job a good few seasons now and it’s all about that we are comfortable how we do it. You have to do it your way. We found opportunities to get players in the first team our way. It’s about being clear about how you want to do it as a club and then commit to it."

Liverpool had finished eighth in the new-look 26-team league, the top 16 of which entered a play-off tournament to determine the overall winner. The Reds came from 2-0 down in the first round to beat Crystal Palace before losing in the quarter-finals to Tottenham, who had finished the regular season in first pace.

The U21s opened their Premier League 2 season with a 4-0 win over Everton in the mini-derby but were shipping goals a little too easily before a more settled back line - in which 17-year-old duo Carter Pinnington and Amara Nallo became the established centre-back pairing - resulted in a much meaner streak.

"Towards the end of the season we showed how competitive we were," says Lewtas. "We lost heavily twice early on in the season to West Ham and Middlesbrough and we spoke a lot after those games about being harder to beat. We ended with the best defensive record in the league, which when you consider how young our back line was is some achievement. We had the second best defensive record in the league last year.

"For Carter and Amara, they were always aware that as first-team scholars playing up a level, it was going to be a physical challenge for them and a mental one as well. It’s a big step to go from U16s to Premier League 2 at their age. We knew there’d be moments in games they’d find different but they adapted, improved and learned quickly, and that they were both going through it as a pair helped as they worked hard for each other."

The duo weren't the only younger players to catch the eye, with 16-year-old Nyoni's performances since arriving last summer from Leicester City impressing Jurgen Klopp sufficiently for the midfielder to regularly train with the first team.

"Trey is fabulous," says Lewtas. "It’s a nice part of the job for me. Trey spent a short time with the U18s and then moved up, and he’s been settling into the club this season. You want the boys to hit the ground running straight away when they come in, and Trey did that. To his credit, it shows his mentality and how he approaches the game.

"Hopefully Trey will spend a long time at Liverpool. But he has managed to do the lot – he settled quickly, he integrated with the group, the staff and his level of performances were really good. Trey is now familiar and it’ll be important he continues on the path he’s on."

Liverpool went out early in the Lancashire Senior Cup and the Premier League International Cup, but achieved a first-ever win in the EFL Trophy at Morecambe to reach the knockout stages, where they lost 4-0 at Bradford City having had Koumas sent off in the first half. Their final group game at Barrow, though, was notable for Kaide Gordon making his first start after more than 18 months out through injury.

Gordon, still only 19, managed three first-team appearances but it was with the U21s he primarily rebuilt his confidence and fitness, culminating in a superb display against Palace in the play-offs where he scored twice and set up the winner for Nyoni. And Lewtas believes Gordon - who started the League Cup semi-final at Arsenal in January 2022 - is now ready to again knock on the senior door.

"Kaide is ready for the next step and the next challenge," he says. "This season has been part of his reintegration to the game. He needed an opportunity to play and find rhythm in training every day. Slowly but surely it wasn’t just about putting individual training sessions together, we were able to go week to week where he was playing games regularly.

"For somebody who has had the injuries he’s had, building confidence in his body was what was really important. Obviously he wasn’t going to lose his ability he had before, that was always going to be there. It was a case of him having the chance to practice and play and his performances for us were really good. And his consistency improved, as you may expect."

The early finish of the Football League meant the return of a host of players for the Premier League 2 play-offs, with James Norris and Luca Stephenson - who had been on loan at Tranmere Rovers and Barrow respectively - both featuring against Tottenham.

"We had an awful lot of players training at the end of the season, which was quite funny given parts of the season where we didn’t have many!" laughs Lewtas. "But for the U21s to function, you also need a group who are training hard every day and providing a real consistent basis for when players move up and down.

"Look at the Tottenham game and both Tommy Pilling and Josh Davidson were fantastic. Terence Miles in defence and Fabian Mrozek in goal also helped keep the level of consistency for us. Our level of performance was good regardless of results. It has been a good season for a lot of reasons."