UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP PHASE GROUP E: Liverpool v Debreceni VFC: RAFAEL BENITEZ has claimed the Premier League's new quota on home-grown players is being introduced too quickly and fails to address the fundamental problem of a lack of quality in the British game.
The Liverpool manager has long called for an overhaul of the academy system in England, including a proposal for leading Premier League reserve teams to compete in League Two, and will be deeply affected by the requirement for eight home-grown players in a 25-man league squad next season.
Liverpool have one of the highest proportions of foreign talent in the country and only met the Champions League criteria of eight home-grown players in a 28-man squad this season by including Stephen Darby, Martin Kelly, Jay Spearing, Nathan Eccleston and David Amoo on their list. Not one has ever appeared in the Premier League for Liverpool.
Benitez, who takes charge of his 300th game as Liverpool manager against Debrecen in the Champions League tonight, accepts the Premier League has been under pressure to introduce a quota system but fears its regulation addresses only quantity, not quality.
“Maybe it has been brought in too soon,” said the Liverpool manager. “In the Champions League we had two or three years to increase home-grown players. The problem in England is that there is a big gap between the academies and the first team. It may now be difficult to maintain quality, but we will continue to do our best. The number of players is not the point, the quality is the point.
“If a top side has to find eight players from the academy straight away, it may well be difficult. Academies do not produce too many in England, [home-grown] players tend to play in lower divisions because they may not be good enough for the very top. Clubs have to bring in the best young players from around the world at a young age to produce the quality and we have been expecting some sort of rule change like this.”
Liverpool have embarked on a global recruitment policy for young players under Benitez and, like Arsène Wenger, the Spaniard believes the Premier League should be more concerned with attracting the best talent rather than British passports.
People talk too much about the age of players and where they are from. They forget about quality. The Premier League is the best league in the world because of the quality, not because of where the players come from,” he added.
Benitez admitted he expects to recruit more first-team players in January, although he is not sure whether he can receive an advance on Liverpool’s new £20 million-a-year sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered.
“We haven’t spoken about when money will be available, it is too early,” said Benitez. “But we will talk about January because clearly we need to do something.”
The Liverpool manager confirmed he is to appeal the Football Association’s decision to charge him with improper conduct following criticism of the referee Phil Dowd after last month’s defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. His immediate focus, however, is the meeting with Debrecen, the first Hungarian team to reach this stage of the Champions League since 1995. “It’s not easy to know the real level of the other team but our reports say they are a good team so we won’t change many players,” added Benitez.
Debrecen coach Andras Herczeg insists his club have improved since the last time they faced Champions League opposition in England when they were overpowered by Manchester United. That was in a third qualifying round match and they lost both legs 3-0, suffering at the hands of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Debrecen have won away legs already in qualifiers in Tallinn and Levski Sofia, but know this leg is a more difficult task. They are without Tibor Dombi and Jozsef Varga, who are both suspended from this leg. They also have doubts over midfielder Zoltan Szelesi, and striker Gergely Rudolf, who are struggling with knee injuries. Goalkeeper Djordje Pantic suffered a head injury in the opening minutes of Friday’s 1-0 away to Paksi SE, and could be replaced by Vukasin Poleksic.
GuardianService
