It is a shame that former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will not be around to reap the benefits of the radical and wholesale changes he made to the club’s youth and reserve set-up during his six-year tenure at Anfield.

When Benitez arrived from Valencia in 2004, the club’s bright young hopes for the future read- Darren Potter, Zak Whitbread, Robbie Foy and David Raven. Captain Steven Gerrard and club stalwart Jamie Carragher remain the last major successes to rise through the club’s youth and reserve sides, nearly 15 years ago. A statistic which remains a major concern for Liverpool fans.

Benitez was fully committed to revolutionising the club’s youth and reserve sides and named it as one of the key terms in his contract negotiations in March 2009. Former Barcelona man Jose Segura was brought in two months later to oversee operations at the club’s Kirkby Academy and was very much Benitez’s man. Benitez also gradually raised the standard of personnel at the club, who are now aiming to become the next generation of first-team Liverpool players.

Despite the positives, Benitez ultimately failed to develop a young player good enough to become a Liverpool regular during his time at Anfield. However, such fundamental core changes to the youth set-up and player recruitment structure could not be made overnight and Benitez’s legacy could yet be the players he signed for the club’s future. These players may or may not make the break through, however I do think this latest crop of youngsters are the best the club has seen in years. It is now increasingly difficult to develop local players and the Reds have now altered their strategy to attract the best talent in England and abroad from an early age.

In reserve, Liverpool now have fresh, young and exciting talent banging at manager Roy Hodgson’s door, desperate for some first-team action. Players such as Spanish starlets Daniel Pacheco & Suso are a testament to Benitez’s efforts, while youngsters JonJo Shelvey, Jack Robinson and Michael Ngoo have all been tipped to have massive futures in the game. One other notable player to look out for is 15-year-old Raheem Sterling.

The attacking midfielder was signed from QPR for an initial £300,000 and the fee could rise to £5m should the player become a regular at Liverpool. England youth international Sterling saw his reputation soar after breaking into the national u-16 side at the tender age of 14 and has both pace and trickery in abundance.

Liverpool beat off competition from the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea to land Sterling, considered to be as good as England star Wayne Rooney during his Everton youth days.

Sterling has been in impressive form for the Rodolfo Borrell’s unbeaten U-18 side so far this season and bagged two goals against Leeds United last Saturday. The winger also became one of the youngest ever players to make an appearance for The Reds in a pre-season game against Borussia Monchengladbach this summer. Academy Director Frank McParland certainly has high hopes for Sterling, revealing:

“The boy is only 15 so it was great that he could play 10 minutes or so. Everyone at the Academy was delighted about that. He is probably the youngest ever player to get near the first team and it was good that the manager showed his trust in our judgment.

“He’s still getting to know everything about the club and we are looking forward to working with him more and more in the weeks ahead.”

His former coach at QPR, Steve Gallen, also revealed: “(Sterling) has loads of natural ability. This boy can pass, shoot, head it, score goals, tackle, defend, anything.”

Sterling certainly has a long way to go before he lives up to his tag as ‘the next Theo Walcott’, but the early signs certainly look promising. Liverpool showed that they are now starting to compete with Arsenal and United with the signing of Sterling and The Reds will hope they are rewarded for their efforts in the future.

Have you seen Sterling in action? Leave your comments below. You can read more of my blogs HERE or follow me on Twitter.

Liverpool old boy taking the Championship by storm

TOP TEN: Upsets

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TOP TEN comebacks of all-time

A look into the future of the Premier League

Watch the youngster in action below:

[youtube lZaVwstMNC0]

Wigan Athletic will be without loanee Tom Cleverley for the next month after the 21-year-old damaged knee ligaments during training.

The Manchester United starlet is set to miss Wigan's next three matches after being a late withdrawal for Sunday's 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City.

He is not expected to return to action until the meeting with Newcastle United in mid-October.

"Tom will probably be out for at least the next two weeks," Latics boss Roberto Martinez told the Evening Post.

"He has a little problem with the medial ligament in his knee. But he is a very strong, fit boy and we hope he'll be able to heal quicker than is expected.

"In training, as you can imagine, it's very competitive with all the talent we have in the squad.

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"Tom got a challenge and unfortunately he opened his knee a little bit. It's not great timing, because he had a real impact when he came on against Sunderland.

"He didn't need any settling in period at all and that's the sign of an excellent player. The good news is it's not going to be a long lay-off, but it's frustrating nonetheless."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres is an early injury doubt ahead of a massive Merseyside derby against Everton.

Torres limped out of Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Blackpool with a fresh adductor muscle problem.

The Spain striker was troubled by a similar injury during the World Cup finals and has already pulled out of the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Scotland.

He could now miss the trip to Goodison Park on October 17, although the Reds are remaining coy on the extent of his latest injury.

"Fernando was assessed earlier today at Melwood and underwent a scan this afternoon," head of sports medicine and sports science, Dr Peter Brukner, told the club's official website.

"He will have intensive treatment over the next couple of weeks but it is too early to say if he will be fit for the game against Everton."

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Liverpool make the short trip across Stanley Park in desperate need of three points following their worst start to a season since 1953-54.

They have picked up just six points from the first 21 on offer and find themselves in the relegation places after seven games.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Chris Smalling’s move from Fulham to Manchester United raised many an eye brow considering he had only played half a dozen times for Fulham. However, Chris Smalling is playing like a seasoned professional and looks now to have leapfrogged both Wes Brown and Jonny Evans in the defensive pecking order. Evans who played 35 times in the 08/09 season, looked to have established himself but a combination of Smalling’s form and his own dip in form has opend up the covering position once again.

What has happened to Jonny Evans though? Over the past two seasons, Evans has looked assured in defence and looked the man to replace Rio Ferdinand when he hangs up his boots. This season a catalogue of errors from the Northern Irishman has shown that theory up, and it seems Sir Alex Ferguson is looking elsewhere – Chris Smalling.

Jonny Evans does not seem the player to rest on his laurels, but could it be that he has found life at Old Trafford too comfortable. Over the past two seasons he has been the man to step in, expectations of course are high but not impossible to handle. As a covering centre half, much of the responsibility was with either Ferdinand or Vidic. This season, Evans is now a leader in his own right – something he hasn’t been able to handle too well.

So with Jonny Evans completely out of form and injured at the moment, this is the time for Chris Smalling to take aim at getting himself into the Manchester United side regularly. Smalling has settled into life at Old Trafford very quickly, and mirrors the rise that Evans himself had at Old Trafford. Smalling was assured in his play last night and seized his opportunity, something he will look to do over the coming weeks. Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson dropped Jonny Evans, Manchester United have kept five clean sheets in eight games, and Smalling can take a share of the accolades.

After the match last night, Chris Smalling spoke to Sky Sports and his confidence was evident.

“The likes of Rio and Vida have been brilliant,” said Smalling.

“They help guide you through games and I am learning from them all the time.

“They deserve credit too. They have really helped me to settle in and my confidence is sky high at the moment.”

As well as this, Manchester United have been lavishing praise on the young defender. Manchester United’s captain has been highly impressed with the young Englishman.

“Chris did very well but you are not just talking about one night, he has done well over the last few games,” said the United skipper.

“He has proved the boss was right to give him his chance.”

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Such glowing praise from his fellow professionals is what will inspire Chris Smalling at Old Trafford. Manchester United players will not heap praise on a player who does not deserve it, Smalling has definitely earned it. However, the hard work has only just begun for the young defender. At the expense of Jonny Evans, he looks to be the third choice centre half at Old Trafford now. Smalling is by no means a finished article and must continue to work hard, improve and most important not take his place for granted.

The situation with Jonny Evans shows the strength in depth a club like Manchester United has. Only a year ago Evans was destined for great things at Manchester United – and he still could. However if your form drops at a club like Manchester United, there is always somebody who can and will take your place. If Smalling can retain his place it will be extremely hard for Evans to get back into the Manchetser United squad. The challenge is clear for both players and that can only be a long term benefit for Manchester United.

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Liverpool owner John W Henry has leapt to the defence of under-pressure manager Roy Hodgson following last weekend's shocking 2-0 Premier League loss at Stoke City.

The Merseysiders appeared to be turning the corner after claiming ten points from a possible 12 prior to their aberration at the Britannia Stadium to help them into the top half of the table.

Many sceptics were calling for Hodgson to be removed in the Potteries, but the American supremo has now called for calm.

Henry, who fronts the New England Sports Ventures group that bought the Anfield giants from Tom Hicks George Gillett, has also hinted that a splurge in the January transfer market may not be the way to move forward.

"This club can be better and blaming the manager or any one particular player is simply wrong," Henry said.

"This club needs to play up to their potential every match. If they don't, they won't win.

"We have work to do and must invest in this club to improve it on the field. Can that be successfully done in January?

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"A number of people I've talked with doubt it. Most seem to think it will be the summer before we can really begin to improve. So all the players have to be on the same page and have to live up to the history and respect this club has engendered.

"The club has gone through a very difficult period and that period has not ended.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Hugo Rodallega is hoping to make amends as he returns from suspension this weekend.

The Colombian marksman was handed a three-match ban after picking up a straight red card in the defeat at Manchester United last month.

The Latics have struggled in the striker’s absence and have picked up just one point while Rodallega was out of the side, as well as being dumped out of the Carling Cup by Arsenal.

However, Rodallega is available for the trip to Everton this weekend and boss Roberto Martinez feels the striker is keen to make amends following his suspension.

“It’s a massive boost to have Hugo available again,” Martinez told the Observer.

“From a mental point of view you couldn’t get anyone with more of a desire to get out there.

“It’s been so frustrating for him, and in many ways a learning process for him.

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“I’m sure he’s learned his lesson from what happened and he’s desperate to make amends on Saturday.”

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According to our friends in Fleet Street, Liverpool are the latest in a string of clubs to be linked with signing ex world player of the year, Ronaldinho. The Brazilian, 30, has become a peripheral figure at the San Siro, with boss Massimiliano Allegri preferring Robinho. It is this lack of first team football this season that has driven speculation of a departure.

However, Liverpool would have to convince him to drop his £6.3m per annum wage demands for the man who has also been linked with moves to Los Angeles Galaxy and a host of Brazilian clubs.

There is no way that NESV would pay the Brazilian the wages that he is on at AC Milan but if he was willing to drop, there could be a deal to be done. Liverpool do need a player that can work with Fernando Torres and Ronaldinho fits the bill perfectly. A stumbling block would be whether Roy Hodgson is willing to move Steven Gerrard back into midfield to accommodate the Brazillian play maker.

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How likely do you think this deal is to happen – RATE THE RUMOUR

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Don’t call him a wheeler-dealer whatever you do, but once again, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, seems to have made another masterstroke of a move in the transfer market. This time though, we aren’t talking about the arrival of one of the worlds best, but the departure of a player who could still have plenty to offer at White Hart Lane.

I am of course talking about David Bentley who has recently finalised a six-month loan move to Birmingham City. Regarded by many as deadwood at Spurs, the 26-year-old moves to St. Andrews in an attempt at defining his career and proving he is more than just a ‘big time Charlie’.

For a player who promised so much as a youngster coming through at Arsenal, Bentley has never really delivered. He often showed little glimpses of real class but consistency was rarely a part of his game. His move to Blackburn seemed to be ideal. Bentley was the big fish in a relatively small pond and it was a role he seemed to relish. The hat-trick he scored against Man United at Ewood Park showed just how much talent he has. Tottenham recognised that, and although £15 million was incredibly excessive, his arrival at the Lane was intended to be an indication of Spurs signing the best up-and-coming English talent.

But it never really happened for Bentley. The once hailed ‘new David Beckham’ was hardly justifying such a nickname or price tag. In two-and-a-half years, he saw first team opportunities become more and more limited and now with the likes of Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale and Rafael Van der Vaart performing the way they are, Bentley himself recognised his time was up.

But should be completely turn his back on Harry Redknapp and Tottenham Hotspur? I’m sure Harry hasn’t given up and him. And why should he? Say what you will about David Bentley, but we all know the talent is there, if not the attitude. Even that seems to be a lot more football focused now he is reaching his peak years.

Six months of quality, consistent performances at Birmingham could prove to be the catalyst for his Spurs career. Alex McLeish has offered a chance for Bentley to be the star at a club again and really show his worth. Going straight into the squad to face Aston Villa on derby-day, who would bet against him scoring the winner on Sunday?

Even if after a successful six months, Redknapp decides it is time for the former Arsenal man to move on, then Bentley’s spell at St. Andrews would have been a shop-window process. I’m sure clubs involved at Europa League level would be interested. At the right price, of course.

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Will he turn into a player reborn? We shall have to wait and see, but Harry Redknapp has been in the business long enough to know not to give up on a real talent so quickly. Don’t be surprised if we see David Bentley back in a Tottenham shirt next season.

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Have you ever watched a more bizarre football match than Arsenal’s trip to Upton Park on Saturday evening? Not only did Wayne Bridge put in a very strong audition for a role as one of the ‘Chuckle Brothers’, but Avram Grant found himself giving his third stoical salute to home fans of clubs he has managed, waving goodbye in a manner that suggests he will not return but without any concrete proof to back his assertion up.

It was taken as read that the Israeli former Portsmouth manager was heading for the exit door in the hours before his Hammers side were comprehensively beaten by an ever-improving Arsenal at Upton Park. Rumours spread like wildfire in the run up to kick-off that former Aston Villa and Leicester City man, Martin O’Neill was in line to take up the reins at the end of the clash in Greater London.

48 hours on from the Grant funeral procession, however, and there appears no definite confirmation of a time of death – the manager seems, against all odds, to be living on, much to the bewilderment of the football community.

West Ham legend Julian Dicks has come out this week to publicly state what so many fans, not just those following the London club, have been thinking; what on earth are the board at West Ham playing at?

With remaining in the Premier League an absolute necessity for every single club in the top flight this season, were Grant to be relieved of his duties, the move would be accepted as a harsh but necessary step for a side that cannot afford relegation. However, the manner in which the Grant issue has been dealt with is another chapter of the soap opera that has become West Ham’s progress over the last five years.

The Hammers have had their fair share of controversy and turmoil in recent years. After a solid return to the top flight in 2005-06, the acquisition of Argentines Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascharano, ushered in a new era of English football, and ultimately one that very nearly cost West Ham their Premier League status. After a hastily arranged Premier League tribunal controversially chose not to dock points from the club over the illegal deals struck for both Tevez and Mascharano, the Hammers survived the drop only on the final day of the season.

The frustration directed at the West Ham board room is not new. Past chairmen have often felt the brunt of the fans’ anger. Terence Brown was on the end of a number of protests from Hammers fans, and whilst Eggert Magnusson brought much welcome funds to the table, helping stave off relegation in 2007, his non-communication with the Upton Park faithful and dwindling fortune alienated him from support.

It was thus with some confidence that West Ham fans will have looked upon last year’s takeover by former Birmingham City duo, Davids Gold and Sullivan, with a sense of optimism. I remember listening to Sullivan on the radio during the early weeks of the season as he outlined sensible aims for the Hammers over the next 18 months. Whilst his new side were short on quality across the squad, there was an acceptance that short-term survival would be the only way to secure growth over a longer period of time.

His assertions have been in contrast to the ultimatum atmosphere that has hung over the Upton Park this season. Whilst demands to improve the side’s fortunes have been met by the increasingly bemused Grant, a sense of chaos has engulfed proceedings, leading former skipper, Dicks, to brand the club a “laughing stock.”

The defender’s frustrations are understandable. West Ham fans have been through the ringer over recent years, and have found consistency impossible to come across. Surely they, more than anyone, deserve to know what is going on?

With two thirds of the transfer window already elapsed, the logic of sacking Grant at this stage would appear virtually non-existent. Would a newly appointed O’Neill be afforded significant funds to strengthen his charges, or would his brief be to simply jump up and down on the touchline in the hope his energy keeps the Hammers from falling?

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There will be fans out there that will feel that West Ham are feeling the full force of karma. Many Sheffield United fans feel that it was they, not the Hammers, that deserved to remain in the Premier League at the end of the 2006-07 season, when an almost certain relegation inducing point deduction was not imposed on Alan Curbishley’s men.

What the saga has proven, however it ends for O’Neill and Grant, is that the West Ham board have shown an alarming lack of regard for the fans. After the years of turmoil the club has endured, the supporters must be hoping that this is not a sign of things to come, whichever division they begin next season in.

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Manchester United’s long unbeaten run finally came to an end at the weekend. Wolves provided the type of performance which has seen them beat five out of the top seven already this season and also leads many failing to find an explanation for their ’false’ position at the bottom of the league. ‘False’ was the word United manager Sir Alex Ferguson used to describe the relegation threatened side, but he also then went on to praise his own team for their consistency so far this season. But what was Fergie really getting at? Is he secretly relieved that this streak is finally over?

It sounds stupid really, doesn’t it? Why would any team be happier now they’ve lost a game? By all means, in terms of their points tally in the hunt to regain the Premier League title, Ferguson and co would prefer three points to none, they would have taken one point after that second half performance. But now everyone has stopped debating whether United can go the whole season and emulate the ‘invincible’ Arsenal side, Ferguson will feel his side can get on with getting their form right to win games instead of grinding out results.

Considering their away form already this season, a defeat has been a long time coming. They let Blackpool walk all over them for 70 minutes. They were fortunate at West Brom and have drawn an incredible eight other games on their travels. That isn’t the form of a side looking to go the whole season unbeaten. Let us not forget how embarrassed they were in the Carling Cup away at West Ham as well. I take nothing away from Wolves though. As poor as United were in the second half, the home side were equally as impressive.

But Manchester United have bigger games coming up, without being disrespectful to Mick McCarthy’s men. Ask anyone connected with the team from Old Trafford who they would have rather of lost that record to, Wolves away or Manchester City at home? Bragging rights apart, what would that have done for United’s arch rivals attempts to win the title? Psychologically, it would have been huge. Similarly, now we are entering the business end of the season, if Chelsea ruined the run on March 1st at Stamford Bridge, that would have given them huge emphasis to go on closing the gap.

If Alex Ferguson’s men are to win this league, it will arguably be their best Premier League success out of the lot, considering their run in. As well as a trip to the champions coming up, they then go to Liverpool before trips to Upton Park, where they don’t have a great record, Arsenal, before Chelsea come to Old Trafford themselves. Mix in games against Everton, Newcastle and Champions League involvement, it is certainly going to be a tough 2011 for the Red Devils, so having the added pressure of continuing an unbeaten run would have been a distraction at best.

When Arsenal did it back in the 2003/04 season, nobody really expected them to do it, so the pressure wasn’t there. More than that, they actually had a squad which were equally as impressive away from home as they were at Highbury.

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Ferguson must have known that given how competitive the Premier League is now, seven years on from when Arsene Wenger‘s ‘invincibles, were born, coupled with the fact that the top sides have been consistently inconsistent, his side were highly unlikely to achieve such a feat. He even admitted so, so you could sense his relief. Manchester United don’t lose twice in a row too often, so you can guarantee some kind of reaction in the next match. That just happens to be at home to their cross city rivals from Eastlands. I suppose not a bad time to lose then, all things considered…

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