Glenn Moore: Youth club Liverpool? Rodgers will discover it'll never work alone

The Weekend Dossier

Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen and Kenny Dalglish mixed experience and youth for Liverpool (Getty Images)

For all the jokes at his expense over the years in the ersatz 19th-hole atmosphere of Match of the Day, Alan Hansen was right back in 1995 when he said: "You don't win anything with kids." The Manchester United team he spoke about may have featured Fergie's Fledglings Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers Gary and Phil, but their march to the Double that season owed a huge amount to the veterans.

The core of that side was Peter Schmeichel, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Eric Cantona and Denis Irwin, of whom Cantona, at 29, was the youngest. There were also a pair of battle-hardened 24-year-olds: Roy Keane and Andy Cole.

Sir Alex Ferguson has always been ready to give talented youth a chance; but he always makes sure there are plenty of old heads around them.

This caveat seems to have eluded Hansen's old club. The word on Merseyside is that Liverpool are now operating an unofficial transfer bar on anyone over 24. The future is to be a young one. How much this is down to Brendan Rodgers' belief that young players will more readily adopt his style of play, and how much is due to a "Moneyball" style philosophy of the owners, is unclear, but the upshot is that Rodgers has signed six players to date and none is older than 24. With Vegard Forren (24) today signing for Southampton rather than go on trial at Liverpool (which speaks volumes about Liverpool's modern status) the only acquisition of this transfer window is Daniel Sturridge, a 23-year-old who is talented but far from the finished product.

Rodgers' predecessor, Kenny Dalglish, did sign a couple of oldies in Craig Bellamy and reserve goalkeeper Alexander Doni, but everyone else was bought with a view that their best years were ahead of them.

The consequence so far appears to be a team which plays pretty football but folds whenever life gets difficult. Liverpool have now gone 11 matches without beating a team placed at the time in the Premier League top 10, this despite the presence of Steven Gerrard and what ought to be a decent defensive heart of Pepe Reina, Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger.

Rodgers is building a new Liverpool, just as Bill Shankly did – a reference point Rodgers has not shied away from. But while Shankly signed or brought on young men such as Kevin Keegan, Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Smith and Ray Clemence, he made sure they had the likes of Ron Yeats, Gerry Byrne and Tommy Lawrence around them, and gave them time to develop. Clemence, for example, was signed as a teenager but did not make his debut for more than a year and did not displace Lawrence in goal for three seasons. That pattern was followed throughout the glory years that followed.

Bear in mind these were the days of smaller squads and less squad rotation, and consider the way players were matured by the Anfield Boot Room. Terry McDermott, already a First Division player at Newcastle, signed at 22 years of age, made 15 appearances in his first season and nine in his second. Ian Rush signed at 18, and played zero, seven and 18 games in his first three seasons respectively. Steve Nicol, who like the others went on to become Footballer of the Year, played four matches in his first two seasons and did not establish himself until his fourth.Hansen himself arrived just before his 22nd birthday and played 18 matches in his first season.

Another significant difference is the hard experience these players had gained in those pre-academy days. Phil Neal played 187 league games before joining Liverpool at 22, Mark Lawrenson 225 before joining at 24. Sturridge, 23, has played 95, many off the bench.

Once signed players were given time to learn the Liverpool way and feel their way into a team which was the best in the land. Fast forward to today and compare with Suso, the 19-year-old from Spain who was thrown into the Merseyside derby and withdrawn at half-time, then looked equally bewildered on a grim night at Stoke. He can play – he showed that against Manchester United at Anfield – but it is a sharp learning curve.

Not everyone made it in the old days. Frank McGarvey arrived from Scotland with much fanfare in 1979 but never played a match. Richard Money and Michael Robinson also came with little impact.

The old Liverpool were always happy to buy in experience if needed. Dalglish, Graeme Souness and John Wark were leading players when they arrived at Anfield. In the summer of 1987 Dalglish, by then manager, responded to losing the title by bringing in John Barnes and Peter Beardsley, leading England internationals. John Aldridge, aged 28, joined earlier in the year and Dalglish would later sign Glenn Hysen two months short of his 30th birthday. The Swede was an instant success, becoming a core part of Liverpool's 18th and so far last title.

Hysen, though, did not have much re-sale value and after he fell from favour under new manager Souness he left on a free transfer.

Would Fenway Sports Group sanction the signing of such a player today? At QPR, Harry Redknapp has been pleading with Ryan Nelsen, his 35-year-old centre-half, to delay his move to Canada to help Rangers stay up. There is, as Gerrard said in these pages, value in experience. But it does not show up on the balance sheet (unless you add the value of playing in the Champions League, or, in QPR's case, avoiding relegation).

There is a lot of emerging young talent at Anfield, some of it developed through an impressive youth scheme, some, like Suso and Raheem Sterling, poached from other academies, but Rodgers' rookies will need a few wizened old pros around them if they are to fulfil their potential, Fenway's targets, the manager's ambitions and the Kop's longings. Otherwise his New Liverpool will turn out not to be a remake of Shankly's but a watered-down replica of the new Arsenal, always on the cusp of glory, never quite achieving it.

Age of Champions: Glory days 1974-89

Signed under Bob Paisley:

Terry McDermott (age 22), Phil Neal (23), Joey Jones (20), David Johnson (24), Kenny Dalglish (26), Alan Hansen (21), Graeme Souness (24), Alan Kennedy (23), Ronnie Whelan (18), Frank McGarvey (23), Ian Rush (18), Richard Money (24), Bruce Grobbelaar (23), Craig Johnston (20), Mark Lawrenson (24), Steve Nicol (19).

Signed under Joe Fagan:

Gary Gillespie (23), Michael Robinson (25), Jim Beglin (19), Paul Walsh (21), Jan Molby (21), John Wark (26)

Signed under Kenny Dalglish:

Steve McMahon (24), Barry Venison (21), Steve Staunton (16), John Aldridge (28), Nigel Spackman (26), John Barnes (23), Peter Beardsley (26), Ray Houghton (25), Steve Harkness (17), Glenn Hysen (29).

Age of Chance: Modern era

Signed under Kenny Dalglish:

Craig Bellamy (age 32), Alexander Doni (31), Stewart Downing (26), Charlie Adam, Jose Enrique (both 25), Andy Carroll (22), Jordan Henderson, Sebastian Coates (both 20), Villyan Bijev, Danny Ward (both 18), Luis Suarez (24)

Signed under Brendan Rodgers:

Oussama Assaidi (24), Daniel Sturridge (23), Joe Allen (22), Fabio Borini (21), Samed Yesil (18).

Five asides

1. Clark is the latest victim of football's depressing trend

The steady takeover of clubs by people who seem to have a scant interest in the heritage and soul of the game is becoming depressing. This week Nottingham Forest fired Frank Clark from his position as club ambassador, which in itself was a sop after the Hasawi family axed him as chairman. Clark, one of football's gentlemen, played for and managed Forest and had only the club's interests at heart. It is not yet clear that the same can be said for the Kuwaiti owners but the fact that Alex McLeish's first signing will be a Kuwaiti goalkeeper is thought-provoking.

2. In the pitch battle, Finns show up English neglect

England has a population of 53 million and is besotted with football. Finland's population is a tenth of that and football ranks behind several winter sports for national interest. England has around 400 3G pitches; Finland has more than 200, 91 of which have been installed by its FA since 2006. It is another reminder of the neglect shown by successive governments and the game itself when it comes to facilities. Incidentally, most of Finland's pitches are usable when it snows, being heated, covered, or simply swept clear.

3. The white boot was on the other foot for Bally

Rory McIlroy is not the first sportsman to have problems with new equipment after being offered a generous contract by a manufacturer. I still remember the shock when told that Alan Ball found his famous white boots so uncomfortable he wore alternatives painted with whitener. Stan Bowles, meanwhile, wore different boots for an England game to satisfy deals with rival companies.

4. Guardiola's choice gives the Bundesliga added glamour

The Premier League will doubtless be relieved to have completed the process of selling overseas TV rights before Pep Guardiola decided to join Bayern Munich. Until now the Bundesliga has won plaudits for attacking football, big crowds, safe standing and fan ownership, but lacked international glamour. Now it is a genuine rival.

5. Like watching Brazil? They are the rank outsiders now

England are sixth in the Fifa rankings, Brazil 18th. Roll on the World Cup.

twitter.com/GlennMoore7