Alex Inglethorpe Q&A: Harry Wilson, Academy development and EFL Trophy
Academy manager Alex Inglethorpe is keeping a close eye on the fortunes of on-loan Harry Wilson at AFC Bournemouth this season.
After impressing for Derby County in the Championship last term, the Wales international has made a bright start on the south coast.
Wilson netted on his Cherries debut against Aston Villa and then swerved in a sensational free-kick during the meeting with Manchester City the following week.
His performances were recognised with Bournemouth's August Player of the Month award on Thursday.
Inglethorpe is hopeful Wilson can continue to excel in the Premier League during a season-long spell away from Anfield.
"Harry had a good, promising season at Derby County and I'm really hoping he can continue that on loan at Bournemouth," he told Liverpoolfc.com.
"Harry has got real ability and he influences games, so I'm interested to see what happens when he gets the opportunity to play regularly in the Premier League.
"Can he step up another level because he has proven he can do it in the Championship? Hopefully he can carry that on in the Premier League."
In the second part of a fascinating chat with former Red Neil Mellor, Inglethorpe also discussed his wide-ranging role as Academy manager and the new developments taking place in Kirkby...
On the work that goes on for an Academy manager during the summer break…
It's probably different depending on which academy you are at, but we work in the school year. That means we have the senior age groups – 14 to 23 – who will have a more traditional end to the season at the end of May and then come back at the beginning of July. Our younger age groups follow the school season, so they are actually in here. So in terms of my summer, it means I'm still here. I suppose I don't have to be but it's a lovely place to be. So I was in with the U9s, U10s, U11s, U12s and U13s which was really good and I really enjoyed it. I always try to get out on the grass coaching with as many of the age groups as I can and working with as many of the younger kids as possible. There is always something happening and there is always a buzz around the place. We have the soccer schools in with the Foundation as well and it's nice.
On the ongoing development of the new first-team training complex in Kirkby…
I was really lucky and I was invited to have a little sneaky walk around. You are at the stage now where you can see the rooms, so obviously it's not decorated yet, but wow, it's going to be some place, it really is. I love the fact it's going to be state-of-the-art, I don't think it's going to be too corporate where you feel like you've landed somewhere that isn't football. The players will still know it's a football factory and it's going to be big enough to allow us to grow as a club, which I think is inevitable. Whenever you go to Melwood you can see it is steeped in history. I don't think we live in the past but we certainly respect the past. I think the new facility will be equally as respectful. I don't think we are going to walk into a shrine of what's happened in the past 50 years, but I think there will certainly be elements there that elude to the fact of how history has been at Liverpool and how important that is to us.
On the reasons for entering an U21s team into the EFL Trophy for the first time this season…
We thought we would give it a go this year and are probably in a slighter better position with the players that we have on loan [than before]. We were maybe a little bit light on numbers and I think some games we might have to go into where we are a bit younger than we would want and maybe it will be a tough evening for us. But we are prepared to give it as good a go as we possibly can and it's three great games for the kids to experience something which is close to senior football. There will be a crowd, there will be something riding on the game, they will be playing against senior players that will offer something completely different to U23s football, which is really just an extension of youth-team football.
On the reaction of the young players when they were told about playing in the EFL Trophy…
They were excited. They are genuinely excited to play in something different. For those boys who haven't been on loan or played in the first team then it's the first time they will have played a proper senior game and all the things that senior football offers with it. I'm looking forward [to it] and it's different for everybody.
On what the players can learn from the competition…
Just to cope, not to give up and dealing with set-pieces. Senior players can pin you in and are really clever at not allowing you to have too much space and momentum. It will hopefully take away that naivety and a bit of the footballing innocence. You can be in a bit of a bubble when you play U18s and U23s football and think that you can play every game out from the back and it's all nice, pitches are great etc. I want to see what our young players are like when they play against a centre-forward who knows a few tricks with a few hundred league games under their belts, and they will use their experience to dominate essentially the kid that they are playing against. I believe in development but winning definitely does play a part in development. I think the big difference is we wouldn't keep players back here instead of going out on loan to win it. You go to win the game with the XI that you put out there but we wouldn't make decisions on keeping a player here just to play in these games, that doesn't make sense to me.