Plans to merge Melwood and the Academy to one site.

This is exciting!

I know there's been talk for a long time to have everyone together on one site but it seems it's finally going to become a reality.

Liverpool to merge first-team and academy set-ups:  They could leave Melwood for Kirkby
LIVERPOOL are to amalgamate their first team and academy set-ups in a decision which will see the club move from its historic Melwood training ground complex.
By Paul Joyce
PUBLISHED: 00:02, Thu, Oct 27, 2016 | UPDATED: 00:11, Thu, Oct 27, 2016

Plans are at an embryonic stage with top level discussions ongoing at Liverpool but a resolution to join the sites has been taken.

Melwood, in the West Derby area of the city, is situated six miles from the academy in Kirkby and means there is a degree of separation despite the strength of the relationship between manager Jürgen Klopp and academy director Alex Inglethorpe.

Renovating Melwood to include the academy is not an option due to space restrictions and the prospect of moving the first team to Kirkby, where there is room to expand, is the stand-out option.

However, while feasibility studies are likely to take place on that, Liverpool will consider other possibilities also.

Klopp believes Liverpool will benefit from being on one site and the work of the academy coaches has been brought into sharper focus this week with 18-year-old's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ovie Ejaria both making their full debuts in Tuesday's 2-1 EFL Cup win over Tottenham.

Both those youngsters now train with the first team, but others remain out of sight on a daily basis to the management and the decision to change the club's infrastructure has long-since been mooted for that reason.

Liverpool purchased Melwood in 1950 from the governors of St Francis Xavier College and it was revolutionised and rebuilt in 2001 during the tenure of Gerard Houllier, who recognised the need to bring the facilities into the 21st century.

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/725534/Liverpool-merge-first-team-academy-set-ups-Melwood-Kirkby-Premier-League-News-Gossip

It will be cracking when we get it together. I can't see any disadvantage to this. The gaffer gets to keep a much closer eye on the youngsters and they get to train and develop in a more competitive environment. They get to see what the gaffer demands firsthand and they get to be in and around the first team seeing which areas of their game they have to improve to dislodge their first team counterparts. Plus being around a great pro like Milner would do wonders for the professionalism of the youngsters. The sooner this happens the better.

Hope they keep the socks safe!!

And like feeling like they are in a wind tunnel.

Best move ever if they decide to see it through, keeps the collective message & will do wonders for the youth working alongside the first team & squad..

Best move ever if they decide to see it through, keeps the collective message & will do wonders for the youth working alongside the first team & squad..

Have heard quite a few former players that were here prior to Melwood and some after; all of them to a man said it can only be a good thing to have everybody together.

Great news and it goes right in hand to what the journos were saying this past Summer that this was one of Jürgen's first decisions when he came that he wanted everybody together.

Well in Gaffer.

At long last, it seems the club are very serious about developing talent. Rodgers proposed this back in 2012 and no doubt, Ian Ayre most likely didn't listen (he said there had been a consultation - well four years later there has only just been movement on this matter).

Klopp's new contract and his unquestioned authority has probably got this issue on the fast track.

Logistics and interaction between coaching staff will become much easier. It should be easier to implement methods from the top as hopefully synchronising the teams to the same methods will do wonders for the youngsters development.

This can only be good for the academy players looking up to their heroes. All within the same complex. Cool.

Have heard quite a few former players that were here prior to Melwood and some after; all of them to a man said it can only be a good thing to have everybody together.

Great news and it goes right in hand to what the journos were saying this past Summer that this was one of Jürgen's first decisions when he came that he wanted everybody together.

Well in Gaffer.

Boot room comes to mind....

Melwood was always the where the work got done and however primitive it was before its revamp it was still was the place where our heroes trained.
Will be sad if LFC leave there.

wonder if we'll get a mini-stadium like this one city has?

wonder if we'll get a mini-stadium like this one city has?

Doubt it mate, we can't rustle up a few £m to extend the Anny Rd end and this cost more than the Main Stand to build.

I can't find a cost for the stadium,i know the complex was 200 mill but no need for us to rebuild everything in kirkby,is there?

I can't find a cost for the stadium,i know the complex was 200 mill but no need for us to rebuild everything in kirkby,is there?

They didn't build their own stadium mate, they bought it for peanuts after the Commonwealth games but yes the training complex built from scratch was £200m.

I've no idea what would need building at Kirby mate but any money spent won't be recouped as it's for training purposes only.  The youth games barely get a few hundred fans so there's really no justification to waste money on stands when we can't afford to finish Anfield.

I was talking about the costs of this little stadium not the c.o.m one.

I was talking about the costs of this little stadium not the c.o.m one.

No idea mate.