AMONG the portraits documenting the successes during his time at Liverpool, there is one photograph that takes a particular pride of place for Rafael Benitez.
During the fledgling days of his Anfield tenure, the Spaniard named a team packed with fringe and reserve players for the Carling Cup quarter-final at Tottenham Hotspur in December 2004.
A tense evening at White Hart Lane saw Liverpool emerge triumphant following a nail-biting penalty shoot-out, the celebrations of which were captured for posterity and now hang from the walls of Benitez’s Melwood office.
Eight of the players who appeared that evening had passed through the youth ranks at Anfield.
Yet when Liverpool return to Tottenham this evening for a fourth round clash in the same competition, it’s unlikely any of the starting line-up will be homegrown.
When Crewe Alexandra were beaten in the previous round in September, the only player to have emerged from Liverpool’s Academy was opposing centre-back Daniel O’Donnell.
There was no place even on the bench for the four English youngsters – Martin Kelly, Steven Irwin, Stephen Darby and Jay Spearing – who make up the homegrown contingent of Liverpool’s Champions League squad.
Darby is in the party for tonight’s game but, with Philipp Degen desperate for match practice having played just 73 minutes this season, is likely to be a substitute at best.
Benitez admits the Carling Cup remains bottom on his list of priorities for a campaign centred on launching a credible championship challenge, and tonight’s team selection, the returning Fernando Torres aside, will reflect that fact.
But the Spaniard could argue the starting line-up also underlines the increased strength in depth of his squad that is allowing Liverpool to keep pace with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League while progressing in the Carling Cup and Champions League. He would have a point, certainly in comparison to the resources at his disposal at White Hart Lane four years ago.
All eight of the youngsters that appeared – David Raven, Zak Whitbread, Stephen Warnock, Mark Smyth, Ritchie Partridge, Darren Potter, Neil Mellor and John Welsh – have since departed with only Warnock, who in any case had already by that point made his breakthrough into the Liverpool senior team, remaining in the top flight.
However, with Benitez subsequently taking a leaf out of Arsene Wenger’s book and snapping up youngsters from around the globe in the hope of saving a small fortune on a starlet or two, it is becoming even more difficult for the Academy graduates to get a chance to follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen.
