The Soccer Blog: The Disappearing Act of Dani Pacheco

By: Ed | March 2nd, 2011
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One of the more challenging aspects of supporting a football club is patience—patience for silverware, patience for squad improvement, patience for players returning to fitness, and, as I meander towards the actual point of this post, patience for young players developing into actual first-team talent.

This has become an increasingly exciting task, what with nearly every young player the star of his own YouTube tribute set to thumping house music. Players previously inaccessible to most of the casual supporter crowd are now anointed the next big thing, an assessment typically based on the requisite ecstasy dosage needed to fully experience said compiliations along with cleverly-edited snippets from youth team matches across the globe. The scope of the player’s experience doesn’t really matter that much, because holy shit, did you see those step-overs and juggling-type things? Also, this music feels warm and my hands taste like marshmallows.

Prior to the last couple years, the formula for any conversation about up-and-coming talent in the youth ranks at Liverpool had been relatively simple—reference Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher as the only first-team regulars to have made the leap from the youth system to the senior squad, then watch as your Liverpool-supporting friends stutter and stammer their way into a meltdown.

The cause wasn’t helped much by the assessment of the newly-arrived Rodolfo Borrell in 2009:

“The reality of what we found here was unacceptable. The under-18s had no centre forward, no balance. They had no tactical level, no understanding of the game.”

Stepping stones for the future, then.

We know now that the Academy setup was dramatically improved by Rafa Benitez and has largely become one of his lasting contributions to the club—bringing in Borrell was a masterstroke, and when the chance to bring in quality younger talent finally arose, Benitez didn’t hesitate.

One of the more prominent names to hold over from the slapdick days is obviously Dani Pacheco, who was signed from the Barcelona youth academy in 2008. After arriving at Liverpool, he quickly established himself as one of the top talents at any level. His senior bow came in a 2-1 loss to Fiorentina during Liverpool’s doomed Champions League run in the 2009-2010 season, and he would go on to make five more first-team appearances as the Reds played out their disaster of a campaign, notching one assist in the Europa League victory over Unirea Urziceni.

The summer of 2010 brought heightened attention for the Spanish youngster, and while a good portion of viewers checked out of world football after the senior team captured the World Cup trophy in South Africa, those who stuck around for the U19 Euros know why. Pacheco lit the competition on fire, scoring four goals and providing the assist for Spain’s lone goal in the 2-1 finals loss to France. Those goals earned him the Golden Boot, and his overall performance brought a Goal.com World Player of the Week honor and, as is so often the case, acclaim as the “next big thing” in European football.

The 19 year-old displayed an array of skills en route to earning such acclaim—pronounced pace and acceleration, uncanny vision and awareness with the distribution to match, and a finishing touch that was second to none (hence that whole Golden Boot thing).

It would follow, then, that his return to Liverpool for the start of the 2010-2011 season didn’t come anonymously. It was speculated that he was subject to a loan deal back to Spain and Real Sociedad, sheparded by ex-Kop hero Xabi Alonso. As if Liverpool supporters’ hearts weren’t broken enough by the Basque midfielder’s exit, now he was going to help engineer a move away for one of the club’s future stars.

But it never came to pass, and Pacheco was handed the #12 shirt by new manager Roy Hodgson, a move that, for many of us in the cheap seats, signaled intent for the youngster’s future. No longer did he wallow in the upper 40’s—this year would be his time to shine.

He was eased into the season, making his first start against Rabotnicki in the return leg of the Europa League qualifiers at Anfield. He grew into a match that elevated supporters’ expectations for the club’s turnaround, with a performance on the right flank and throughout the forward area responsible for a large part of the optimism. His other appearance came in the dying minutes of Liverpool’s embarrassing 3-0 loss to Manchester City at the Eastlands, and while not much was taken from the side’s performance overall (other than 4-4-* becoming a curse), Pacheco looked both lively and threatening in a match in which Liverpool looked decidedly meek and flaccid.

A handful of other appearances were on the horizon, and, unfortunately for him, it seems as though none was more impactful than the 105 minutes he turned in against Northampton Town in Liverpool’s Carling Cup collapse. Collectively and individually Liverpool were atrocious, and Roy Hodgson famously cast the day’s participants off into the abyss.

And, for the most part, that’s the last we’ve heard of Dani Pacheco in the first team:

He only made two more appearances under Roy Hodgson, both in Europa League throwaways against Steaua Bucharest and FC Utrecht. Increasingly it looked as though he’d had his chance and blown it under the new manager, and with plenty of the more talented youth players leaving the club prior to the end of the summer window, his future at Liverpool was fading.

Things seemed to get whole lot brighter, though, with the exit of Hodgson and the arrival of Kenny Dalglish. Younger players would finally get their chances under a manager who knew the club’s lower levels, and for most of us this meant renewed optimism about Liverpool and Dani Pacheco’s future. Dalglish’s tenure has seen a regular place for Martin Kelly, substitute appearances for Jonjo Shelvey prior to injury, a start for Jay Spearing in the Merseyside Derby, and more recently, consecutive run-outs for Danny Wilson. By all indications, a positive trend for Liverpool’s future.

And yet we’re still left wondering where Dani Pacheco fits, given that he’s yet to make an appearance in 2011 and has made the first-team squad in less than half of Liverpool’s matches in the new year. He’s continued to make an impression in the reserves (and chipped in with a goal on Monday) and still has plenty of promise, but I get the sense that we’re all left wanting more, which is maybe the most frustrating part.

I suppose we have to be content with the knowledge that we might not actually have that much knowledge—yes, we’ve got video compilations and proven performances at the youth and reserve level, but we don’t really have a body of evidence that suggests he’s capable of making a consistent impact in the senior squad. You can argue that he hasn’t been given a chance to make that impact, but you can also argue that we’re not privy to training ground observations and the sense of how a player fits in the broader context of what the club is trying to create (which also implies that at current, some combination of Joe Cole/Dirk Kuyt/Maxi etc. are better options to round out the attack than Pacheco).

Naturally this is all a very long way of saying that from the outside looking in, it’s damned difficult to tell where he goes from here—he’s made no secret of his desire to have a positive impact at the club, and he’s been dubbed the next big everything (so long as it’s short/pacy/skillful/Spanish) already, but there’s also plenty of speculation that the lack of first-team action thus far pushes him further and further from Liverpool’s plans for the future.

Of course, it might also be useful to remember that he’s only 20 years old and could yet be in the infancy of his career, but in today’s culture that might also mean he’s already past it.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Daniel Agger, Dani Pacheco, and Other Friday NotesMore Dani Pacheco GoodnessPacheco Palate CleanserNewcastle 3, Liverpool 1: How Are You Handling the Strain?Tuesdays with Roy: This Time on a Tuesday

Category: Miscellaneous, Special Features, Team News

Tags: Batshit Crazy Ramblings, Dani Pacheco, Kenny Dalglish, Miscellaneous, Roy Hodgson, Special Features, Team News
Tweet « This Is Not and Other Wednesday Notes, and Other Wednesday Notes | Home | AnuragA lot depends on attitude. you can be gifted and all, but it all comes down to keeping your feet on the ground. I think babel could not handle it, he was talented and all but lacked the attitude. Its a different thing saying things in media and living it in the field.

As you pointed out, its the people in the dugout that know the best. We have Kuyt, Maxi, Jova, Cole who are not doing well and even then his Majesty thinks that Pacheco isn't good enough, then I ll take it.LFCTVI think Liverpool are ruining this young talents career. Trust me I'm a LFC fan. But when you look at the likes of Fabregas and Whiltshere and how they greatly benefited by being introduced at young ages you have to think, what the F__K are liverpool doing?! We lost 3-1 at west ham and we could of put Pacheco on for the last ten minutes at least. I fear that he leaves us for another team and becomes a real star!cheekyfellowWhat happened to Ayala? Completely forgot about that guyWizdomI think Pacheco should start in Sunday against Man Ure! Ngog is gone, Carroll isn't ready for a whole match, United will have an inexperienced backline and Saurez and Pacheco would be a handful that SAF won't be prepared for!rodThe problem here at Liverpool is the people are wanting big name signings and i ask if they happen to arrive where are the spots for these kids?
Players like Joe Cole and Maxi need to be moved on in order to allow these kids to shine, is the same going to happen to Suso and are they going to end up back in Spain.LFCTVi f__king agree with this one!Smitty_wIf we miss out on European football next season it's going to get real tough on the fringe players. There best hope will be if we can kill team's early, we are a long long way from thatUy9-BLUEEh, I mean most promising young talent don't become world-beaters, especially at the tender age of 20. Not that it's even a given he'll become a good enough player for Liverpool. Sometimes, the most hyped youngsters don't become anything at all.

It's too early to tell, but if he's completely pulled a Houdini on the 1st team, likely he's not anywhere near ready yet.davidi believe in Pacheco as well as Suso..these Spanish lads r great..if they were in arsenal, perhaps they have already made their name..I hope King Kenny give these youngster perform at 1st team n sell craps like poulsen, konchesky, ngog, joe cole, maxi..i personally hope they dont rely on Carra, Gerrard, Kuyt etc..they r old..Spearing, kelly, Wilson, shelvey really did well..they just need more games to build up their experience..with these youngster, we can save a lot on wages..they r young..their future r lies ahead..Babel is good..just the previous manager dont know how to use n place him..Ngog, we have try him so many chance but seems his is not good to play for LFC..so i hope atleast Pacheco can our atleast a 3rd choice striker..this guy have skills, n he can score very well..he is the next David Villa..YWNA!Red2deathIt's definitely confusing, even given that we don't know what happens behind closed doors.

Not that Pacheco would walk into the first team, but surely he provides the potential for better performances than we've seen from Cole, Jovanovich, Babel, Maxi (though Maxi is improving). Given the dross that some of them have doled out, you have to question how much worse can it get?

Well, apparently even that isn't enough reason to take a risk on Pacheco - because Pacheco would probably be worse than that? After his performances for Spain and the reserves, he must really really suck in training for Kenny to draw that kind of conclusion!Alfie
I really hope I am wrong but I am beginning to think that his size and style will more likely be successful in Spain than in the premiership where pace and size play such a huge role.
Actually I would trade him and Ayala for Griesmann at Real Sociedad. I realise this is blasphemy for many.JoelPhysique-wise, there isn't much different between Pacheco and Griezmann. Griezmann also plays as a LM cutting in on his right. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for moving for Griezmann, but I don't think trading Pacheco for him would be a good move. I really think adapting Pacheco to a more central role would get the best out of him, and he would be very effective as the playmaker in a 3 man midfield.Red2deathYou blaspheme... him n Jesus are our best young players...NoelIt really has been strange watching him go from the next big thing to an absolute afterthought over the past six or eight months. Though certainly not every player needs to be a superstar by the time they can vote in Cameroon.JoelJudging by the reserves game the other day, perhaps the reason for his absence is that Kenny et al. are trying to convert him to play in a more deeper role. He was holding like a Xabi-style deep lying playmaker, allowing Spearing to play more box-to-box. However, he also supported the attack when needed, as shown by his goal. He has been playing in reserve games, so it's not like he's being completely frozen out of the team.

My best guess is that they're trying to round out Dani's game, not unlike what we did with Lucas when he first came, so that Dani can play more than as an AM. If true, all signs point to us looking at 433/4222, and Dani is being groomed as a CM playmaker, rather than AM in a 4231.GrubbInteresting. If you can't sign/keep a player you want (Xabi) then you groom a young player to fulfil a similar role. Pacheco's vision is certainly decent and he's a skilful, exciting player. But can you see him doing a Schweinsteiger? I honestly can't.

Maybe they are looking at him for one of the deeper positions because Suso is a better prospect? They might also prefer pace on the wings, e.g. young Tom Ince, which necessarily pushes Suso and Pacheco central, leaving them to fight it out for the one position.

And then maybe it's a matter of shoe-horning what you've got in the ressies - Ince, Pacheco, Bruna and Suso can't all fit into the band of 3 in attacking midfield. I dunno.

Maybe he's shit? ;-)EdAre you trying to say that actually watching these matches and making observations can be useful?JoelBut it's so much easier to make snap judgments that he's being shipped off to Spain!

Sarcasm off, completely agree on your points re:Hodgson's time here- really stalled his development, as he was ripe for some first team action early this season. Also agree with both you and Noel on the obvious point that not everyone is ready to play first team football for Liverpool at 20. The obvious reason for holding off a bit on playing youngsters is Michael Owen. Sure, he was great when he was young and fresh, but now he's 30 and has done jack shit since he turned 25.YannI get your point but neither age nor size is necessarily an impediment. David Silva, of similar stature and pace to Pacheco, was a Spanish international at 20 and whilst not setting the world on fire, he has added value and an added attacking dimension to Man City.JoelAge in itself isn't an impediment, but I would caution about pushing players into serious first team roles before they're ready. In this case, all signs point to Pacheco being not quite ready yet, so we should wait until he is rather than rush him into the team and shorten his career.LucasLeiva21Yes, its as if Owen could just rely on his superlative pace at a young age to distract observers from the lack of technical quality in his game. And once the pace was gone...

Oh, and The Prestige is underrated.EdThe Prestige is certainly not underrated around here, and nothing exists outside of around here.blog comments powered by Disqus