Why Rafa Benitez must put his faith in Liverpool FC's kids

On the Far East pre-season tour, we have seen the likes of Krizstian Nemeth, Danny Pacheco and Jay Spearing all come in and do well enough to deserve another chance.

Spearing has been neat and tidy, aggressive too, Pacheco raw but exciting, while Nemeth seemed to grow as a player the more he was around the first team squad.

And that's the rub. There will only ever be so much any young player can learn from going on loan for a season or six months to a lower division team.

Everyone we have sent out down that path has failed to develop as Benitez would have hoped, and often leave for the lower reaches of Division One.

Playing alongside some of the first teamers and against better opponents on a (at first) semi-regular basis would, I think, encourage them to develop as a player far faster.

As my example, I look at the last home-grown player to make it big with the first team - Steven Gerrard.

OK, so he is one of the greatest players ever to wear the Red shirt, but despite that talent, the raw youngster who replaced Vegard Heggem against Blackburn in 1998 undoubtedly benefitted from the company he kept.

I don't mean the likes of Jean Michel Ferri or Oyvind Leonhardson who were in the squad then. Rather Paul Ince, Jamie Redknapp (when he was fit) and later Gary McAllister.

To Gerrard, time spent playing alongside those men must have been invaluable, and while you could say he was always going to make it, having that input and experience virtually guaranteed his progress.

The same could be said of Jamie Carragher, lining up alongside Sami Hyypia or Stephane Henchoz.

I think the same can be said now by bringing a youngster into a much stronger team. Imagine what the effect on Spearing would be if he shared the 'other midfielder' role with Lucas, running out alongside Mascherano and - hopefully - Alonso.

Or Nemeth, coming off the bench to link up with Torres, as Stevie G bombs on past them.

Yes it could be seen as a gamble and the stakes are high with the chances of a title challenge higher than they have been for a while..

But they deserve a proper chance rather than seeing another average squad player brought in from the continent for £4million.

Give them a go Rafa - let's see what they are made of.