Liverpool's last 12 academy graduates under Rafa Benitez and how they fared
Liverpool have a rich tradition of welcoming academy graduates into the first team, and current boss Jurgen Klopp is following Rafa Benitez's lead in this regard.
Benite gave senior bows to more than a dozen academy players during his time at Anfield, while getting the most out of local heroes Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, who made their debuts before his arrival .
Here's what happened to the last 12 academy graduates to play their first minutes at Liverpool under the Spaniard.
Jack RobinsonRobinson was the last Liverpool player, academy or otherwise, to debut for Benitez.
The defender was just 16 when he replaced Ryan Babel in the manager's last game against Hull in 2010 before playing 10 more times for the Reds.
He joined Sheffield United from Nottingham Forest in January 2020, returning to the Premier League. United were relegated in 2021, but Robinson remained at the club and played 27 leagues in 2021-22.
Luckily we spoke to him a few years ago about his departure from Liverpool.
READ: Jack Robinson on leaving Liverpool, Suarez, Sterling and life at QPR
Dani PachecoEarlier in Benitez's last campaign, he handed compatriot Dani Pacheco a first-team appearance.
After impressing for the reserves, the striker has featured six more times this season in a campaign that has seen Fernando Torres often absent through injury.
Pacheco was notably launched in a last-ditch attempt to find an elusive third goal in the Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
More than a decade later, he is now in Poland with Gornik Zabrze after stints in Spain and Cyprus.
Nathan EcclestonWhen a player is best remembered for a tweet about the 9/11 conspiracy, it's usually a sign that their on-field contribution wasn't the best.
Eccleston played nine games for Liverpool, the first of which was a League Cup loss to Arsenal in 2009. He also tweeted: "I'm not going to say an attack, don't let the media tell you make it look like a terrorist did it. this. #O.T.I.S. ['Only the Illuminati succeed'].”
The striker's club streak until he stepped away from the game in 2019 was Kilmarnock, Bekescsaba and Nuneaton Town, which reads like a googlewhack.
Dani AyalaAyala was on the bench for that Arsenal game but had made his debut earlier in the same season when he replaced Martin Skrtel in a Premier League win over Spurs, making his first start against Stoke in August 2009.
A centre-back brought back from the Sevilla academy aged 17, the Spaniard played five games for Liverpool – all in the league – and remained in England, becoming a mainstay in the league after leaving Anfield in 2011.
After seven seasons at Middlesbrough, he moved to Blackburn in 2020.
Martin KellyIt's a little weird to think that Martin Kelly made an England squad for a major tournament. It's veryodd to remember that he did it while he was still at Liverpool.
Kelly played 12 league games in the 2011-12 season before replacing injured Gary Cahill in Roy Hodgson's Euro squad, but his senior debut came more than three years earlier against PSV Eindhoven in the 2008-09 season. Champions League.
The defender left Anfield a...
Liverpool have a rich tradition of welcoming academy graduates into the first team, and current boss Jurgen Klopp is following Rafa Benitez's lead in this regard.
Benite gave senior bows to more than a dozen academy players during his time at Anfield, while getting the most out of local heroes Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, who made their debuts before his arrival .
Here's what happened to the last 12 academy graduates to play their first minutes at Liverpool under the Spaniard.
Jack RobinsonRobinson was the last Liverpool player, academy or otherwise, to debut for Benitez.
The defender was just 16 when he replaced Ryan Babel in the manager's last game against Hull in 2010 before playing 10 more times for the Reds.
He joined Sheffield United from Nottingham Forest in January 2020, returning to the Premier League. United were relegated in 2021, but Robinson remained at the club and played 27 leagues in 2021-22.
Luckily we spoke to him a few years ago about his departure from Liverpool.
READ: Jack Robinson on leaving Liverpool, Suarez, Sterling and life at QPR
Dani PachecoEarlier in Benitez's last campaign, he handed compatriot Dani Pacheco a first-team appearance.
After impressing for the reserves, the striker has featured six more times this season in a campaign that has seen Fernando Torres often absent through injury.
Pacheco was notably launched in a last-ditch attempt to find an elusive third goal in the Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
More than a decade later, he is now in Poland with Gornik Zabrze after stints in Spain and Cyprus.
Nathan EcclestonWhen a player is best remembered for a tweet about the 9/11 conspiracy, it's usually a sign that their on-field contribution wasn't the best.
Eccleston played nine games for Liverpool, the first of which was a League Cup loss to Arsenal in 2009. He also tweeted: "I'm not going to say an attack, don't let the media tell you make it look like a terrorist did it. this. #O.T.I.S. ['Only the Illuminati succeed'].”
The striker's club streak until he stepped away from the game in 2019 was Kilmarnock, Bekescsaba and Nuneaton Town, which reads like a googlewhack.
Dani AyalaAyala was on the bench for that Arsenal game but had made his debut earlier in the same season when he replaced Martin Skrtel in a Premier League win over Spurs, making his first start against Stoke in August 2009.
A centre-back brought back from the Sevilla academy aged 17, the Spaniard played five games for Liverpool – all in the league – and remained in England, becoming a mainstay in the league after leaving Anfield in 2011.
After seven seasons at Middlesbrough, he moved to Blackburn in 2020.
Martin KellyIt's a little weird to think that Martin Kelly made an England squad for a major tournament. It's veryodd to remember that he did it while he was still at Liverpool.
Kelly played 12 league games in the 2011-12 season before replacing injured Gary Cahill in Roy Hodgson's Euro squad, but his senior debut came more than three years earlier against PSV Eindhoven in the 2008-09 season. Champions League.
The defender left Anfield a...
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