Jay Spearing returned to Liverpool earlier this summer to take up a coaching role with the club’s U18 and to also act as a midfield option for Barry Lewtas’ U21 side.
The 33-year-old is loving life at the AXA Training Centre after turning down a one-year contract extension offer from Tranmere Rovers and the 2012 League Cup winner has been discussing how he’s already built such strong relationships with many of the club’s youngsters.
“It has been incredible. I have loved absolutely every second of it. The stuff I have learned, you will never learn elsewhere,” he told the ECHO.
“The way of playing, the detail of the training sessions and the meetings where you learn from Alex [Inglethorpe] and find out what an incredible person he is to work for have been brilliant.
“Alex glues you in and I’m very fortunate to learn from someone like him. Even the other staff around like Marc Bridge-Wilkinson have been fantastic for me, the chefs and the kitmen – it’s a great vibe everyday and you learn things from people you may not have thought you would have.
“The role is quite new to the game. It has been something some clubs have done over the last couple of years and when Alex asked me to come and do it, I had no idea what it entailed.
“At the end of the day, I want to become a coach. Right now, I couldn’t have asked for a better transition as I’m still able to train every day, demand standards and show everything on and off the field that Alex wants the boys to follow.
“It has taken a while to get used to, having been in the professional game for so long,” Spearing added.
“There are different ways of training, different patterns and different training times and I was just trying to get my body around that when starting out.
“The first couple of weeks for me was about breaking down walls with the boys and speaking to the lads to let me on their side and to trust me.
“Once those barriers were broken, the football came easily and I started to gain relationships on and off the field with the boys. We are now working on individual things and helping them get better. It has been an absolute honour to put on the crest and wear the red kit again. It just feels like home and there’s not one bad word I could say about it.
“I love playing football and that is what’s driven me since I was seven years of age. The role at the Academy just felt right as my Tranmere contract was coming to an end, I’m not getting any younger and I have three children and a family to look after.
“The longevity of the plan that has come with the offer from Alex outweighed the option of year-to-year playing in the game. I found myself coaching the game from training a lot more in recent times, I still love the training I do now but something that really interested me was the coaching side.”
Jurgen Klopp is not afraid to give youngsters the chance to impress for the first team.
The likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Caomhin Kelleher have all flourished under the guidance of the German tactician.
Spearing is an Academy graduate himself at Liverpool and he therefore understands what players need and want when attempting to make the grade at one of the world’s biggest clubs.
The Wirral-born midfielder made 55 appearances for the Reds between 2008 and 2012 and he’s discussed the coaches that had a huge influence on him as he was progressing through the age groups as a youngster.
“When I look back now on my career in the Academy, two of the coaches have parted in Steve Heighway and Dave Shannon but I look back at the likes of Hughie McAuley, John McMahon, Bobby Johnson and Paul Lever – they all gave me something different,” Spearing said.
“The Academy is a crucial place for the players to learn their trade and they will gain experiences to take into their own game. If I can help in any way, having been out there in the professional game, I will make sure to do that. My goal is for them to challenge our first-team players or, if not, still go to make a nice career for themselves. I’m in a very fortunate position and it’s an important one as I want these lads to live their dreams.
“Football, when I was coming through, is completely different to now. Players today have the best facilities, the best food, the best equipment and some of the best physios and fitness coaches. The lads have everything in front of them and can improve in every department by watching clips back or speaking with managers and coaches. The game has changed since I was there, the building has changed and the chefs have changed. They can’t, in my eyes, probably be given any more than what they have currently because they have the best of the best.”
It must be great for the Academy lads to have role models like Spearing around the place.
He is one of the lucky few that made it through the ranks at the club and he therefore knows what it takes to make a living from the game.
The 2007 FA Youth Cup winner is right to point out that the game has changed significantly since he was a youngster and that the lads at the club really do have ‘the best of the best’.
The facilities at our new state-of-the-art AXA Training Centre are stunning and the players are in the perfect environment to help them reach their full potential.
The likes of Bobby Clark and Stefan Bajcetic have been handed Premier League debuts already this season and the way in which the latter performed during preseason indicates that he has a promising future ahead of him.
It’s great to hear that Spearing is enjoying his new role and we wish him all the best for the future!