I'm afraid anyone who saw Paletta play against Galatasaray in Istanbul and Arsenal at home in the Carling Cup will know that James Ducker is right.
Against Arsenal on that fateful night (at one stage it was 1:5) Paletta was paired with Hyypia. The Arsenal youngsters were running circles around Paletta - twice - before he knew what had happened. Arsenal's I think 5th goal summed it up. The ball was rolling towards the corner of the Main and Anfield Rd stands; no danger. Somehow, Paletta managed to let one of Arsenal's youngsters bamboozle him to square for the goal (Baptista?).
The stadium was pretty full that night, despite it being in the middle of the week and a replay (first time around waterlogged). At 1:5 most fans were still in the stadium giving it their all. That's what it takes to be the worst fans in Europe!

Vincent Lock, London,

Yes, Agger is a great signing and he could already replace Hyypia's position which had never been easy. In only 5,5 mil and at young age, he would be deveoped better in coming years. Some Pool fans I know even compare him with our great Alan Hansen.

Erry, Bandung, Indonesia

Wenger is a very good judge of talent...but largely unblemished is a bit of a stretch...Franny Jeffer anyone?

Allan Cole, toronto, canada

suggesting that benitez has had a hit and miss time with regard to signing youngsters is a little far fetched and totally misleading to say the least, are you a manu supporter by any chance?
Agger will become one of, if not THE best central defender in the next few years, a big statement maybe but mark my words.
add to that momo sossoko who he scouted out at valencia at a young age and who helped win them la liga- also putting in some sterling performances for liverpool, so much so that he had barcelona and juventus pining after him and you can clearly see hes a winner.- although distribution needs to improve vastly.
Also, lets not forget Adam Hammill, paul anderson, scott carson and the fact that liverpool have won the FA youth cup 2 years running
oh yea much is said about arsenals vaunted youngsters, but the average age of of liverpools first team..( a hottly debated topic ill admit) was actually the youngest of the big four and im guessing the premiership...including arsenal.

wesley , melton mowbray, uk

Babel happens to possess three key ingredients to be successfull in the premier league i.e - good first torch, exquisite close control and bags of pace.He would fit easilly in a multinational squad like Liverpool; and coupled with the signing of Yossi, could induce some divine intervention after 17 years in the wilderness

wilson, london, United Kingdom

It's obvious that the writer of this piece had not done his homework on Benitez's youth policy thoroughly. The end will justify the means. We shall see.
Now, what is this we've been hearing about Michael Owen committing himself to Newcastle? Isn't it quite obvious that the reason why he has finally come out to speak is because the top 4 teams in the premiership have made other plans for strikers? Why hasn't the press come out to say anything. I'm a Kop for life and as a former Liverpool striker I admire Owen's skills and achievements but I hate the fact that it seems that he is only using Newcastle as a launch pad to resuscitate his career.He is bound to leave once a top Premiership/European club comes knocking. Now why hasn't the press or the writer of this piece said anything about that?

Tee, London, England

benitez paid 2m for paletta and about 2-3m for gonzalez. it is difficult in general to judge young talent, but in that price range it is even harder. and i do seem to remember wenger paying over 10m for frannie jeffers, so lets be a bit more realistic in how we judge benitez please. and perhaps not so sensational in his spending by pointing out hes raised about 20m from player sales. otherwise, ive largely liked your articles on liverpool this summer.

Cory, San Antonio,

no one doubt rafa's transfer skills.gonzales and morientes are 2 of his failed signings.other than that everyone of them have done the job they were hired to do.

11.5 for babel is a good deal.clubs know you have the money and they rip you off.how many times have we seen youngsters like taht go to madrid or barca etc?too many for my own liking.with rafa not only the spine of the wants to stay,people want to join us as well..which is such a refreshing change.

gaurav, duliajan, assam

I personally do not see the point of signing Babel. His arrival will lead to an enormous amount of confusion: no-one will understand what he is saying!

Darren Goffin, London,

Good article. The writer is right to point out Rafa hasn`t been too successful with young unproven players. In fact it`s been pretty poor with only the excellent Agger looking anything like a top class player.
However, Rafa inherited a youth system at Anfield that really wasn`t producing the goods, partly due to Houliers abandonment of it but also due it has to be said, to the staff and system.
It seemed like liverpool were capable of developing very good youth players, but unfortunatly no much more. While young players brought into the club havn`t filled anything like the potential they showed when we signed them.
With the departure of Heighway and the splitting of his former role, it seems like Rafa is finally starting to mould the Acadamy into his way of thinking. Hopefully with the same results as with the first team squad.

Lee Nugent, Liverpool, England

Harsh. Wenger is hardly free of his own failures on 'promising' youngsters - Francis Jeffers? Richard Wright? Christopher Wreh? In fact, since you've included Mark Gonzalez at age 23, how about Baptista - he joined Arsenal aged 24...

A few of Rafa Benitez's youth purchases:

Gonzalez, 24 - cost £1.5m, sold £3.5m.
Paletta 20 - cost £2m, off on loan to Spain, work in progress.
Leiva 20 - cost £6m, looks awesome - one to watch.
Leto 20 - cost £1.85m, looks a beast - one to watch.
El Zhar 20 - free, looks talented, one to watch.
Insua 17 - cos £1m, looks talented, one to watch.

Add the following: Besian Idrizaj, Astrit Ajdarevic, Martin Hansen, Jordy Brouwer, Francisco Duran, Ronald Huth, Nikolai Mihkaylov, Dani Pacheco, Alex Kacaniklic, Marvin Pourie, Mikel San Jose, Krisztian Nemeth, Andras Simon, Gary Mackay Steven...

Judge Benitez in a few years, once he's truly got control of scouting and recruitment. Wenger's record's great but not perfect - be reasonable.

Roy, Dundee, Scotland

"Daniel Agger, the accomplished young Denmark defender, may be one of Benitez's better acquisitions, but the failures ring a little louder than the successes. Gabriel Paletta anyone?" .To say Paletta is a failure, is totally off the mark. I think its a little to early to pass judgment on the young lad. It is obvious he is still trying to adjust to life in a foreign league. Loan him out for a season to get first team experience , and i promise you would see the reason Rafa rates him so high.

Dozie, bowie, usa/maryland

"Daniel Agger, the accomplished young Denmark defender, may be one of Benítez’s better acquisitions, but the failures ring a little louder than the successes. Gabriel Paletta anyone?" No way. Agger has shown himself to be a great player, and will be in the side for many years to come. OK, Paletta has some convinciny to do, but to say that Paletta's failure outweighs Agger's accomplishments is so wide of the mark. Not one Liverpool fan will agree with you on that one. Other than that a good article! We've probably paid a bit more than we would have wanted on Babel, but the lad has got a lot of potential. I'll think he'll play mostly on the left. He's got bags of pace and a trick or two, he'll need time though i think. Great news also about Finnan, one of, if not the most consistent players for us for a few seasons now. Really believe we're gonna surprise a few people next season, don't think we'll win the league but we'll certainly have a say in who does!

Buckley, Shannon, Ireland