'It's something they will never forget'

Phil, who is also assistant Academy manager, is tasked with overseeing the welfare of the Academy's 198 young players from the elite development squad, U18s and U9-U16 schoolboy programme.

And, as he explains, the trip to America has been a crucial learning curve for the club's youngsters, who paid a moving visit to Ground Zero earlier in the week...

When we were invited to the Newark Liberty International Soccer Summit and we saw the quality of teams and the chance to go and play in America, we knew it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up.

It would give us a really good chance to not only be involved in a very good football tournament, but also give us a chance to focus on player development off the field as well as on it.

We've had people from LFC TV, social media and public relations commercial manager here with us and so it's really been treated like a first-team trip in that sense. The players have got used to going out on visits, being interviewed and representing the club in all aspects off the field.

We've had players undertaking daily Twitter blogs, players doing diaries and players who have been interviewed on TV for Sports Illustrated.

We've taken part in a several coaching sessions here in the local community - just like the first-team do when they go on tour.

On Thursday night we went to an outreach programme in a really deprived area of Newark. The players, Remy Tang and I were able to put a coaching session on and we were able to reach out to the youngsters.

Our U18 and U21 players have the opportunity to progress through the ranks at the Academy and go on to Melwood to improve as a player on the field if they are of the required level. But there also has to be that correlation off the field as well.

And we don't want a situation where when a player makes his first step up to the first team, it's the first time he meets a reporter or sits in front of a camera. So we make sure we train the lads in this aspect when ever possible.

Some boys are more confident than others when dealing with these different situations. We've put them out of their comfort zone on this trip because the only way you can get better at these sort of media-related things is by being in these situations regularly.

We took the lads to visit the memorial at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

As soon as we organised the trip to America, the first thing we thought was - we need to go to the memorial, because it's important that the lads understand an event that happened when they were four or five, and one that changed the world.

Our plan was to not only go there and pay our respects, but also for our lads to identify with all that has gone on there, see how the city has recovered and how the citizens are looking to go forward.

We organised for two of the key people involved in the regeneration programme there to come and meet us. They took us into the memorial park, where we laid a wreath down and a special signed shirt.

I spoke to the players and on reflection they all said it was something that they will never, ever forget for the rest of their lives. The most important thing was that they treated the whole event with respect.

It was very moving. I did a presentation before we left in the morning, just to go through the chain of events; what happened before, what happened after and the severe loss of life. It seemed as though the boys were really tuned in to where we were going.

After we laid the wreath and the shirt down at the memorial, people started to gather round and take photos and read what it said on the wreath and the flowers.

The people were clearly moved by the lads being there and I know that a lot of American Reds fans are very proud of the boys going along to the memorial, but it's important to stress that we didn't do it to gain publicity.

We would have done the same if there were no people there or a thousand people there. If the Liverpool supporters appreciate that, it's an added bonus, but we just wanted to do something to show our respects.

Back at home earlier in the week, one of our Academy lads, Jordan Rossiter, was at Anfield to join the senior squad in their preparations for the game against Notts County.

I've been told Jordan was warming up in front of the Kop alongside the likes of Iago Apsas, Jordan Henderson and Fabio Borini - and that's superb for him.

He's a talented young player, who has been with us since U9 level and is developing well. Not only the staff, but all his teammates over here were delighted when we received the news about him being involved in the squad against Notts County. We were all pleased and proud.

The way the manager is, with regards to promoting young players and pushing them on, is something that all our Academy players need to take note of.

They need to remember that if they work hard, on and off the field, and show the required level as a player then they too will be able to experience what Jordan did this week.