It was about this time last year I first saw him. Lithe, pacy, intelligent and blessed with wonderful close control, Jack Wilshere looked a star from the moment he first stepped onto the Emirates turf to face the might of Juventus. After his cameo, his manager Arsène Wenger was positively gushing about his sixteen year-old charge, whilst seasoned observers noted a striking similarity with another left footed wizard of North London from years gone by- Liam Brady.

A year, and a few more impressive sideshow appearances, later, and Wilshere was at it again last weekend. His performances against Atlético Madrid on Saturday, and Rangers on Sunday were both deemed worthy of the man-of-the-match award, and his two goals pretty much guaranteed the Gunners victory in this year’s tournament. Now the observers are doing more than lazily flick comparisons his way, now they are talking about first team football, and international football.

Too early for all that of course, Wilshere is still just seventeen years of age, and has just eight senior appearances to his name. And we all know the dangers that come with hyping up young talent too soon. But if the Stevenage-born midfielder proves one thing, it is the power of Arsenal’s youth policy. Their young players- Wilshere was accompanied by the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Sanchez Watt, Armand Traoré & Fran Merida over the weekend- play with a verve and confidence that is impossible to resist. Pre-season or not, they are a joy to watch.

Watching Liverpool this summer, on the other hand, has been a more arduous task. Rafael Benítez’s summer plans may have been disrupted by Spain’s Confederations Cup participation, and the finally-concluded Xabi Alonso saga, but still Liverpool have looked alarmingly off the pace at times during pre-season, and the quality of their football is a million miles from the stuff Wilshere and co were delivering this weekend.

Which got me thinking. Why exactly do two clubs who have a similar sort of scope for talent, who spend a similar amount of money on youth development, have a similar range of scouting networks and coaching credentials, produce such differing results when it comes to developing players?

Just to give things a bit of perspective, here is a list of Arsenal players in the current squad who signed for the club at the age of 21 or below: Cesc Fàbregas, Robin van Persie, Carlos Vela, Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, Denílson, Abou Diaby, Gaël Clichy, Johann Djourou, Phillipe Senderos (at time of writing anyway), Alex Song, Nicklas Bendtner, Łukasz Fabiański, Kieran Gibbs, Ramsey, Traoré and, of course, Wilshere.

Now whatever your opinions on any of the above players- I have mine of course- it is hard to argue that Wenger gives playing time to his young footballers, and has faith in their ability. Rightly so in most cases, although in some quarters it can be argued that a few more established players- such as Andrey Arshavin- would help the Gunners cause in the short term.

Contrast for a moment with Liverpool, whose squad contains arguably as many young players as any. However, how many of these young players- some signed for substantial fees- have picked up playing time in the past couple of seasons. Currently, it can be argued that just Emiliano Insúa, Lucas Leiva & Daniel Agger can be considered first team regulars, with the likes of Jay Spearing, Damien Plessis & David Ngog on the cusp of the squad.

It is not hard to differentiate between the two clubs’ transfer policy- Arsenal were the first side to tap into the French/African market in the mid-late 1990s, and it served them well with signings such as Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira & Nicolas Anelka catapulting them to the top of the table by 1998. Wenger, understandably, has found it difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to deviate from pursuing a similar policy ever since. You only need to look at the amount of rough diamonds he has polished ever since to see why it is such a rewarding method- Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg, Kolo Touré to name but four- and his bigger, more “established” signings have been rather more difficult to coach into the Arsenal mentality- Francis Jeffers, Gio Van Bronckhorst, Davor Šuker spring to mind at this point.

The fact is that Wenger likes young players with talent, who he can mould into playing a certain type of way. An aesthetically pleasing way. His players, regardless of whether they go on to make it at the highest level (and some of them will, undoubtedly in my eyes), all develop as footballers, all possess awareness, touch, movement and, more often than not, pace. It makes any Arsenal side, from first team to baby team, pleasurable to watch, and drives the rest of the country mad as they read the fluffy articles about them.

Liverpool on the other hand, seem to have a slightly different way of working. True they possess a gleaming and respected academy up in Kirkby, with pictures of former scholars Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher & Steven Gerrard adorning the walls, and true they are in the process of assembling a dream team of coaching staff, overseen by the ubiquitous and legendary presence of Kenny Dalglish as of this season. They, like Arsenal, recruit players from the four corners of the earth- in the current crop is Australian Dean Bouzanis, Brazilian Vitor Flora & Moroccan Nabil El-Zhar- and spend decent sums of money doing so.

But that seems to be where the similarities end. Whether it is a coaching thing, a mentality thing, or simply a matter of lesser personnel, Liverpool’s younger players seem incapable of playing a style anything like Arsenal’s. Where the Gunners favour one and two touch passing and quick interchange, Liverpool’s is a lot more about attrition, defenders who defend first and don’t worry about building from the back, midfielders who can get stuck in, and forwards who are athletes more than footballers. There are exceptions of course, the young Hungarian Krisztián Németh looks a talent, and Insúa has settled in neatly to the first team, but the general rule is there.

Ironically, Liverpool’s approach has, superficially at least, proven successful over the past few years. Back to back successes in the FA Youth Cup- 2006 & 2007- were followed by another run to the final last year, where they were beaten (and completely outplayed) by….you guessed it….Arsenal. But, as Wenger knows, silverware is not the greatest measure of young talent, and Benítez would seem to agree, having dismissed the hugely popular Steve Heighway from his position as Academy chief despite those two FA successes, due to a lack of quality dripping through into the first team.

Of course the reason for Liverpool’s lack of young players in the first team can be, at least partially, if not mostly, attributed to the club’s need to build a team capable of challenging for honours right now. Benítez is fully aware that with the title-less run fast approaching 20 years, it is dangerous to sit back and trust the development of youth players, especially if someone like Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres or Glen Johnson pops up on the available list.

Wenger, to a certain extent, does not have such a problem. He is widely considered to retain a greater level of autocracy at Arsenal and, until last season anyway, appears almost beyond reproach. Rightly so in my opinion, after all, how many teams in Europe can play the way Arsenal do, and still find ways to squeeze in endless supplies of young talent? Arguably only Barcelona of the premiere clubs.

And though the Gunners are entering into their fifth year now without a trophy, with critics suggesting that they know better than Wenger in the transfer market, it is still worth comparing the likes of Robin Van Persie (£2.75m, aged 21) with Ryan Babel (£10.5m, aged 20), Aaron Ramsey (£5m, aged 18), with Lucas Leiva (£6.5m, aged 20), Gaël Clichy (undisclosed, aged 17) with Phillip Degen (free, aged 25), and Wilshere (free, schoolboy) with Spearing (free, schoolboy). The difference is marked.

Dalglish it is thought will help attract more quality youngsters to Anfield, through name alone. But King Kenny may well be just as well served by taking a trip to Shenley and having a word with his counterparts- Steve Bould & Liam Brady- to pick up a few tips.