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Former Liverpool midfielder Jan Molby has hailed the club's desire to merge the first-team training base with the academy setup as a "great idea." Earlier this week, Liverpool announced plans to leave their current training ground at Melwood and move five miles to Kirkby, where the academy has been based since 1998. In his weekly Liverpool Echo column, Molby, who made 292 appearances for the club, said the switch was necessary if they were to compete at the highest level. "I think the decision to merge the first team training facilities with the academy at Kirkby is a great idea," he wrote. "Everybody understood at the time when the club built the academy as to why it had to be there. "We're all one club so the only thing to do is have them all together. "I'm a little old-fashioned and don't really know how much space you need for modern facilities -- we just used to have a bit of grass to play five-a-side and that did us -- but times have moved on. "You see the incredible training centres around the world and Melwood has just fallen down a little bit, so it's only right that the time has come for us to spend on that. "When you think how little time the players actually spend playing matches compared to how much time they spend together training, then the facilities have to be spot on." Molby said better training facilities would also help to attract new players and help Liverpool's youngsters progress faster. "I think it does bring young players on by playing alongside the first team," he added. "Training with better players and picking up good habits will only help them, so the more of that the better." He added that working at Melwood held many happy memories for him and said: "I went there every day for 12 years and had some great times. "The place has masterminded many great players and many great victories, so it will always be sad to leave."
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