Youth Team/Cup

[Allan]

Brad Smith charges down a clearance, and the ball falls to Sinclair who then places a shot just wide of the keeper's left hand post.

[Bjornebye]

 

Also the first tackle in this although kind of overshadowed by the second... born, not trained.

 

 

 

Jesus christ I hope they got digged back 

[Allan]

1-1. Wilson with a deep free kick that Everton make a mess of clearing, and Dan Cleary heads in from a few yards out.

[Ne Moe Imya]

We gift Everton a goal, then they gift us one back.

 

1-1, Cleary with a header to even it up.

[Allan]

Vigouroux with a good save at his near post to deny the Everton sub, Dowell.

[Pidge]

Fucking class from Wilson.

[Ne Moe Imya]

Stunner that.  Absolutely brilliant.

[Allan]

2-1. Harry Wilson with a wonderful goal in stoppage time that should win the game. Picked the ball up on the right hand side and moves in centrally onto his left foot before unleashing an effort into the top corner of the Everton goal.

[Allan]

Full time, 2-1.

 

Wilson's stunner wins the game for the home side.

 

A very subdued first half, with just the Brannagan effort off the bar.

 

The second half was better, with far more action. 2 gifted goals, an absolute stunner from Wilson, and a few tasty challenges that livened the game up somewhat.

 

Stewart & Williams very solid in the centre of midfield. Brannagan again impressed with his work rate and pressing.

[Ne Moe Imya]

I was rather impressed with Stewart today.

 

Have to say when he came in from Spurs I thought it was just to make up the numbers and he was getting a contract because he could play in a few different positions and we were about to send some out on loan.  However, he's shown that he's pretty capable in his own right.  

 

Is he going to go on to play in our first team?  Odds are against it, if you're honest, but who knows?  He'll definitely make himself a career in football at some level at the very worst, he's quite a decent little player.

[Allan]

I was rather impressed with Stewart today.

 

Have to say when he came in from Spurs I thought it was just to make up the numbers and he was getting a contract because he could play in a few different positions and we were about to send some out on loan.  However, he's shown that he's pretty capable in his own right.  

 

Is he going to go on to play in our first team?  Odds are against it, if you're honest, but who knows?  He'll definitely make himself a career in football at some level at the very worst, he's quite a decent little player.

 

Agreed. He'd looked a player who could do a job across the back line, but he's been very solid in his last 2 appearances in the holding role in midfield. Not just the defensive side of his game, he's got decent feet and passes the ball well.

 

As you say, not likely to make it here, but a lower league side would do well to pick him up. Pity that his loan at Cheltenham wasn't longer.

[John101]

Stewart is comfortably older than most of the lads he is playing against. Counts for a lot at that Level. He is an upgrade on  Roddan who has done the job in the past but there is no chance in hell he is a future Liverpool player. Good luck to the lad while he is here though.

[Guest LFD]

Current standings:

[Pidge]

http://www.lfc.vn/highlights/highlights-u21-everton-2015-mar/

[Megadrive Man]

Repped for putting up the highlights.

 

Wilson looks hugely talented for a 17 year old, it sounds like Brannagan put in a good display too.

 

From this current bunch of under 21's who looks the most likely to get a chance in the first team in the next 12 months?

[Sangria]

Wilson does indeed look to be a prospect.  Defo one to watch.  He seems to just glide past players,  I really think the lad has that something that makes him standout. 

[Ronnie Whelan]

Repped for putting up the highlights.

 

Wilson looks hugely talented for a 17 year old, it sounds like Brannagan put in a good display too.

 

From this current bunch of under 21's who looks the most likely to get a chance in the first team in the next 12 months?

Wilson, Sinclair, Brannigan and o'hanlon are all very good with Rossiter the biggest talent of a very good batch. the big thing is that next season they go out on loan to a good club like Derby or maybe a good continental club in Belgium or Holland. Loans can make or break the confidence of talented young players.

[Pidge]

Don't see it with o'Hanlon. Hasn't lived up to the hype or stood out much at all really. That said, is improving and in good form at the moment.

 

Fancy brannigan and Sinclair to go on loan, Canos, Dunn, Kent and Wilson will be our u21 forward line in the run in. 

 

Williams

Rossiter

Dunn

 

Are the three I think are best placed for first team outside of that, maybe Smith If he resigns as he'd be perfect for this system as LWB

[Ne Moe Imya]

Repped for putting up the highlights.

 

Wilson looks hugely talented for a 17 year old, it sounds like Brannagan put in a good display too.

 

From this current bunch of under 21's who looks the most likely to get a chance in the first team in the next 12 months?

 

It'd be between Rossiter and Wilson for most talented, surely.

 

The difficulty in predicting the next 12 months is that so much comes down to the position they play.  We might have an opening at centre back that gave one of those lads a chance, for example, but none of them are going to be here long-term in my opinion (not counting perhaps Masterson, who's only just made it to the U18s but looks like he might have something about him).  

 

Wilson would probably play behind the striker in our current setup, and if we had an opening might get a chance and do well, but the chance is unlikely to come soon.  He's not going to be beating out Coutinho/Sterling/Markovic/Ibe/Lallana/Gerrard for a spot there, at least not in the next 12 months.  I do think he'll get a real chance at some point in the longer term, though.  He consistently scores goals, and any player (particularly a non-striker) that regularly scores goals will get a shot.

[Allan]

18s lost 3-1 against Sunderland, this afternoon.

 

Offal Report

 

There was disappointment for Liverpool U18s on Saturday afternoon as the young Reds were defeated 3-1 by Sunderland in the first of their play-off encounters.

 

Neil Critchley's charges struck first in the game when Wade Maxwell powered a header beyond the goalkeeper from Yan Dhanda's pinpoint cross.

 

The Reds were impressive for much of the first half, dominating the ball and pegging Sunderland back into their own half, creating plenty of chances to add to their lead.

 

However, the Black Cats enjoyed a brief spell of pressure just prior to half-time and made it count by equalising right on the cusp of the interval when Josh Robson side-footed home.

 

Critchley's charges were unfortunate to end the first period level, but they were pieced apart twice in the space of a minute shortly after the restart and found themselves 3-1 down in the tie.

 

First, Elliott Embleton converted coolly from Luke Molyneux's centre before Andrew Nelson drew Reds' stopper Andrew Firth and slid the ball beyond him to grab Sunderland's third.

 

Sunderland sat deep to protect their lead efficiently as Liverpool chased the game in search of an equaliser - and while chances were forged, there was to be no response on the scoresheet from the visitors.

 

"Scoreline aside, the performance was good and there were positives to take," Critchley told Liverpoolfc.com. "We created the chances to score but just couldn't take them."

 

Liverpool U18s: Firth, Brewitt (Roberts), Masterson, Polgar (Johnston), Alexander-Arnold, Kane, Nicholas, Ejaria, Dhanda, Virtue (Whyte), Maxwell.

[Allan]

18s played Bradford in a friendly earlier in the week, and drew 0-0.

 

Offal Report

 

Liverpool U18s played out a 0-0 draw in a friendly fixture against Bradford City at the Academy on Tuesday afternoon as the young Reds made their final preparations for the weekend's play-offs.

 

Neil Critchley was able to give a handful of players returning from injury precious minutes out on the field ahead of his side's trip to the Academy of Light to face Sunderland on Saturday.

 

Liverpool were in control throughout the first half, carving a handful of decent opportunities to break the deadlock, with Callum Nicholas and Jack Watts linking in lively fashion up front.

 

After the interval the clash became a much tighter affair and goalscoring opportunities all but dried up at the club's Kirkby base.

 

Positives emerged in the form of returns for Matthew Virtue and David Roberts on the back of long-term injuries, while Josh Agbozo also gained much-needed playing time.

 

Critchley told Liverpoolfc.com following the final whistle: "It was a classic 0-0 and the draw was probably a fair result in the end. There were few chances.

 

"It was more of a match for me to give players who are coming back from injuries some game-time and hand players the opportunity to get out there.

 

"We've got Sunderland away on Saturday as we begin our batch of play-off games. We played them a couple of weeks ago and it was a very close game. We won 1-0 at home.

 

"But then they won the away game 2-1 earlier on in the season, so it was a case of two close-fought games and we'll expect nothing different on Saturday."

 

Liverpool U18s: Jackson, Sheron, Waldron, Brewitt (Roberts), Polgar (Agbozo), Hart (Owens), Dobie, Maxwell, Ejaria (Virtue), Watts, Nicholas.

[Allan]

Good interview on the offal with Under 16s coach, Pepijn Lijnders.

 

The latest edition of our Academy column is provided by a new face in Pepijn Lijnders, who was brought into the club as U16s coach last summer and oversees a crucial stage in young footballers' development. Here, he explains all.

 

There are only a few clubs in Europe with more history and tradition than FC Porto, and Liverpool is one of those clubs - it made me proud that they made every effort to bring me here. During the last few seasons I always remained faithful to Porto, I felt at home. I left a great group of professionals and an even larger group of talent behind. The club and especially the Portuguese talents have marked my personality.

 

I'm so pleased with Liverpool as a new club and new project. I felt from the start that it was the right time, the right club and especially the right people. They wanted to strengthen the coaching staff for the long-term. After five seasons at PSV Eindhoven and seven seasons with Porto, Liverpool is another chapter of my professional career. With Alex Inglethorpe and Michael Beale, I'm surrounded by professionals in developing top talent, talent with so much passion. This, in combination with the history of the city of Liverpool, the mentality of the supporters, the tradition and all the trophies, made the decision to represent the club a logical one.

 

Alex is doing an important job: he unites philosophies and innovates. He is a director who thinks and acts like a coach. The combination and variation of our complete staff makes it interesting to work for the Academy. Our manager gives the Academy a chance and our Academy represents the values and the vision of the club. If you are good enough, you are old enough. Age is no barrier with Brendan Rodgers as the manager.

 

My captain and playmaker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, has already trained several times with the first team. The same goes for Toni Gomes, our No.9 and attacking reference, and also Yan Dhanda, my winger and a quick, creative dribbler, has had the opportunity to excel in training sessions with the first team. Brendan is a manager who believes in youth development.

 

My vision is based on two universal goals: winning and development. I believe that winning is a logical result of development, so my complete focus this season is on planning and preparing my team and each unique individual to compete every day at a higher level. Team and individual development go hand-in-hand and make each other stronger. In my opinion, you can't see them separately.

 

Football is an extremely creative and collective game, so there are many different ways to have talent. That's why I believe that a coach's playing style has to be based on giving each individual the chance to reach for good limits. Talent has to work in their speciality and identity and needs to have freedom of expression to strengthen their strengths.

 

The more time and effort you put into areas of non-talent with your playing style, the fewer opportunities a talent gets to reach excellence. It takes away the opportunity to explore their unique part. Learning is 10 times more valuable than teaching. We need to create independent individuals, who understand by learning, give them chances and freedom within a clear game idea to excel.

 

 

The starting point of development is the passion and ambition of a player. What I've learned over the years is that there is one characteristically decisive factor that decides 99 per cent of development - love for the game. Because if you don't love it, you will never work hard and play enough to become really great. I believe that winning is a logical result of development - development of the individual, development of co-operation and development of the team. I believe that self-confidence is a logical result of development.

 

Everybody wants to win, every team wants to win. But how do you prepare yourself to win? That is what counts. That is what makes the difference over a long period of time. Consistency in performance is only possible when there is performance consistently. And performance only starts with careful planning, preparing the team and individual development. Development for this U16 team, for each player in this culture, is different because of different potentials.

 

Character development, self-initiative, self-responsibility and self-confidence are the best fuel. I believe that how you train, you will play, that you don't win games at the weekend but by preparing yourself in the sessions. I really believe that my players are a product of their environment. And mainly, we are their environment: the coaches and the Academy. That gives a huge responsibility to me, Des Maher and Oliver Morgan in planning and preparing all activities throughout the week for our group.

 

Our style is to attack, with and without the ball. We realise that the game is played with one ball, our ball, and we steal it back wherever on the pitch and we use it to attack the opponent. It doesn't matter who we play against, we will press them high and aggressively and we will attack and attack them again. You can make a top team or top players look bad by pressing them intensely and aggressively. This, in combination with the Scouse mentality, makes for a very effective path to success.

 

We are responsible for creating a new generation, a generation who can create chance after chance at a high level, a generation who can break down defensive walls. Nobody knows what the future of football will look like; the only thing I'm sure of is that the defensive organisation of teams will be even better. They will protect the middle zone of the pitch better and defend their area better. We need to create players who can ruin this defensive organisation.

 

The first team wants players who are able to open up games and speed up the attack. We are working on a daily basis, individually and collectively, on those offensive, productive, creative and attractive qualities. With guts, courage, faith and a great heart, we look for fast individual and collective actions to get behind the defensive line. "You play the game 20 per cent with your head, 20 per cent with your feet and 60 per cent with your heart," is a famous Dutch saying. It is how Einstein said it: "Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere."

[Allan]

21s are away at Southampton this evening.

 

There is no coverage of this game tonight, due to the first team fixture at Swansea. I'll post up what I can, when I can.

 

The squad will be without Jerome Sinclair, who has joined Wigan on a youth loan until the end of the season.

[Megadrive Man]

Hopefully Sinclair can do as well as Ojo is doing at Wigan. They will need him to hit the ground running though as they are playing 3 of the top 4 in their next 4 games!

[Allan]

Southampton's Twitter feed have posted that they'll be showing the U21s game live on their YouTube channel, this evening.

 

Southampton are fielding a strong side for the game, including James Ward-Prowse, Filip Djuricic and Florin Gardos. A few other players in their line up with first team experience, as well.

 

#SaintsFCU21s vs @LFC: Gazzaniga, McCarthy, Gardos, Wood, Targett, Ward-Prowse, Reed, Djuričić, Gallagher, Isgrove, Seager.

 

#SaintsFCU21s subs vs @LFC: Britt (GK), Gape, Mugabi, McQueen, Sinclair.