Academy column: Youngsters relishing Melwood opportunity
In this week’s Academy column we speak to U21s boss Michael Beale about Friday night’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur and a chance for loan players to impress Jürgen Klopp.
Our main role at the club is to develop players in the hope that one day they will achieve that dream of playing in the first team, and while a young U21s side lost 1-0 at Sunderland last weekend, we were winning in other ways with many of our squad training with Jürgen Klopp at Melwood that day. It was fantastic to see Joao Carlos Teixeira, Jerome Sinclair and Connor Randall all on the bench at White Hart Lane, and on Sunday they were joined in a training session at Melwood by Cameron Brannagan, Pedro Chirivella, Joe Maguire, Ryan McLaughlin and Harry Wilson. I am looking at the schedule of our loan players to see when we can bring them back to Melwood for the day so they can meet Jürgen, Zeljko [Buvac] and Peter [Krawietz] and the coaches can then have a look at them at close hand. That was the case with Ryan and Harry last Sunday and it is a great chance for them.
The absence of those regulars meant we fielded a young team on Sunday against a Sunderland side full of players who have cost a lot of money. Liam Bridcutt has played over 200 league games and Patrick van Aanholt has a lot of experience. In their team alone they had a combined total of players who have made over 400 league appearances, compared to none in our team. It’s full credit to the work of Neil Critchley and his staff that these boys have been able to come up and I’ve asked them to do the same job they have been doing in the U18s. It’s not always the best thing to do to blood lots of young players at the same time and it’s much easier to bring one or two in, but at the moment it’s needs must because we’ve got a lot of young boys training with the first team. Ultimately, the bigger picture is always ‘Can we get players in and around our first team?’ so in that sense it is pleasing.
The huge upside of playing against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light was that it gave our young boys the chance to play at a first-team stadium, because that is where they want to be. They certainly challenged themselves playing against an experienced team and they will be the better for it. I was really pleased with all of the young lads. You look at Yan Dhanda who is not 17 yet but is playing up front for the U21s - it’s a great experience for them. We had some nice moments of possession and as a team we defended really well overall, but maybe we just didn’t have that cutting edge in the final third. I came away from the game with real optimism.
Sam Hart was playing his first game of the season for us at left-back after his hamstring injury and he was up against a Greek international winger in Charalampos Mavrias. I thought Sam created two of our best moments in the game with a couple of fantastic crosses. We are asking him to attack at every opportunity to give the team natural width as we played our wide players further inside in a tactical switch, and I thought Sam did really well. He gave us this attacking threat and then, defensively speaking, Mavrias didn't score a goal or create one. Sam is a player I’ve got a lot of faith in as I had him in the U16s team, so we have a good bond. I think he has got a lot of work to do but he certainly has the talent to push onwards and upwards. He has also spent a lot of time at Melwood the last couple of weeks which will give him a lot of confidence.
Elsewhere, our exciting Spanish winger Sergi Canos made his first start for Brentford last weekend and then it was fantastic to see him get a call-up for the first time to the Spain U19 squad. Sergi has been outstanding for Brentford and he has shown what a successful loan can be like. He has had to be patient and fight for the shirt, which is the way it should be, and he has built up his minutes and got a start in the Championship. The crowd have really taken to young Sergi. He has got a few assists and has come close to scoring and he will only get better. I’m really pleased for Sergi to be part of the Spain U19 squad because it’s a huge achievement for him and I know how proud he and his family will be. We are the same at the Academy and he’s a real talent.
Harry Wilson has also had to be patient but he got his first start for Crewe Alexandra this week and did well, and Ryan Kent has been outstanding at Coventry City. We believe we have got some really exciting wide players and they are developing well. Joe Cole has just gone on loan to Coventry and I believe his presence will help Ryan a lot. I know Joe well from his time at Chelsea and indeed Liverpool, and he will aid Ryan's development. Joe is a lovely person and will push Ryan in the right direction and give him some advice.
We are back in action on Friday night when we face Tottenham Hotspur at the Lamex Stadium, home of Stevenage Borough FC. We had two great wins over Tottenham last season and they are a very good young team. I remember Jordan Rossiter scoring the winner in the game at Langtree Park, and in the return fixture we had a great night at White Hart Lane when Samed Yesil got a couple of superb goals. I expect this game to be a much more tactical and technical game than the Sunderland game, which was a physical encounter, and no matter how young the team might be, as ever the lads will give it everything for the red shirt.