Beale: Being clinical key to United victory
Michael Beale has challenged his Liverpool U21s side to be more clinical and emulate the U18s by beating Manchester United when they meet at Leigh Sports Village this evening.
Warren Joyce’s team won the Barclays U21 Premier League Division One title last season, with the Reds in the runners-up spot.
United have also been the more dominant side in the head-to-head in recent seasons, and the Reds are eager to make amends in a game you can watch live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO from 6.30pm GMT. Kick-off is at 7pm.
Back in October, Neil Critchley’s U18s produced a sparkling display to beat United 4-0 at their training ground, and Beale believes his charges have what it takes to claim the three points too.
“They are always close games when we face them at U21 level,” he told Liverpoolfc.com.
“They won the league last year and we finished second and when they play us they are 100 per cent committed.
“I’d be lying if I said I felt we had done ourselves justice the last two or three times we have played against them. Although we may have had more of the ball than them at times, we just haven’t been clinical enough.
“We are looking to rectify that on Monday.”
In the last meeting at Leigh back in January the young Reds lost 2-1 to United, but it was a game memorable for the return of Jordon Ibe after his loan with Derby County, and Jerome Sinclair’s brilliant finish past Victor Valdes.
Beale added: “Jerome had done a lot of work on his finishing so to score the way he did past Valdes was very pleasing for him and all the staff.
“That was Jordon’s first game back after his loan spell with Derby County. I remember a few people asking me did we feel he had improved after his loan, and we thought he had moved on hugely, and the next week he started in the Merseyside derby and put in a Man of the Match performance.”
Beale’s charges go into this game on the back of the dramatic 4-3 win over Sunderland in the Barclays U21s Premier Cup.
Madger Gomes fired the winner in extra-time and Beale was delighted to see his side come out on top, especially after they gave away a 3-0 half-time lead.
He said: “I thought we were outstanding for 45 minutes and then had a difficult 20 minutes at the start of the second half.
“Fortunately, halfway through the second half there was a short break because they got an injury, and that gave me a chance to speak to the lads.
“I just calmed them down because when you are a young team and things go against you, sometimes you then try to do the wrong things to rectify the game.
“It was a very similar situation to the game against Everton this season when we gave away a 3-0 lead.
“Once we did settle down again I thought we were the stronger team in extra-time, which really bodes well for us because we haven’t played a lot of matches and we were up against an experienced team.
“It was a fantastic goal from Madger to win it for us and I was delighted for him. He had a bit of an injury going into the game which lots of people on the outside don’t know, so he was struggling but he declared himself fit to come on and got his reward.
“We’ve had some tough times this season with injuries and a lot of the players being out on loan, but it pushes us on now into a busy period with lots of confidence.”
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