Liverpool U11s take part in educational PL tournament
Head of Academy operations Nick Marshall spoke of his satisfaction after watching Liverpool's U11s compete in a Premier League tournament designed to educate youngsters.
The Reds' U11s travelled to Derby County's Moor Farm training base to take part in the event, which focused on defending when outnumbered and making the most of having extra players when attacking.
Matches lasted 18 minutes, with three six-minute phases in each game. The first phase consisted of a standard seven-a-side match, then one team played seven versus five, before the final third switched to five versus seven. If the outnumbered team scored, the goal counted double.
The participants' parents were not allowed to attend, while another interesting aspect of the format was that it required the players to take ownership of how the games were managed.
This was shown in Liverpool's final tie, against West Bromwich Albion, where for the last phase of the match Marshall let his substitutes take control of managerial matters.
"Part of their development is trying to understand themselves rather than relying on the coach. A big part of their player reviews is led by them," Marshall explained.
"We did it for five minutes and it's right at the very end because it was the first time we'd actually won the seven versus five.
"I also noticed that throughout the day, the subs had been less focused on the games and more concentrated chatting to themselves. It was also a way of carrying on their focus."