Academy column: A proud night for Trent, Ovie and Kevin
In our latest Academy column, we catch up with U18s boss Neil Critchley who reflects on a first-team debut, the progress of Liverpool's youngsters and Saturday's home game against Sunderland, which is live in front of the LFCTV cameras...
It was a proud night for everybody involved in the Academy when we saw Trent Alexander-Arnold make his debut, Ovie Ejaria getting his first start and Kevin Stewart impressing once again against his former club [Tottenham Hotspur]. Whenever a boy you work with who has come through the Academy plays at Anfield it’s a big moment. You are never quite sure how they are going to handle the occasion playing in front of over 50,000 supporters but I thought the boys grew into the game, grew in confidence and I think they can be happy with how they played on the night. Trent, who has been with us since he was six years old, was our captain at U18 level. Don’t forget he could still play for our team now, so he has done exceptionally well.
LFCTV GO: Trent features in a brand new episode of the Academy Show
Ovie also played for the U18s last season and we are absolutely delighted with their development. It’s a start for them but they know it’s only a start. The bigger picture is we want them to go on and play a number of games over a number of years for Liverpool, but they know how much hard work is involved if they are to achieve that aim. The great thing about them is they are very level-headed boys and they are progressing nicely. Our manager Jürgen Klopp believes in youth and giving youth a chance. This serves as a great motivation and inspiration for the staff and the players at the Academy.
Back on the field, we return to action on Saturday when we host Sunderland in front of the live LFCTV cameras (kick-off 12.30pm BST). It’s nice to be back home again at the Academy after three away games. The boys have been doing really well, winning three games in a row at Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion and Derby County. We played very well last weekend at Derby and scored five excellent goals and we will be looking for a similar performance against Sunderland. I must be honest, we don’t spend a lot of time analysing the opposition and looking at the way they play. Our concentration on the training pitch is always centred around our individuals, developing our way of playing and our system. After this game we don't play a league game until November 15 when we take on Wolves at Molineux. The game was meant to be played on November 5, but the chance to play at their first-team stadium came up, so it will be brilliant for the boys to play at Molineux.
It was nice to welcome Bobby Adekanye back into the squad when he came off the bench and scored a superb goal at Derby which showed what he is capable of. Since we signed Bobby from Barcelona he has had a horrendous period of time through injury and he has been missing recently after having a hernia operation. He is a very talented boy who deserves some luck and hopefully now we can keep him on the pitch between now and the end of the season so he can show what he is truly capable of.
Another player who has had his injury problems is Yan Dhanda, who has been outstanding for us this season. Yan has been electric at times and has been a real stand out performer. Like Bobby, Yan had a difficult period last season when he was ruled out of action for five months. He missed the first few weeks of pre-season so when you have been out that long it does take some time to get back to your best, but he is fit now and showing what he is capable of. Yan is getting a run of games, is working incredibly hard and he is reaping the rewards of that and it’s fantastic to see.
A young striker who is new to the U18s this season is Glen McAuley, a young lad from Dublin. As soon he walked in through the door he impressed the staff. He has impressed us with his work ethic, he has a great personality in training every day and is a really bubbly character. Glen has scored seven goals so far for us which is brilliant and he is a real handful for defenders. He is what I would term as an old fashioned centre-forward, as he likes to run in behind defences which is a bit of a dying art now. He always puts himself in goalscoring positions and when he does that, more often than not he finishes.
