Gerrard on Man Utd test and first season in charge
Steven Gerrard has described Liverpool U18s' Friday evening meeting with Manchester United as the sort of fixture for which his players should require little extra motivation from their manager.
United have already been crowned winners of the U18 Premier League's northern section, and are set to take on southern outfit Chelsea to determine the overall champions.
Before then, however, they face a trip to the Academy, where the young Reds will be out to use their final home league game of 2017-18 to dent their rivals' confidence.
Ahead of the match, Gerrard told Liverpoolfc.com: "There are certain games throughout the season, at first-team level all the way down the club, that you shouldn't have to really motivate the players for and you shouldn't really have to give a team-talk for.
"Manchester United falls right into that. They are big rivals and every single player who wears our red shirt should understand the importance of the game and the rivalry.
"At the same time, once the game starts, you've got to go out and do the job that's asked of you.
"Whoever is picked to play and whatever squad of players I've got available, we will try and prepare them the best we can to come out with the right result."
Having lost their last three games in the division, the U18s will be aiming to end their season at home on a high by beating Kieran McKenna's men.
Gerrard's team also have an added incentive for victory: the possibility of leapfrogging neighbours Everton to secure a second-placed finish.
Kick-off at the Kirkby Academy is at 7pm BST and you can watch the game live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO.
For more thoughts from Gerrard on the task ahead and his first full season in charge of the U18s, read on...
On last Saturday's late defeat at Sunderland…
It was good in terms of possession and control of the game; from our 18-yard box to their 18-yard box we were superb. We dominated Sunderland and were better in most departments, but football matches are won and lost in both penalty areas. We weren't good enough at defending ours and we certainly lacked a bit of quality around their box. So I've got no complaints in terms of the result but [there were] a lot of positives to take from the performance.
On fielding teams featuring U15/U16 players in recent games…
It's the easy option just to say, 'We are very young at the moment and that's the reason why we are getting beat'. We have to coach and we have to manage with what's available. Yes, it's very young and it lacks experience, but at the same time we still shouldn't be getting beat by Sunderland and we shouldn't be getting beat by Newcastle. I will take full responsibility for the scorelines. In an ideal situation we would have a lot more quality and a lot more experience around us but it is what it is.
On what he has learned about his squad in recent weeks…
I think you learn from every game, whatever the scoreline is, especially when you are new to the job like myself. It's my first year of coaching and you try and learn in every training session and in every game. It has certainly been a bigger challenge since January - when you look at it, a lot of goals and creativity was taken away from the squad. Obviously, Neil Critchley is using those players in the U23s, and rightly so because they have been superb in the first part of the season, but it does make the challenge that bit more difficult.
On the satisfaction of seeing the likes of Conor Masterson, Curtis Jones and Rafael Camacho named on the first-team bench…
It gives you a lot of satisfaction but I can't sit here and take all the credit for Curtis and Rafa. I think the Academy as a whole should take all the credit for that. They have shaped those players really well over the years. I had six or seven months working with those players and really enjoyed working with them and they deserved their promotion to wherever they have been of late. Of course, I had my fingers crossed that one of them might have got a cameo and it wasn't to be but they have got to keep pushing. When you get in and around the first team it's almost a new start for you as a player - that's the way I looked at it. When Gerard Houllier invited myself and Stephen Wright to be around the first team, I remember going home and telling my dad and he said, 'It's game on, let's go!' I'd hope that's what those players think.
On coping without injured midfielders Liam Coyle and Edvard Tagseth…
They are two big pieces of the jigsaw in the engine room, if you like. Coyley is 100 per cent every week, Eddie is the same. There's no doubt about it - certainly in the last six to eight weeks - if they had been available for us I'm sure we would have got better results than what we have had. We've also missed Niall Brookwell. He is only 16 but he gives you that bit of bite in the engine room and we've certainly lacked that in recent games.
On the challenge of facing Manchester United at the Academy on Friday night…
It's a special fixture. It's a great challenge for the lads but I do like driving in here on a Friday afternoon and seeing the cameras getting set up and the lights go on for a night game. As a kid, that's got to float your boat, [playing] in front of the LFCTV cameras. The chance to go and challenge yourself against United, that's surely got to get your juices flowing.
On the 2-2 draw with United back in December that saw the hosts score a stoppage-time equaliser…
We should have won it. It was down to game management and just a little bit of a lack of experience in getting over the line. We certainly deserved the three points that day. It was a cold day on a difficult pitch. We challenged the players at half-time because they weren't good enough in the first 20 to 25 minutes when we went down to 10 men. We challenged them to take the game to United and they did that and they were better than United. They were celebrating the draw at the end, which was a huge positive for us.
On how quickly the season has gone…
It has flown by. I remember our first pre-season game against Burton Albion at St George's Park. It seems to have gone by so quick. I've really enjoyed this experience and I'm certainly in a much better position now than when I first got going. I've learned a lot and I've got some really good people around me at the Academy who I've been bouncing off and learning a lot from. It has definitely been an enjoyable year but it has flown by.
Join Jürgen Klopp, the first team, Ladies and Academy players at the 2018 LFC Players’ Awards at Anfield on Thursday May 10. Click here for more details.