Dec
1
Liverpool v Wolves FA Youth Cup analysis
Filed Under Liverpool FC, Reserves | 4 Comments
Liverpool beat Wolves 2-0 at Anfield in the FA Youth Cup third round, and in doing so the under-18s side put one over on a team that had beaten them with a last minute goal in the league tie at Wolves.
Liverpool were comfortably the better team throughout the game and created far more opportunities than a Wolves side which lacked creativity. However, when Wolves did create chances they were more clear-cut and on another day might have won the game.
The game
I was surprised by how easily Liverpool gave the ball away at the start of the game. The passing from midfield wasn’t particularly accurate and with Liverpool trying to use the pace of Tom Ince to hit Wolves on the break, the team struggled to control the game. However, that didn’t stop Ince having two clear chances before he took his goal well (left footed from an angle) which mirrored two earlier opportunities which he wasn’t able to put away. Andre Wisdom played a good through ball to Ince who took the ball away from the defender and shot across the keeper.
Liverpool started the second half brightly and were, I thought, much better at closing Wolves down, pressing from the front and when they had the ball, looked much more compact; they were able to move the ball quickly and effectively to open up Wolves.
The second goal was a bit lucky, Buchtmann fed Adorjan who did well and dribbled into the box but the keeper will have been disappointed to have been beaten at his near post – and not by a powerful shot.
After that, Liverpool bossed the game and Wolves lost their discipline. The midfielder Rooney (no relation) was lucky to only get a yellow card and Ngoo was fortunate not to have been injured after getting a studs flying into his thigh. It was good to see the young reds stand up for themselves, particularly as a team mate would usually be responsible for getting retribution for an earlier foul. It was heated and committed, but never over the top.
Performances
It was a good team performance from Liverpool but obviously people want to know which individuals stood out and what it means for the future. The key point, I think, is that Liverpool have got teams to the final of the FA Youth Cup in four out of the last five years but very few players from those teams have made it to first team football anywhere. Even earlier teams, such as the one with Carragher and Owen which won the FA Youth Cup in the mid-1990s, only saw a couple of players progress.
That notwithstanding, I was pleased to see Tom Ince work so hard – and play well. It can’t have been easy to see a good friend like Nathan Eccleston playing regularly in the reserves this season – and even playing for the first team – when they were at a similar level last season.But seeing him go down with cramp at the end was a reminder of how hard he worked and how difficult it is for young players stepping up to a bigger pitch and a big occassion (albeit with a small crowd huddled together in the Kop).
Andre Wisdom impressed as a centreback – not least because he’s played recent Academy games on the right hand side of midfield. He didn’t put a foot wrong tonight, led the backline well and the young team even deployed zonal marking reasonably effectively.
I was also impressed by the two fullbacks: Flanagan and Robinson. They did pretty well defensively (although were never under sustained pressure) and looked good coming forward. They didn’t just provide width out wide but were comfortable cutting inside and both had decent efforts on target.
Christopher Buchtmann, a player I’ve been really impressed with in the past, didn’t really have a chance to show what he could do, often playing wide on the right (he’s very left-sided) but sometimes switching flanks with Ince. However, he wasn’t caught out on that side – he just didn’t have a chance to show his full range of passing and shooting skills.
It’s really important that the team progressed, because Liverpool have had good runs in the competition of late (so they have something to live up to), because young players only really have two seasons to compete in the FA Youth Cup and after an inconsistent season, adapting to new ideas and systems, the extra games will help.
The most obvious sign of the new ‘integrated’ approach at this level is the goalkeepers, who all look to distribute the ball quickly, use a similar technique with their kicks to Reina and are comfortable with coming off their line. Zonal marking is also deployed across the Liverpool teams now – as is the 4-2-3-1 system, which takes some adapting to.
It’s quite a young Liverpool team and although three players played in last season’s youth cup run to the final, there weren’t any players involved from reserve team level (unlike the previous couple of years). The team is also doing well in the absence of the injured Lauri Dalla Valle.
The reds will be hoping for another tricky tie at home in the next round and give themselves every opportunity to progress further, whilst demonstrating that the new regime is bedding down.
Related posts:
- Liverpool v Leicester City FA Youth Cup Preview
- Liverpool 5 – Leicester City 1 FA Youth Cup: not good enough
- Liverpool reserves v Bolton reserves post match analysis
- West Ham v Liverpool post match analysis
- Liverpool reserves v Hull City post match analysis
how do you feel about the pairing of Roberts and Coady?
Kit
Based solely on what I saw in this tie (I have seen the Academy games highlights on LFCTV but it’s not really enough): they are a good combination, one passing and one more defensive-minded. I thought tehy gave the ball away too much in the first 20 minutes or so but got into the game more and more. They didn’t really impose themselves, though, either in defence or attack.
Did you see the game? What did you think?
I only watched the highlights of this game
I think they don’t try killer pass / through pass enough, don’t you think so?
most of their passing are to the flanks, I would like to see if they are gd at passing through the middle.
I agree they are a good combination, but they look too defensive-minded. They seem not willing to do some gerrard-like rush into the box or try middle-range shooting. (I know it maybe due to tactical reasons)
That’s fair Kit, but it’s also true that in a 4-2-3-1 you aren’t expecting the two central midfielders to be consistently surging into the box. Also, in that system, they are the two players where the good that they do offensively is least likely to be noticed, but if they make a mistake it can be lept on.