News'It has been an amazing time for everyone at the Academy'
Barry Lewtas gave insight into the pride felt by everybody at Liverpool’s Academy following the recent impact of players like Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns, Lewis Koumas and James McConnell at senior level.
Despite seeing his U21s side lose 2-0 to Aston Villa in Premier League 2 on Sunday, the head coach was full of spirit as he reflected on some memorable recent moments for everybody at the Kirkby set-up.
A goal in each half saw Villa claim all three points but a positive for the Reds was the return of defender Rhys Williams, who made his comeback from injury.
Read on as Lewtas speaks with Liverpoolfc.com about the Villa defeat and the Academy’s pride…
On his overall thoughts on the game…
I thought we had some good chances, they did as well and Fabian [Mrozek] made some really good saves. They were really good on the transition and they caught us on the counter. Probably with that sustained bit of pressure we had at the end of the first half, I think if we had got a goal maybe it would have looked a bit different. But it was the end of what has been a very busy period for us and it looked a bit like that.
On the return of Williams after injury…
Rhys has had a tough season with fitness issues and injuries, so it was good to get him some minutes. Obviously after the excursions of some of the lads playing for the first team and in the FA Youth Cup, we felt today was a good chance to get Rhys some minutes and that will be good for him.
On Kaide Gordon getting another 90 minutes as he continues to build his sharpness…
Kaide looked a real threat for us in between the lines, like he has done recently in our previous two games against Stoke City and Newcastle United. We forget he’s been out for a long time but he is looking stronger and we are slowly and surely getting 90 minutes into him and he’s got to keep going.
On an amazing last seven days for everyone involved with the Academy…
We are disappointed with [the defeat] because we are competitive and we wanted to get the result and we want to do well. But I’ve just said to the boys in the changing room that this has probably come off the back of a real emotional couple of weeks for everyone – staff, players – with the real highs of what has gone on in our group in particular. It has been an amazing time and I just think probably [the Villa game] was the hangover in terms of being kind of flat. There was no lack of enthusiasm but I think at times we probably tried too hard in certain moments. But that can happen and we’ll be back next week.
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Watch on YouTubeOn his reaction to seeing Koumas and Danns score in the Emirates FA Cup tie with Southampton…
Honestly, it was amazing! To see players starting is a real proud moment and then seeing them grow into the game. I thought Lewis grew into the game and got his goal, and then Dannsy came on and he was a real livewire as a No.9 in and around the box, linking the play and getting his goals. It’s just been an amazing time for us and [the Villa defeat] is a kind of dampener for us. But I certainly think over the last couple of weeks when we reflect on what has happened, we would have taken this if this was how it was all going to play out.