Neil Critchley on dramatic PSG win and Larouci display
Neil Critchley spoke in glowing terms about his Liverpool U23s side after they secured a dramatic 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Premier League International Cup on Friday.
Yasser Larouci netted a stoppage time winner as the Reds fought back from 1-0 down in their opening group game in the competition.
The team featured the likes of Herbie Kane, Morgan Boyes, Tony Gallacher, Tom Hill, Leighton Clarkson and Jack Bearne, who all made their first-team debuts during the midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat to Aston Villa.
Bearne had given Critchley’s charges the lead only to see the French team storm back to take a 2-1 lead, before Hill levelled the scores and Larouci’s winner.
Read on for Critchley’s thoughts on the final outing of 2019 and his pride at seeing how his players stepped up to the plate against excellent opposition...
On a perfect way to end 2019…
It was a great way to end the week for us. This group of players have had a really top week. We had to work extremely hard for that and we showed the qualities that we showed on Tuesday night, never quitting, staying in the game with perseverance and some quality as well. I thought we were just going to get a point and then we came back and won it so I’m delighted for the boys.
LFCTV GO: Watch the PSG highlights
On the way his young team went about their jobs against top-quality opposition…
We did start well. We knew how they were going to play and they make it extremely difficult for you. They have got an extreme way of playing and technically some outstanding players but we knew we’d have an opportunity. We pressed at the right time, we won the ball back, we scored and maybe could have scored again after. But then we lost our way a little bit and they started to pick us off. We gave the ball away a bit too much and if you do that against good players then your goal is always at risk. We didn’t start the second half too well but I have to say after we went 2-1 down we pinned them right back in their half. We had one or two opportunities and I thought the substitutes Yasser and Tom came on and made a big difference with them both scoring, and young Conor Bradley as well, who I thought was excellent when he came on.
On the display of full-back Gallacher…
Tony has been excellent in the last few weeks. He’s really stepped up in terms of his performance. I think he is benefitting from playing games on a regular basis, his attitude to his work is outstanding and he is reaping the benefits of that. I thought Tony, Herbie Kane and Morgan Boyes who all played at Aston Villa really stepped up to the plate for us and set the bar for the other boys to follow and I thought the other boys did follow it.
On Larouci’s last-gasp winner…
There were a couple of difficult decisions we had to make at Villa Park. For all of the players who played there was one or two who were left disappointed as well and Yasser would have been disappointed because he picked up an untimely hamstring injury. We didn’t think he was quite ready to be on the bench in case we had to bring him on early. He wasn’t quite ready unfortunately to go into a game of that magnitude but it was always the plan to give him some minutes against PSG. We put him on at left-back and then switched him to right-wing. I was delighted for him because he cut inside and buried one into the bottom corner. That’s why we brought Tom on as well because you always know he is capable of arriving in the box and getting a goal. He could have got a goal maybe just before that and he’s tucked one away with a lovely finish after a good pull-back from Tony.
On emulating the first team with another late winner…
It is [a nice trait to have]. It’s something that the U18s have done on a regular basis and lots of those players stepped up and played for the U23s against PSG. I’m sure some more of them will feature for us after Christmas. [Late winners] are a good trait to have. It’s something that is in-built from the first team down and it’s something we try to instil into the boys here.