AcademyFA Youth Cup preview: 'It's a competition that challenges everyone – we want to win it'
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson believes the FA Youth Cup is the perfect competition to challenge his Liverpool U18s side as they welcome Arsenal to the Academy in the fourth round on Saturday.
During his time at the club, Bridge-Wilkinson has experienced highs and lows in the prestigious competition.
The U18s manager led the young Reds to the final in 2021 – with the likes of Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley in the squad – but the following year saw them suffer heartbreak in the fifth round when Chelsea produced a remarkable comeback to win 4-3.
In this season’s edition, Bridge-Wilkinson’s team claimed a 2-1 third-round victory on a windswept night at Fleetwood Town in December, while Arsenal came from a goal down to score seven times in the second half against Crewe Alexandra.
Saturday’s fourth-round tie in Kirkby kicks off at 5.30pm GMT and can be watched live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO.
Read on as Bridge-Wilkinson previews the game with Liverpoolfc.com...
On last weekend’s 3-1 win over Stoke City in the U18s’ first league fixture of 2024…
The performance was good, I was pleased with the way we handled the ball in a lot of moments. There were still some immature decisions but that’s part of youth football and overall I was really pleased. I would have liked to have not conceded a goal and that was disappointing, especially off a set-play, but fair play to Stoke, they were a threat on the break and from set-plays.
On the quality of the goals scored by his side…
We scored some fantastic goals. It’s everything we are trying to do. Our second goal was a really nice goal – at half-time we talked about being a bit quicker at times going forward in the way that we play the game, and that culminated in a really nice team goal. We are not going to change the way that we play, we play a game of football that is hard to play. It requires a lot of bravery and courage from the defenders, from the midfield players, and we have got to keep doing that. That’s how we improve and how we get better.
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On the performance of Keyrol Figueroa as a No.9 in the absence of Jayden Danns…
I thought Figgy was really good. It was the first time in a while that he has played as a No.9 down the middle and, if we are being honest, that is probably his strongest area on the pitch. That being said, he has done really well for us when he has played down the sides. We saw Figgy make some good runs, we saw him pressing, saw his recovery runs, as well as the energy and the enthusiasm that he can bring to his game.
On the creative qualities of Kieran Morrison…
Kieran is really creative. He can carry the ball, he can dribble past defenders and he can finish. He is a really good creative player. We want him to have freedom on the ball and on the pitch, and hopefully in time he will find a way to be a bit more consistent in certain moments. Then his game will just jump and leap forwards.
On the excitement in the squad ahead of the meeting with Arsenal...
It’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? We are playing under the floodlights in a home game against a top team. The FA Youth Cup is a competition we look forward to every year and we are really looking forward to it. I know they are a good side and they have got good players. It’s going to be difficult but we focus primarily on ourselves and our team. We will give it our best shot on Saturday and hopefully we will come out on top.
On the 2-1 win at Fleetwood in the third round…
It was a really difficult game. The pitch, the wind, the conditions, the occasion, it was a game we were obviously pleased to get through – and it was really important that we did that – but it wasn’t easy at all. Hopefully we can learn from that and give ourselves a better platform on Saturday to win the game in terms of the performance with the ball.
On previous experiences in the Youth Cup...
It challenges the players and it challenges the staff as well. As a group – staff and players included – it’s something we all look forward to and we want to win it. That is our outset from the beginning, that we go into this competition wanting to win it and we will do everything that we can to try to do that. Whilst not sacrificing the way that we play and the development these players need, we will give it our utmost to win the game. It’s a great competition for, if nothing else, than to get through to the later rounds when there is pressure added, more pressure. And the more we can give the players, it just sets them up for an opportunity and practice of dealing with this pressure that comes with football.
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