AcademyU21s preview: New season, mini-derby, Ben Doak progress and more
Barry Lewtas analysed the positive progress of Ben Doak during pre-season with Liverpool's senior team, as he looked ahead to the U21s' season opener.
Doak was a regular in Lewtas' U21s side towards the final part of last season, having achieved his Premier League debut earlier in 2022-23.
This summer, the 17-year-old has continued his development as Jürgen Klopp handed him several opportunities during the Reds' preparations for the new campaign.
A number of other Academy youngsters were also involved at senior level during pre-season, including the likes of James McConnell, Calum Scanlon and Lewis Koumas.
U21s head coach Lewtas is now preparing for the start of his own team's campaign, with a Premier League 2 opener against Everton in Kirkby on Monday night, kick-off 7pm BST.
Read on as he spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about youngsters getting their chances, a new-look PL2 format, and Academy farewells during the summer…
On the pre-season so far…
We have had a number of boys who have been away with the first-team squad, which is what we want and we have worked with a smaller group here who have worked ever so well. Training has been good, we've only had kind of smaller numbers but all in all we have played really well, had really good control in the friendly games and I've been really pleased. It has been fantastic to see the young boys getting an opportunity with the first team and make an impact, whether that be getting minutes, goals and assists, so to reflect on it for the U21s all in all, it has been a really good pre-season.
On his pride at seeing some of the young Academy players get senior opportunities in pre-season…
It's all about opportunity and our manager and first-team staff give young players an opportunity. But it's up to the lads to take it. You get chances but you only get so many and I think it was really nice to see that when the boys played they realised that.
On Doak catching the eye once again during pre-season…
It was nice to hear the roar from the fans in the stadium in Singapore when he got on the ball because last season I think the roar came from just me in the dugout! You just think something is going to happen when Ben gets the ball. He has a real mentality around beating his opponent, a me-versus-you mentality. He is a fantastic player, he really is with his outlook and where he is and his performances have been good. It's an opportunity I think he has taken, but he also realises there is much work still to do as well. It's great he has gone up to the first-team squad and made such an impact, but he has a lot of work to do and he knows that. He is in a really good place, let's not take anything away from him because he has been really good.
On Layton Stewart making a permanent move to Preston North End…
I have coached Layton since U11 level and it's hard to say goodbye when a player moves on. These players have been part of your life for a very long time. Layton has scored plenty of goals and he is also a fantastic boy. He had that really bad injury but he bounced back from that and made his first-team debut in front of the Kop last season. I wish Layton all the best and hopefully he can do well under Ryan Lowe at Preston.
On Max Woltman also sealing a transfer to Oxford United…
That's a great move for Max and he is also a great lad who I have coached from an early age at the Academy. It's a fantastic opportunity for him but these boys have worked so hard for these opportunities. They are so excited and so enthusiastic to do well and kickstart their career and we will watch on with much fondness how they do.
We also said goodbye to Oludare Olufunwa, who was an unbelievable character for this group. Dominic Corness has gone out on loan for the first time to Switzerland. You do miss them because you miss the characters and you are so used to them being around, but that's the game. We stay in contact and I think we are really good as an Academy staying in touch with players who move on and helping them in any way we can. The lads always come back in to visit so they are never too far away.
On a mini-derby to start the new Premier League 2 season…
I think this is my fourth season with the U21s and we've started against Everton twice and Manchester City twice, so the fixture computer turns up real exciting fixtures on the opening day. As always, the derby is a fixture we always look forward to. They are a good team, they have got good players and they are well coached. It will be a cracking game and we are really excited for it and what a way to start the season.
On a new-look format in Premier League 2 this season…
It's a little bit different how that will kind of factor as the season goes on but for us, the reality is we want to win every game we play whether that's a 14-team league or a 26-team league. We want to win every game and that will be our approach again. We finished second in the division last season and I think we showed real good organisation in a lot of parts of the game, but that's done now, this is a new group and we have got to try to build that all over again.
On the return of Isaac Mabaya after a long injury lay-off…
Isaac is a good player. We've got a few boys who are coming back from injury and we've got to make sure we do things right and don't rush them back. It was great to bring him on in our last friendly against Hull City and you could see the impact he made at right-back. His athleticism is frightening and he got an assist. There's no rush with these boys, it's not a first-team environment when we are desperate to get players back, but we are enthusiastic to get these boys back because some of them have been out for a while and are really exciting prospects.
On Oakley Cannonier returning from injury and netting a hat-trick in the last pre-season game…
Oakley has scored consistently in pre-season and it is great to get him back on the field. I just felt against Hull City last week his all-round game was really good and it was a nice way for his pre-season to finish. He linked up well, he ran into pockets of space well, ran in behind, scored a hat-trick, and that will build up his confidence after a long injury lay-off. There's no better way to end a good pre-season for a striker than a hat-trick before the season starts, so fair play to Oakley, he has worked hard to get back fit and hopefully he can have a good season for us.