AcademyUEFA Youth League preview: 'Cannonier creates moments of magic for us'
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson has shared his admiration for striker Oakley Cannonier, who emulated Mohamed Salah by scoring his 20th league goal of the season on Saturday.
The No.9 netted for the U18s in an enthralling 5-5 draw with Manchester United to continue his sparkling form in front of goal throughout 2021-22.
Cannonier also recently claimed his first European strike for the Reds' U19s during the last-16 clash with KRC Genk in the UEFA Youth League.
The penalty shootout win over the Belgian outfit has set up a quarter-final tie away to Juventus this afternoon, with kick-off set for 3pm GMT.
Read on as Bridge-Wilkinson reflects on last weekend's action and looks ahead to the trip to Italy…
On Saturday's draw with United…
It was eventful and quite an erratic game, to say the least! The wind was quite strong in one particular area of the pitch and made for a difficult game for both sides, but it was exciting. It's disappointing that we got in front by so many goals, 4-1 at one stage, then end up getting pegged back. There was some good attacking play by both teams on display.
On his frustration at not holding onto the lead…
It was really disappointing. We got ourselves into such a strong position and we ended up on the back foot, ended up conceding a little bit of momentum when we didn't need to, through some poor decisions. The game starts to come on top of you a little bit and the lads then unfortunately have to defend and play the game out in a way we didn't want to when we were winning 4-1. So, I'm disappointed overall.
U18s highlights: Liverpool 5-5 Man Utd
On the return of Luca Stephenson, who had been out since November with a hamstring problem…
That's a real positive for us. We knew Luca was obviously going to be a little bit rusty, which is to be expected for the next couple of weeks at least. The fact he managed to play an hour for us on Saturday was fantastic and it's great to have him back out there with us. That's the big positive of the day. I thought there were some really good positive displays on the pitch by our attacking players, Bobby Clark, Oakley, Harvey Blair, who all had some really good performances. Isaac Mabaya was excellent down the right-hand side for us as well, so there were positives, but we've got to make sure we continue to improve in all aspects of the game.
On Cannonier netting his 20th league goal of the season on the same day Salah reached the same figure in the Premier League…
He could have had a couple more as well. Oakley is scoring goals, he gets chances and what we can say is over the course of this season when he stays fit, like he has done, we know that he is capable of scoring goals. We are hopeful we can continue to keep him fit for the rest of the season, keep playing and I'm sure he will keep adding to that tally.
On his decision this season to switch Cannonier's role to a traditional No.9…
I've known Oakley for a long time now. He is a really good footballer, he's an intelligent footballer, he understands the game and what it needs in certain moments. Oakley can play as an out-and-out No.9, he can play as a No.10, out wide or an attacking midfield role. I've seen him play in all of those positions and play really well. We've used him down the middle and he's scored a lot of goals from there, but I think if we played him as a No.10 he would still have a good effect.
A lot of that comes down to the way our team plays and the team creates chances for him. They create moments where he gets on the ball in the right areas and Oakley does what he does, he creates moments of magic, he scores goals and he is having a fantastic season. Like we have always known, because he missed a lot of football last season and missed out on the FA Youth Cup run, when we can keep him out on the pitch he is capable of scoring goals.
How the U19s overcame Genk in the last round
On today's trip to Turin to face Juventus…
It's a brilliant game. In terms of development for these young boys it's a game of real magnitude, it's a game between two big clubs in world football really. Two historic clubs with great traditions and values and serial winners in both their leagues. It's not going to be an easy challenge by all means and they are a very good side. But, likewise, we are a good side, we've got good players and we are looking forward to the challenge.
On the great spirit shown by the players in the last-16 tie with Genk…
We performed quite well. Towards the end of the second half we ended up defending a lot more than perhaps we wanted to, but that shows the spirit in this group. When our backs are up against the wall we can defend in those moments. Hopefully we can go out there and put in a performance we can be proud of and show people the capabilities we have in this group.
On the heroics of goalkeeper Harvey Davies in the penalty shootout and his excellent performances so far this season in the Youth League…
Harvey has done really well. He is a really good 'keeper and he's a fantastic young man. He deserves a lot of credit for what he did in the shootout, making those saves. You need your 'keeper to step up a little bit and he sure did that for us. We were really pleased with the way he dealt with that.
On the challenge faced travelling away to Italy with Juventus holding home advantage…
We are all looking forward to this game. We are looking forward to the challenge and what it's going to bring, we are hopeful we can go and put in a performance we can be proud of and hopefully show people the players we have. We want our lads to fulfil their potential and go and show on the biggest stage there is, in the quarter-final of an international tournament, that they can step up against a really good team in Juventus.