Richard Walker is hoping the downtime during the Christmas period will benefit his under-18s going into the second half of the campaign.
The youngsters travel to Newcastle United in the U18 Premier League on Saturday morning in their first fixture of 2024 and after having had time to reflect on the opening months of the season, the head coach believes his team are in a good position to continue where they left off last year.
On the Christmas break
“In academy football and football in general there’s a demanding schedule for all involved. The Christmas period is one of those times where, unlike the first-time, the academy can get a little bit of downtime.
“The boys seem to have responded well to that and I think it was needed physically but also mentally. I think the staff benefitted from that as well so it was good to recharge and rest, but we’re now ready to go again.”
On reflecting on the first half of the season
“We did a bit of that with the group before breaking up and there are a lot of positives. It was a big disappointment to not have got through in the Youth Cup but, other than that, it’s been a predominantly successful first half of the campaign.
“In terms of the evolution of the side, early on in the season we were winning games but maybe not as free flowing as we would have liked. We’re now dominating the ball much more, having much more possession and control with the ball in games – we’re creating more chances as a result of that.
“The product, while we’re still getting wins, is a lot more pleasing on the eye and closer to where I want it to be.”
On the progression of individuals
“Ultimately, we’ll talk about the team because it is a big part of it but fundamentally and the main focus is developing individuals and making sure the individuals progress.
“We’re happy with that, hopefully it can continue and we can produce players that the first-team think are worthy of getting around their group.
“We’ll keep pushing that, keep challenging that and hopefully we can get a couple more around the 21s and that knock-on effect of getting players around the first-team as we saw around the Christmas period with the boys getting on the bench.”
On facing Newcastle
“We currently sit fourth behind Man United, Liverpool and Man City so they’re three clubs with a massive budget and they’re massive clubs.
“Then it’s us and Newcastle breathing down our necks in fifth. They’re investing heavily in the academy so it’ll be a good fixture for us to continue where we left off last time against Liverpool.
“Hopefully we can showcase why we believe we’re one of the best teams in the league. It will be a challenge for sure because they’re a good side and their league position suggests that.
“We’ll have to be at it. The lads have trained well since returning and they seem to be looking forward to the game so it should be a good one.”
