Following the 2-1 victory over Manchester City, under-18s head coach Richard Walker labelled the performance as ‘fantastic’ and was pleased with his team, both in and out of possession.
Dani Angel and Fabian Reynolds scored the goals to move the Old Gold up to third in the U18 Premier League table ahead of an exciting week, which sees Chelsea come to Molineux in the final of the U17 Premier League Cup on Thursday evening.
On the performance
“I thought it was a fantastic performance. If you’re going to beat a Man City side at any level you need to be right at it and the boys were.
“Firstly, out of possession, I thought the press was immense. There was fantastic energy and desire to keep going and first half particularly that gave us a massive reward, in terms of us regaining it high and that led to both goals which were well taken by Fabian and Dani respectively.
“I thought the start of the game the press was excellent, we could have been tighter when we regained the ball for sure and not had to work as hard out of possession. But it’s easy for me to say when I’m stood on the touchline, I’m not the one running around under the pressure as an expensively assembled Man City team will put you under.
“We had big opportunities on the break and without being too disrespectful I thought they ran out of ideas a little bit due to how good we defended. They did get a goal late on but I thought it would be too little too late, and that was the case.”
On managing the game after conceding
“That’s down to the players. They could quite easily have got twitchy and nervy, but they didn’t. The communication levels went up but in a calm manner and I thought they’d get over the line and they did.
“There weren’t any balls bouncing around our box in that last minute or two, they continued to do what they did before which was a good feather in their cap. At such a young age when you know they’re going to put it on us, and ask questions, I thought the spirit they showed and temperament was really good.”
On taking confidence moving forward
“I keep saying this to the boys, but really start believing. If we’d have set up and maybe sat in against them, the lads might have gone okay fair enough.
“But we didn’t, we went after them, we went man-to-man with them. What it does show is a bravery to the players but also a demand that we have to take the ball, and not just clear it and kick it. Could they have done it better? Of course.
“We are now third in the league, one place below Man City and one above Liverpool, so we’re in that cluster of three really big clubs and I think that’s great.
“It’s testament to the work the lads are doing day in, day out, and to their quality, ability and physical athleticism.”
On looking ahead to the U17 PL Cup final at Molineux
“We can’t wait. I keep waxing lyrical about how hard the boys work, and they do. They are so diligent, it won’t just be how they’ve ran today but looking back at their clips.
“With the U17 cup, we’ve come out of a group, topping it with Everton, Manchester United and Blackburn, we’ve had a game against Leicester and came out on top and a game against Stoke, so the lads deserve it.
“I think it’s a great occasion against another expensively assembled side full of quality. I want the lads to go out, puff their chest out, we are the underdogs which is fine by us, and enjoy the occasion.
“I know there’s a lot of fans going down, and if the lads show their spirit from today the fans will get behind them no matter what the outcome is.
“I want the boys to go out, enjoy it and express themselves like they did today. If so, who knows, but if not, they deserve a night at Molineux.”
