The FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.ON
Fifth Round Proper
Anfield, Liverpool FC
7pm, Thursday 5 February 2009
Click here for results
Following Liverpool’s 1-0 success over Chelsea in The FA Youth Cup Fifth Round last night, Liverpool’s U18 Coach Hugh McAuley told TheFA.com that the competition can help you learn a lot about the future of a young player.
After guiding Liverpool to their first success in the competition back in 1996, The FA Youth Cup will always will have a special place in the heart of McAuley.
Liverpool legends, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen (pictured left, against West Ham in the 1996 Final) were both part of that successful side and McAuley feels the competition can help you find out what your players are really made of.
“Competition is the ultimate part of the development,” he said.
“We can work all week in training to develop players but only when we get to The FA Youth Cup or a league game on a Saturday, can you start to look at who is making progress and learning.
“The best players look forward to the games and want to be the best players in the games, so the development and the games programme goes hand in hand.”
For many of the players on show in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory last night, it was their first opportunity to sample the bright lights of Anfield and experience the feeling of playing on the big stage.
“These types of games tell you if eventually you’ve got a player who is going to be good enough to play in the first team,” he added.
“The game at the end of the week or The FA Youth Cup are the situations where we can judge our players, particularly when we are playing the bigger clubs such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton and especially Arsenal last year. Games against these clubs tell us where our players are up to and how far they are off making the step up.”
Liverpool’s youngsters will have another opportunity to show that they are ready to make the step up when they face Bolton Wanderers in the Quarter Final at Anfield, a game McAuley is already relishing;
“It’s another game at Anfield for the boys and they’ll be looking forward to that,” he said.
“It should be a good game, we know Bolton are a very good team and we’ll have to prepare properly for the game so we’re ready for it when it comes round.”
Liverpool
1 Dean Bouzanis, 2 Andre Wisdom, 3 Christopher Buchtmann, 4 Daniel Ayala, 5 Joe Kennedy (c), 6 Steven Irwin, 7 David Amoo, 8 Adam Pepper (12 Alexander Kacaniklic, 74), 9 Lauri Dalla Valle, 10 Thomas Ince, 11 Nathan Eccleston
Subs not used
13 Deale Chamberlain, 14 Jack Metcalf, 15 Michael Roberts, 16 James Ellison
Chelsea
1 Niclas Heimann, 2 Nikki Ahamed, 3 Rohan Ince (16 Marko Mitrovic, 85), 4 Jeffrey Bruma Van Homoet, 5 Benjamin Gordon (14 Adam Phillip, 44), 6 Jacob Mellis (Connor Clifford, 70), 7 Jacopo Sala, 8 Daniel Philliskirk (c), 9 Fabio Borini, 10 Gael Kakuta, 11 Frank Nouble.
Subs not used
13 Jan Sebek, 15 Joshua McEachran
Match Officials
Referee: J G Adcock
Assistants: A Moore & S Durbin
Fourth Official: P Graham
Attendance: 2,193
