Graeme Murty has given a detailed assessment of our U21s’ performance on Sunday, as the youngsters secured his first win with a 3-2 success at Stoke City.
The Lads recovered from behind to earn three points in the Premier League 2 fixture, as Harry Gardiner’s double and Edouard Michut’s goal did enough to win the game.
“I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable game of football, and that the lads deserved the win for the quality of their play at times,” Murty said.
“The boys showed bravery in their press, their intensity at times was excellent, and it sets the standard for where we want to go. It does need to be entertaining but effective as well – we focused in the pre-match briefing about accessing areas where we can be dangerous with our attacking output, and our goals came from that.
“It was really pleasing to see the rewards come from the hard work by the lads on working into those areas where assists come from. With H’s goals, it’s nice to see a forward player get within six yards of the goal – that positioning is worth hundreds of goals a season across the leagues. We understand players – particularly youngsters – might prefer to score a worldie goal, but we need to have runners who penetrate the back lines and get into dangerous areas on the pitch to score goals. Edou deserved his goal for his hard running, the sacrifices he made for the team and the goal proved vital.”
The Lead PDP Coach then explained how the early weeks of his duty have progressed alongside the young players, and cited examples of in-game situations that can be fine-tuned in the boys’ footballing development.
The U21s next face a Wear-Tyne Derby on away soil, next Monday against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.
“The group has been really enjoyable to work with so far. They’ve been open and embraced what we’re trying to say. That impact of when they can perhaps ask better questions will come soon, where they’re becoming more comfortable with me.
“But certainly, the lads are really working hard to dictate the tempo of games and control the manner of the game both with and without the ball. Sometimes they’ll make mistakes, as with Stoke’s second goal. We’ve sent a full-back flying on to exploit space in behind, but the ball forward drops short, and our centre-half drops too far and lets their player into the box for an easier shot. So, we need to give him the detail of how to defend that 1v1 situation as an example – that will come. Mistakes are fine, and as coaches we need to embrace these learning opportunities for the boys, not castigate them.
“They’re all big games for the players, and Newcastle next week will be a special atmosphere. I’m really looking forward to it, as are the players, and it’s another test for them in a new environment. They might be nervous, but that’s great – they’ll have to deal with that in their careers. And we’re looking to build that resilience into the players whereby they can channel that anxiety in the right way out on the pitch.”