Hugh McAuley is hoping his players use the FA Youth Cup final as a platform for success further up the football ladder.
The Liverpool coach was delighted his side secured the club’s third appearance in the final in the past four seasons with Friday night’s 3-1 second leg victory over Birmingham City.
Two goals from top scorer Lauri Dalla Valle and another from Swedish left-winger Alex Kacaniklic sealed a 6-1 aggregate success over the Midlanders to set up another two-legged tie with Arsenal at the end of next month.
McAuley, who coached Liverpool to their first-ever success in the competition in 1996 with a team which included Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher and David Thompson, knows that the competition can be used as a springboard for progress through the ranks.
He is hoping some of the current crop of young talent can follow in the footsteps of the class of 96 eventually into Rafael Benitez’s first team.
McAuley said: “It was very pleasing. It is a very long Youth Cup campaign, but I think everyone can see we deserve the right to play in the final. We have had some excellent games and I think the team has improved as we have gone on in the competition and we have seen the emergence of some excellent youth players.
“I think that is the highlight and the feature of the Youth Cup. History tells you that the top players do come through that way. Although Steven Gerrard didn’t play a major part in the Youth Cup early doors, at the same time other players have at this club and at the other clubs.
“The Youth Cup provides that stage for young players to develop in high-profile games. It is a fantastic development programme and we have enjoyed that this year and hopefully we can go on and do that in the final.”
He added: “It is three out of the last four years we have been involved in the Youth Cup final. It is fantastic for the boys and for the football club.
“It gives us that high-profile situation where our boys can be on show and do well and I think big clubs like Liverpool Football Club will benefit ultimately from being in the finals of this type of competition.”
McAuley is happy to have played a part in the latest run to the final, and he is already preparing for a tough clash with Arsenal, who beat last season’s winners Manchester City 6-2 on aggregate to book their place in the final.
The first clash is expected to be at the Emirates on May 22 with the return at Anfield pencilled in for the following Tuesday.
McAuley said: “For me personally it is fantastic. I was lucky enough to be the manager in 1996 when we had Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher and Davie Thompson in the team that was successful against West Ham on that occasion.
“Then a long-time on, a good few years on it is good to manage a team in the final again. It is good that over the last few years the youth team have done particularly well in getting to these finals and we are looking forward to the games against Arsenal. Hopefully we can good account of ourselves and produce some good games of football and some good individual footballers as a result of it.
“Having watched Arsenal they are a very good team and I am sure the games we play against Arsenal will be very good football games.
“We played them in the Youth Cup here last year and were fortunate to beat them 1-0 on the night. We were very good on the night and gave a good account of ourselves and played some excellent football. I am anticipating two very good games.
“There are some excellent footballers on show. Arsenal have some excellent players. Hopefully we can get our homework right and do some good preparation work and I am sure by time we play the games in May we will be ready for that.”
Key to the run to the final has been top scorer Dalla Valle with the Finn firing in seven in the competition so far.
Owen was top scorer back in 1996 and the 17-year-old Dalla Valle’s striking ability plus the fact he has blond hair and wears the Liverpool number nine shirt comparisons to current star Fernando Torres and past strikers are inevitable.
McAuley knows he has a long way to go to match those illustrious Anfield stars, but the Liverpool coach said: “He is typically like a Michael Owen or Fernando Torres in that he is goalscorer.
“He is instinctive, he is always looking to get on the end of passes. He is always looking to run in the box and cause problems for the opposing defence. He is very quick and very sharp in the penalty area. There are a lot of similarities with Michael in that he is a goalscorer and he loves scoring goals. Half chances and loose balls into the penalty area he latches onto very quickly.
“He knows he has a lot to do, a lot to work on like all young players. But he has a touch and an instinct that gets him goals and he has done that all season. The boy is getting stronger, his game understanding is improving a lot more and his hold-up play is improving.
“There are parts of his game he needs to work at and he is working at, but he continues to score goals at youth team level and it is important he gets the right development and the Youth Cup is giving him that development to push on and improve his game.
“But he is an excellent prospect for the future.”
Dalla Valle went off against Birmingham with a thigh strain, but more as a precaution and he will be available for the final.
Midfielder Adam Pepper, though, faces a race against time to be fit. The Liverpool-born youngster suffered a groin problem and left the stadium on crutches. Liverpool, though, are hopeful the injury is not as bad a first feared and he can make the first leg of the final in four weeks.
The Liverpool coach was delighted his side secured the club’s third appearance in the final in the past four seasons with Friday night’s 3-1 second leg victory over Birmingham City.
Two goals from top scorer Lauri Dalla Valle and another from Swedish left-winger Alex Kacaniklic sealed a 6-1 aggregate success over the Midlanders to set up another two-legged tie with Arsenal at the end of next month.
McAuley, who coached Liverpool to their first-ever success in the competition in 1996 with a team which included Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher and David Thompson, knows that the competition can be used as a springboard for progress through the ranks.
He is hoping some of the current crop of young talent can follow in the footsteps of the class of 96 eventually into Rafael Benitez’s first team.
McAuley said: “It was very pleasing. It is a very long Youth Cup campaign, but I think everyone can see we deserve the right to play in the final. We have had some excellent games and I think the team has improved as we have gone on in the competition and we have seen the emergence of some excellent youth players.
“I think that is the highlight and the feature of the Youth Cup. History tells you that the top players do come through that way. Although Steven Gerrard didn’t play a major part in the Youth Cup early doors, at the same time other players have at this club and at the other clubs.
“The Youth Cup provides that stage for young players to develop in high-profile games. It is a fantastic development programme and we have enjoyed that this year and hopefully we can go on and do that in the final.”
He added: “It is three out of the last four years we have been involved in the Youth Cup final. It is fantastic for the boys and for the football club.
“It gives us that high-profile situation where our boys can be on show and do well and I think big clubs like Liverpool Football Club will benefit ultimately from being in the finals of this type of competition.”
McAuley is happy to have played a part in the latest run to the final, and he is already preparing for a tough clash with Arsenal, who beat last season’s winners Manchester City 6-2 on aggregate to book their place in the final.
The first clash is expected to be at the Emirates on May 22 with the return at Anfield pencilled in for the following Tuesday.
McAuley said: “For me personally it is fantastic. I was lucky enough to be the manager in 1996 when we had Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher and Davie Thompson in the team that was successful against West Ham on that occasion.
“Then a long-time on, a good few years on it is good to manage a team in the final again. It is good that over the last few years the youth team have done particularly well in getting to these finals and we are looking forward to the games against Arsenal. Hopefully we can good account of ourselves and produce some good games of football and some good individual footballers as a result of it.
“Having watched Arsenal they are a very good team and I am sure the games we play against Arsenal will be very good football games.
“We played them in the Youth Cup here last year and were fortunate to beat them 1-0 on the night. We were very good on the night and gave a good account of ourselves and played some excellent football. I am anticipating two very good games.
“There are some excellent footballers on show. Arsenal have some excellent players. Hopefully we can get our homework right and do some good preparation work and I am sure by time we play the games in May we will be ready for that.”
Key to the run to the final has been top scorer Dalla Valle with the Finn firing in seven in the competition so far.
Owen was top scorer back in 1996 and the 17-year-old Dalla Valle’s striking ability plus the fact he has blond hair and wears the Liverpool number nine shirt comparisons to current star Fernando Torres and past strikers are inevitable.
McAuley knows he has a long way to go to match those illustrious Anfield stars, but the Liverpool coach said: “He is typically like a Michael Owen or Fernando Torres in that he is goalscorer.
“He is instinctive, he is always looking to get on the end of passes. He is always looking to run in the box and cause problems for the opposing defence. He is very quick and very sharp in the penalty area. There are a lot of similarities with Michael in that he is a goalscorer and he loves scoring goals. Half chances and loose balls into the penalty area he latches onto very quickly.
“He knows he has a lot to do, a lot to work on like all young players. But he has a touch and an instinct that gets him goals and he has done that all season. The boy is getting stronger, his game understanding is improving a lot more and his hold-up play is improving.
“There are parts of his game he needs to work at and he is working at, but he continues to score goals at youth team level and it is important he gets the right development and the Youth Cup is giving him that development to push on and improve his game.
“But he is an excellent prospect for the future.”
Dalla Valle went off against Birmingham with a thigh strain, but more as a precaution and he will be available for the final.
Midfielder Adam Pepper, though, faces a race against time to be fit. The Liverpool-born youngster suffered a groin problem and left the stadium on crutches. Liverpool, though, are hopeful the injury is not as bad a first feared and he can make the first leg of the final in four weeks.
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