A Tale Of Two Halves, Says Barradell
- Leicester City Under-18s beat Reading 2-1 on Saturday afternoon
- Joseph Barough opened the scoring for the visitors at LCFC Training Ground
- Kirsten Otchere and Ryan Donnelly scored the decisive Foxes’ goals
- Adam Barradell was pleased with the mentality within the squad to get the win
Leicester’s youngsters came from behind last weekend to beat the bottom-placed Royals in the U18 Premier League South Division at LCFC Training Ground. Joseph Barough opened the scoring after just seven minutes, but two second-half goals from Kirsten Otchere and Ryan Donnelly saw City claim victory in Seagrave.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Barradell told LCFC.com. “In the second half, we really came alive in terms of being in and out of possession and we were much more positive in terms of playing forward.
“We created a number of chances to score more goals than we did. It was an excellent finish from Ryan Donnelly to win the game, and I’m really pleased for him to come off the bench and score. In the first half, we didn’t really get into our rhythm, but the second half was much more pleasing to reach the level that was required.”
Although a goal down at the break, not much had to change within the setup of the team, who were creating chances and just had to remain positive on the pitch. Naming an XI with several Under-16s, Barradell was proud of the way Leicester managed to turn things around.
“At half-time, we didn’t want to get too carried away that we were 1-0 down, and although we didn’t play as well as we wanted too, we still created good opportunities and we felt we should’ve scored,” the coach continued.
“So, the talk at half-time was to give the boys a little tweak tactically and as a group of staff, we came up with some different ways to hurt Reading in the second half.
“We had three Under-16s starting, so to show the character that the group did to come from a goal down and win the game bodes really well.”
The Foxes sit mid-table, with 25 points from 19 games, and are unbeaten in the league since mid-February against Norwich City. Hoping to move further up the standings by the end of the campaign, the coach spoke about the importance of this time of the season to introduce new players into the mix.
“We’re four games unbeaten now in the league,” Barradell stated. “We want to finish the season as strong as we can and we’ve got a good game against Brighton coming up, and then we’ve got a good run of games against Chelsea, West Ham United and Fulham which will be a really good test.
“We’re looking forward to the last five games of the season and this time of the season is about transitioning some of the Under-16s into the squad and I’ve been pleased with the boys that have come in. They’ve made a good impact in games. Louis Page for instance has started the last three games, and I’ve been impressed with him."
The final five games of the season sees Leicester take on similarly-placed teams such as Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa, while the top two sides in the league, West Ham and Chelsea, will offer fierce competition in the coming weeks.
“We just want to continue working with the younger group and be consistent over the 90 minutes in terms of the performance level,” Barradell continued. “Looking further ahead, it’ll be trying to hit that level against good teams but also picking up points.
“We want to finish as high as possible and it would be great to break into that top six so that’s what we’re looking to do between now and the end of the season.”
Barradell has seen multiple players progress through the pathway this year, from the Under-18s to the Under-21s squad, such as forward Logan Briggs and defender Bobby Amartey, and feels pride from watching them progress.
He went on to talk about his underlying role in the Academy and how he is excited to see a new batch of 16-year-olds come into the frame and continue their development.
The coach added: “Our job is all about individuals and progressing boys through to the pathway. It’s great to see the likes of Logan Briggs transition out of the Under-18s group and become a permanent member of the Under-21s.
“He was within the squad for the Emirates FA Cup squad against Bournemouth so great to see his progression. We’ve got Jayden Joseph starting and scoring for the Under-21s, Kirsten Otchere playing for them the other week, Bobby Amartey and Mirsad Ali have got some good minutes, so I’m really pleased with some of the individual progression made this year.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how they do in the Development Squad next year full time and also looking forward to working with the 16-year-olds that are coming through into the scholarship.”