'We Couldn’t Get Across The Line' - Barradell On PL Cup Exit
- Leicester City's Under-18s were beaten 3-1 by Manchester City in extra-time
- City were knocked out of the Premier League Cup at the semi-final stage
- Tommy Neale scored Leicester’s only goal at LCFC Training Ground
- Two individual errors cost us, says coach Adam Barradell
The young Foxes reached this year’s last-four unbeaten, having progressed through the group stage before dispatching Chelsea in the capital.
Man City proved to be one step too far though, as they lost out in extra-time, following a 1-1 draw at LCFC Training Ground. The coach spoke to LCFC.com after the defeat to share his thoughts.
“We’re really proud of the boys to get through to the semi-final and get there unbeaten,” Barradell opened with. “We just unfortunately couldn’t get across the line against Manchester City on Saturday.
“Defensively we were very good and aggressive in our press. We need longer periods on the ball, where when you’re playing top teams like Man City, you need periods on the ball, and we didn’t have enough control to give ourselves a breather.
“To go in 1-0 up at half-time, we were very pleased. We created some good chances but unfortunately couldn’t take them.”
Tommy Neale gave Leicester the lead in Seagrave, but Jaden Heskey’s strike a little over the hour-mark took the game to extra-time where the strength of the Citizens was a little too much.
The coach added: “Ultimately, they just grounded us down, and like I said, we didn’t have long enough periods on the ball, and they started to gain more control to get the edge over us.
“They found more room on the pitch, and the second goal was the killer. The third goal came from us just chasing the game really.
“What we learnt was that we have to be better in both boxes in pressured games like that where there’s not much between the two teams. We had some good chances but unfortunately made two individual errors that cost us dearly.
“There were two really positive performances. I thought Jayden Joseph and Tommy Neale were excellent. I was really proud of them to perform at that level against a good academy.”
The coach discussed the mistakes that cost them but was proud of what the young lads had achieved, and believes they’ll take plenty of learnings from the semi-final defeat.
Leicester’s Under-18s now revert back to U18 Premier League South Division action when they take on West Bromwich Albion on Saturday morning in Seagrave.
“It’s not often the lads play in a semi-final, so the preparation was a little different,” Barradell continued. “We worked a lot on set-plays and treated it like a Youth Cup game in our preparation.
“But in terms of Saturday, we had to adapt a little bit more, and see what we could do to the opposition, but the boys did really well with that, and the individual mistakes cost us in terms of the result.
“The performance level was good, and we went toe-to-toe with them, so we’re looking to move on and develop, but of course, not reaching the final is disappointing.
“It’s important that the lads experience pressure games, so that’s why we try to go deep into competitions. We want to play against the best opposition we can. We came across a good team and I’m proud of how the lads equipped themselves.
“Some of the information they took on and tried to put into the game was impressive and hopefully we’ll start to see some of these boys featuring in the Under-21s, such as Logan Briggs who has moved up and been on the First Team scene.
“There’s been some positive development in the team this year and hopefully we can finish the season strong with the eight games left.”