AcademyU21s reaction: 'We have to make opening-day display our baseline for 2024-25'

The young Reds rose to the occasion of their first Premier League 2 fixture by posting a 3-1 win over Manchester City at the Academy.

After Dominic Corness’ goal had been equalised by the visitors, Tom Hill and James Norris netted during the second half to secure all three points.

• U21s match report: Liverpool beat Man City to kick off PL2 season

Following the final whistle, Liverpoolfc.com caught up with U21s head coach Lewtas for his analysis of the victory and outlook for the campaign ahead.

Read the chat below…

On his overall assessment of the game…

The boys had to work ever so hard. It’s two good teams, that’s very clear, meeting each other on the opening day, so there’s not a lot to go off so you’re hoping that principles that the players have and how we want to do things can really support the performance. I thought we started the game well; without question, they probably grew into the game in the back end of the first half. But half-time was good, it was positive, we knew what we’d done well and we knew where we’d maybe let ourselves down a little bit in the last 10 minutes of the first half. Credit to them how well they played, but we knew we could fix a few things. And I thought the bravery we showed when we came out, to turn the momentum again, I thought the start of the second half was fantastic. In the end we got three goals and I’ve got to be pleased overall.

On Corness’ contribution with a goal and assist on his return from a loan last season…

He’s got a fantastic left foot. He had a really good year out on loan last year, and obviously this year he has come back and he adds a little bit of experience to the group as well. In U21s football sometimes the first half of the season is a transient time – players going, are players staying? He adds maybe a little bit of stability at the moment and he also probably helps me as a coach; sometimes having a few coaches on the pitch helps as well, and Dom is certainly one of them, he has got a great appreciation of the game. He knows how we want to do things, both in and out of possession. I think as that No.6 today, he was a real anchor of our performance.

On his side’s response to conceding just before half-time and Hill’s impact on the team…

He is a fantastic player. Last year he was fantastic for us until he picked up that unfortunate football injury, that’s what it was. He really is another one with a real clear identity in how he plays the game. Both parts of the game, both in and out of possession. A real good leader as well. He has obviously suffered a few tough times in terms of injury, but it has been really good to have him around the players. A fantastic character and fantastic player. The older ones – Dom, Tom, James Norris – I felt today there were moments in the game where you do need sometimes the seniority and players who can really help the younger players along. The younger players were great but I give big credit to the ones who are a little bit older today, who really guided the performance.

On Norris’ desire to get his head on the ball for Liverpool’s third goal…

I want to give a special mention to James French, who is the set-piece analyst with the first team. We met with the boys this week; it’s not something we spend a lot of time on but we felt it’s important that the boys understand in the next part of their journey, it is important, both defending and attacking. We looked at different ways in which we could really kind of showcase some of the good players who can deliver the ball, and how well we can attack the ball and where and how to attack. So to get a goal [from it] in game one was quite nice actually. I was really pleased. Great delivery from Dom and obviously James got his goal.

On Norris’ loan spell last season and him being likely to have options going forward…

Any first loan is all part of their learning, their growth. Not many players play every game when they’re on loan and it’s tough, it’s not easy. The feedback from Tranmere was always positive, from both players and staff. He’s a fantastic character and an excellent player. He’s very versatile; today you saw him play as a left-back but you know what he’s been like in my teams in the past, he can play as a No.8, he can play a line higher. A fantastic character, he really is. A really good footballer. But someone who really does well by others as well, he makes other players better, there’s no question of that. And I felt today he really supported the two centre-backs and obviously players in front as well.

On goalkeeper Harvey Davies’ performance…

That’s what your goalkeeper is there for, and he’s a good one. He made a couple of good saves and we’re playing against a good Man City team in the infancy of our development as a group. We had the best defensive record in the league last year; we always know that eventually we’ll get to a point where we feel we can be a really good defensive unit, but on day one we know there’s going to be teething problems and issues, and there’s where you do need your ’keeper. All credit to him, he made good saves and his distribution was good. You can see a player a year on from his loan and his experience of training with the first team, how much he has developed. Fair play to Harvey today.

On U18s players starting to step up to U21 level…

Amara Nallo has made huge progress, there’s no question of that. I’m really proud of the progress he has made, and he should be proud as well. The work he has put in. The things we have asked of him are demanding, especially when it comes to the defensive line and how we want to defend. It’s not easy and you have to concentrate – sometimes the easy option is not to do what we do. I’ve spoken to him about this, he deserves all the credit. It’s nice. Wellity [Lucky] has moved to the group and played well. Michael Laffey. Obviously Kyle Kelly came in today off the bench, we’ve got Figgy [Keyrol Figueroa] who didn’t get on today. We’ve got Carter [Pinnington], who is still an U18, he came on.

Mixed within there, we should be really pleased with what we’ve got and how the boys have performed. I said to them after the game, that’s got to be our baseline – we only feel we can get better than that, that can’t be our best performance of the season. But it’s a real good baseline to set on the opening day of the season against a really good Man City team as well. Good game idea, some real good pace on the sides, played through the lines really well, especially into the No.8s, and a good coach who has obviously won the FA Youth Cup and done really well with the U18s in the past. They’re a good team so we should be really pleased with how we’ve played today but obviously use that just as a benchmark of this is where we can really push on from.

On Wednesday’s Premier League International Cup opener against PSV Eindhoven…

We’re expecting a really tough game, these games are really demanding games. Sometimes we play against teams who play in their leagues, they play the senior game. So it’s really good for us to come up against that and that challenge. Playing international games is really important for the development of our players. If we’re putting our players into a first-team environment, the exposure they get is in Europe so we’ve got to make sure that our programme encompasses our domestic programme but also international games as well.

• Watch the U21s v PSV Eindhoven live on LFCTV GO on Wednesday (7pm BST kick-off)