United U21 lead coach Adam Lawrence tells ChronicleLive how the experience the young stars are getting can pay off in the long term
Newcastle United's line-up for ther UEFA Youth League match against Athletic Bilbao
Newcastle United line-up for ther UEFA Youth League match against Athletic Bilbao
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Newcastle United Under-21s lead coach Adam Lawrence wants the Magpies youngsters to make use of their diverse fixture schedule to become more ‘robust’ in a bid to challenge for progression into senior football.
The likes of Sean Neave, Leo Shahar and Seung-soo Park have all trained alongside United’s first-team stars throughout the first third of the season - but have also been thrust into action in several different competitions at academy level.
Lawrence, who joined Newcastle in September following after a successful stint within Manchester United’s youth set-up, has led Magpies Under-21s and Under-19s sides into action in no fewer than four different competitions in the last three months and that number will increase this week.
After facing senior sides in the National League Cup and Vertu Trophy and taking on the best academy sides at home and abroad in Premier League 2 and the UEFA Youth League, the Magpies Under-21s will kick off their Premier League International Cup with an eye-catching double-header against continental opposotion this week.
Real Sociedad will be the visitors to Whitley Park on Tuesday night before Paris Saint-Germain travel to North Tyneside for a Friday night fixture in what will be two more stern tests of United’s brightest prospects.
Results across all competitions during the opening three months of the campaign have been underwhelming at times - but there have been some positives as Lawrence’s side have claimed maximum points in two of their last three fixtures.
However, the Magpies academy coach was keen to stress that the diverse nature of the challenges his players are facing across all competitions will aid their long-term development and give them an insight into what it takes to succeed at all levels of the game.
He told Chronicle Live: “What we want to do is expose our players to a diverse games programme so when we get the opportunity to play these foreign opposition, it’s a bit like the EFL and National League Cups.
“If you take Leo Shahar as an example, as an Under-19, this year he has played in Premier League 2, National League Cup, EFL Trophy games, the UEFA Youth League and he’s played international football.
“What you can then do is get to Christmas, look at the individual programmes of those players, and see they’ve been exposed to a real difference.
He continued: “We feel that is really important and there should be games where they feel quite comfortable and they are getting success - but we also want them to be stretched and challenged in the games they’ve played in.
“We definitely aren’t perfect - but there is a lot of thought going into how they are managed as individuals and as a group.
“I’ve never played some many games in to months as a coach but it definitely exposes the players to the next level and to the robustness to what you need to play at the highest level as well.”
Lawrence and his players will hope to improve on results in their UEFA Youth League campaign as they prepare to face European competition once again this week.
There has been some disappointment and frustration after the Magpies youngsters were unable to claim a point from meetings with Barcelona, Benfica, Union Saint-Gilloise and Athletic Club - but there remains a determination to make a mark in the competition when they face away days at Marseille and Bayer Leverkusen over the next five weeks.
Lawrence believes his side have been ‘a little bit unfortunate’ to have been handed meetings against three sides expected to go far in this season’s Youth League - but believes taking on European football’s elite can aid his own players’ development.
He said: “Obviously it’s been disappointing in terms of the results overall. It’s my second time working in the competition and we want to expose our players to the best levels across Europe as frequently as we can.
“Bilbao have played four and won four, Benfica have won three out of four games, Barcelona have won all of their games - so we have probably been a little bit unfortunate where we have played some of the top sides.
“At the same time, that’s what we want, we want to play against the best and sometimes you can get caught up with how you look at things when you’re only based in England and you’re only playing the English teams.
“The benefit of playing at this level of opposition is you get to see what the rest of Europe is like, play the best of the best and then you can see where the players are at individually and collectively.
“I’ve enjoyed it, it hasn’t been played four and lost four with no positives, I think we could have and should have had more points.”