We Need To Be Better In Both Boxes, Says Barradell
- Leicester City Under-18s defeated 2-1 by Norwich City
- Josh King scored his fourth goal in two games for Leicester
- Coach Adam Barradell gave his view on the game following full-time
- The loss leaves City in seventh place in the U18 Premier League South
After back-to-back victories against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, City’s Under-18s were beaten by Norwich at LCFC Training Ground due to a late goal from Jaiden Owen in the U18 Premier League South fixture.
In a post-match interview with LCFC.com, Barradell explained how it was fine margins that made the difference in Seagrave, although there were pleasing aspects from the performance.
“It's a disappointing result, especially after a positive couple of results,” the coach stated. “But as for the performance, the boys did well. They created lots of opportunities to score, but a lack of concentration and two individual errors cost us.
“We had to be better in both boxes. We limited Norwich to seven penalty area entries but conceded twice and needed to be more clinical ourselves.
“We went down to Tottenham Hotspur, who were top of the league at the time, and were excellent with the ball. We carried that on against Norwich but didn’t get the positive result this time around.”
Having returned from a couple of months out with injury, striker Josh King is back leading the line for the young Foxes and has found the net four times in the last two games.
Barradell was keen to talk about the forward’s fine form, but also raised Tommy Neale as a player who impressed despite defeat.
He added: “Josh [King] has come back into the team after being injured for the last couple of months, but it’s great to have him back and scoring. He’s scored four in two games so is in a rich form in that aspect.
“I thought Tommy [Neale] was excellent on Saturday, and really dominated the midfield in helping us build attacks and controlling the game; he was the standout performer.”
Keen to focus on the development aspect of the squad, City have the chance of redemption this Saturday when they travel to Berkshire to face bottom-placed Reading in league action.
“We don’t want to get too carried away when we win, and the same for when we lose,” Barradell explained. “We need to take the learning aspect from the game, and performance wise this time, it was about being more clinical.
“We won’t delve into the performance too deep because we know if we keep performing at that level, we’ll win more games than we lose. We just need to be ready for transitions and individual duels better – making sure we’re switched on in the opponent’s half.
“We don’t focus too much on the league and the opposition that we’re facing, but we will look to bounce back and hopefully get a positive result. If we keep performing the way we have been, then we’ll be pleased.
“There’s been a lot of development in the group throughout this season as it’s progressed and for us that is the most pleasing thing.”