Ruthless Gerrard brands U18s quitters with post-match dressing down

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Steven Gerrard’s first domestic loss as a manager didn’t come until 2018, but Liverpool’s U18 manager was unimpressed with what he saw.

His youngsters lost 4-0 to Scott Parker’s Spurs side in the Premier League Cup quarter-finals, though we’re still unbeaten in the league.

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Our legendary former captain has accused his side of quitting and questioned the attitude of some of his best players.

“It was tough to take and obviously a difficult one to swallow,” he said, reported in the Echo.

“The scoreline looks heavy and it feels heavy at the moment but I think it probably flattered Tottenham a little bit, although I did feel we quit in the game at 2-0 down.

“Once Tottenham got the second goal, the disappointing thing for us as staff is we felt as though a lot of players in our team quit and that’s the reason why the scoreline was heavy.

“Our first part of the season was strong but we told the lads they are there to be shot at it and today was a test against a southern team. We were found out because Tottenham absolutely deserved their victory.

“We need to learn from this and my message from the dressing room afterwards is if three or four players don’t turn up in big games then it’s very difficult to get the result that you want.

“I think I’m being kind when I said to them that only three or four never turned up today.”

Gerrard’s U18s have already progressed in the UEFA Youth League, so there’s still everything to play for, just one point ahead of Manchester City at the top of the league as well.

The boss has shown an ability to mix up tactics and try different formations, which shows he’s a thinker as well as a motivator.

We’re delighted that he’s learning his ropes at the club like this, and hope that one day he’ll take over from Jurgen Klopp – once the German has collected some sufficient silverware!

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