LIVERPOOL Youth coach Hugh McAuley is hoping for more improvement despite his side virtually sealing a place in the FA Youth Cup final following a 3-0 victory over Birmingham City.
Liverpool were 3-0 up after 30 minutes of the semi-final first leg at St Andrew’s thanks to a double from Finnish striker Lauri Dalla Valle and a fine solo effort from right-winger David Amoo.
The Anfield club are on the verge of reaching a third Youth Cup final appearance in the past four years as they go in search of a fourth triumph in the prestigious under-18s tournament.
If Liverpool can safely negotiate next Friday night’s second leg at Anfield they will face either Arsenal or Manchester City, with the Gunners holding a 2-1 advantage ahead of next Wednesday’s return at the Emirates.
McAuley was not looking to far ahead though. Despite being delighted with his side’s 3-0 win, he was a little disappointed they didn’t take advantage of their superiority over their Midlands hosts and make the scoreline even more emphatic.
The Liverpool coach, who led the club to their first Youth Cup victory 13 years ago with a side including Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen, said: "I am very pleased with the result. I thought in the first 45 minutes we created chances and scored good goals and there was a lot of good football. We may even have scored more. Lauri Dalla Valle has had a good chance right on half-time and the keeper made a good save.
"I was pleased in the first half but a little disappointed in the second half although we have had good chances to put the game out of sight if you like from Lauri, Adam Pepper and their goalkeeper has made some good saves again for them. But I felt we didn’t pass the ball well enough in the second half and our all-round game in the second 45 minutes wasn’t good enough.
"I thought we started the second half a bit sloppy. A little bit complacent even though we made the point at half-time of what we had to do and we only seen patches of that in the second half. We have got to be a lot more consistent than that.
"Although I am pleased with the result it is only half-time and there is another game at Anfield next week. But we have got to play for 90 minutes not 45 and we are grateful we got our result, but on the second half we need to do better."
