A young Liverpool FC side were held to a 1-1 draw by Bordeaux in their opening UEFA Europa League game. Disappointed with the result, manager Brendan Rodgers was pleased by the performance of his young players having played 4 teenagers in Joe Gomez, Jordon Ibe, Jordan Rossiter and Pedro Chirivella.
Injury to Kolo Toure prompted manager Bredan Rodgers to bring on Pedro Chirivella in the first half, a move that saw the average age go down to 21.7.
The performance of the teenagers Pedro Chirivella and Jordan Rossiter in particular was impressive in the central midfield.
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Cameron Brannagan also came on as a second half substitute.
Rodgers disappointed with the draw
Rodgers was left disappointed after Liverpool FC let slip a lead given to them by a quite sublime individual goal from Adam Lallana.
Speaking in the aftermath of the game, the Liverpool FC boss was quoted by ESPN FC as saying:
“I am disappointed but I feel encouraged by the performance with so many young players.
“I was disappointed their striker got too many touches in the box but if you can’t win, especially away from home in Europe, you at least get a point and we’re satisfied with that.
“I was so proud of them tonight. I will always give the young players an opportunity if they have the personality.
“The senior players were outstanding helping the younger players and we will look for more of that in the coming weeks.”
Rodgers happy with young players performance
Hailing the solid performances of the two 18-year old central midfielders Jordan Rossiter and Pedro Chirivella, Rodgers said: “As the game wore on they combined with the other players and I thought they acquitted themselves well.
“If you take those two, Jordon Ibe who is 19, Joe Gomez who is 18, there was great encouragement for the young players and supporters.”