No need for poor excuses

“WE thought the youngsters gave their all and didn’t stop trying, but in the end experience proved too much for us.”

You might imagine those words coming from the mouth of Lee Johnson inside Anfield’s surprisingly small media area, after his team’s brave effort in a 2-0 defeat.

Up against a Liverpool selection featuring Daniel Agger, Kolo Toure and England captain Steve Gerrard from the start and with Lucas, Coutinho and 20-goal Luis Suarez stepping off the bench, the

superiority of the Premier League outfit eventually told.

Not that Johnson’s young side had anything to feel ashamed about. Reports the following day paid tribute to the team. The Independent said Athletic were “far better than their league position suggests”, the Guardian felt the visitors “passed intelligently, with James Wesolowski a key

influence in midfield” and the Daily Mirror had it that Athletic “defended with strength and depth, as comfortable as any visiting side has been at ‘fortress Anfield’ this season”.

Experience probably did tell in the final equation. But the quote at the top of this piece didn’t come from anyone at the Boundary Park club. It was part of a statement issued by West Ham’s directors earlier this week to explain the 5-0 pounding the Premier League side took at Nottingham Forest.

West Ham, a top-flight club who will gain £60million in TV money alone this season, were flattened by Forest — a Championship side who haven’t been in the top-flight for 14 years.

The view from the Hammers’ board room is that injuries had a major impact on the sort of team manager Sam Allardyce was able to select.

While West Ham, thumped 6-0 by Manchester City last night, cite the adverse impact of too many young players on their performance, Athletic’s line-up at Anfield was actually younger than Allardyce’s - yet performed far more sturdily.

Johnson fielded two teenagers to West Ham’s one and Athletic had no players in the starting XI at Liverpool over the age of 26, compared to the Hammers’ four.

The once-proud academy set-up at Upton Park seems to be producing relative duds these days — even in comparison to Athletic, a club faced with similar challenges in terms of geographical competitors yet with minuscule comparative resources.

All this is credit to the scouting network and the coaching systems in the academy system at Boundary Park. The calibre of youth players being given their chance to flourish gives Athletic another reason to celebrate, then, after the proud effort at Liverpool.