Mmm, the young Reds coming up against some real stiff opposition 
Liverpool's reserves have completed their group games in the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup with a 9-0 thrashing of Japanese outfit Ryutsu Keizai Kashiwa.
Craig Lindfield, Ray Putterill and Emiliano Insua all netted twice while Mikel San Jose, Ryan Flynn and Gerardo Bruna were also on target as Gary Ablett's men made it three wins from three in Super Group B to book their place in the semi-finals of the competition.
They will now face a combined Sporting Lisbon and Benfica side in the last four of the competition at the Pizza Hut Stadium at 9pm on Friday evening.
"It was almost too easy for us today," said Ablett. "We got ourselves into a 3-0 lead before half time and then they had a man sent off fifteen minutes into the second half.
"After that it was a bit of a rout and we managed to score a lot more goals. Even though the scoreline was convincing I think some of our decision making was poor at times because we should have won that game 14 or 15-0.
"We had so much time and space on the ball but there were occasions where we didn't do the right things and that was disappointing for me as the manager. At times we lost our discipline and our shape.
"We've won the group easily though and at the end of the day you can only beat what is put in front of you. We played well in the first game, poorly in the second and I'd say we did okay tonight.
"We'll need to be better in the semi-final though because we'll be up against much tougher opposition."
The Reds' only injury concerns ahead of the semi-final are Ryan Crowther and Gary Mackay Steven while Hungarian trio Krisztian Nemeth, Peter Gulacsi and Andras Simon should join up with the squad in Dallas in time to play a part.
"It will be good to welcome those three lads into the squad," added Ablett. "Hopefully they'll be able to fly out tomorrow morning and join up with us in time to prepare for Friday's game.
"We also had four lads on bookings before tonight's game who would have missed the semi-final had they picked up another yellow card, but thankfully they all kept out of trouble and so we have no suspension issues for Friday night."
Liverpool's reserves have completed their group games in the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup with a 9-0 thrashing of Japanese outfit Ryutsu Keizai Kashiwa.
Craig Lindfield, Ray Putterill and Emiliano Insua all netted twice while Mikel San Jose, Ryan Flynn and Gerardo Bruna were also on target as Gary Ablett's men made it three wins from three in Super Group B to book their place in the semi-finals of the competition.
They will now face a combined Sporting Lisbon and Benfica side in the last four of the competition at the Pizza Hut Stadium at 9pm on Friday evening.
"It was almost too easy for us today," said Ablett. "We got ourselves into a 3-0 lead before half time and then they had a man sent off fifteen minutes into the second half.
"After that it was a bit of a rout and we managed to score a lot more goals. Even though the scoreline was convincing I think some of our decision making was poor at times because we should have won that game 14 or 15-0.
"We had so much time and space on the ball but there were occasions where we didn't do the right things and that was disappointing for me as the manager. At times we lost our discipline and our shape.
"We've won the group easily though and at the end of the day you can only beat what is put in front of you. We played well in the first game, poorly in the second and I'd say we did okay tonight.
"We'll need to be better in the semi-final though because we'll be up against much tougher opposition."
The Reds' only injury concerns ahead of the semi-final are Ryan Crowther and Gary Mackay Steven while Hungarian trio Krisztian Nemeth, Peter Gulacsi and Andras Simon should join up with the squad in Dallas in time to play a part.
"It will be good to welcome those three lads into the squad," added Ablett. "Hopefully they'll be able to fly out tomorrow morning and join up with us in time to prepare for Friday's game.
"We also had four lads on bookings before tonight's game who would have missed the semi-final had they picked up another yellow card, but thankfully they all kept out of trouble and so we have no suspension issues for Friday night."
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