Guardiola Praises Young Blues After Manchester City Win The FA Youth Cup

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on the youth team after the won the FA Youth Cup for the first time in twelve years, beating Chelsea 3-2 in last night’s final.

City, who won the trophy for the third time in their history, came from behind to lead the Londoner’s, and despite a deflected equaliser, Cole Palmer secured the win and the trophy with just five minutes remaining.

And Guardiola, who has given senior team debuts to four of the winning side, was clearly delighted with the youngsters win. “I want to congratulate all the players, as well as Carlos [Vicens] and his staff,” said Guardiola. “I thought their performance was outstanding. They showed so much courage and personality – not just in the final but throughout the competition.

“They worked so hard without the ball and when they attacked, they did it with creativity. I was so impressed. It is testament to the strength of our Academy right now. There are a lot of very good players coming through.

“Hopefully, they enjoy this achievement and continue to develop because some of them have fantastic futures ahead of them. The Academy teaches young players to play the game in the right way and we are seeing the benefit of that at every age group.”

And academy director Jason Wilcox also praised the team, saying the win is testament to the hard work of the academy staff and thee Club’s Academy setup.

“I am delighted,” he said. “The way our boys have improved as the competition has progressed has been brilliant to see. There’s so much talent in there - really technical players who understand the game and what we expect of them.

“But they’re also a team. They work incredibly hard and they all have each other’s back. It’s a really good group. I’m also really proud of their characters. They are not just a really talented group of footballers, they’re also a great set of lads who are maturing in the right way.

“Their job now is to keep working hard, keep developing and with the manager we have here, they could easily get chances to impress at first-team level. It is testament to the individual efforts of every single member of the Academy staff.

“This is a really proud moment for the Academy and the whole football club.”