U19s coach Mark Phillips was absolutely delighted with his side’s performance to win the Premier League Next Generation Cup.
The young Hammers beat London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the final and put on a breath-taking display to win 8-0, with Callum Marshall scoring four goals, Gideon Kodua netting a hat-trick and Remy Coddington also getting in on the act.
The Irons progressed to the final after a 4-3 comeback against Crystal Palace on Wednesday and Phillips was full of praise for his side’s display.
Mark, how do you evaluate today’s performance and this incredible result?
“It’s a difficult one to evaluate. This isn’t the result I think anyone envisaged, we expected a tight, close encounter so we are delighted to come here and win in such a commanding fashion.
“We scored some fantastic goals and played some fantastic football, so we are so pleased with the result. To win in this fashion, against a team like Tottenham, in a final is a testament to these players.
“The response since Wednesday has been superb. We were 3-0 down to Crystal Palace at half time but since then we have been fantastic. The boys obviously came back to win that game, so in our last 135 minutes of football we have scored twelve goals and conceded none.
“The quality of some of our play has been excellent and I hope some of the West Ham fans were able to watch the game online. I think they will have enjoyed our quality.”
How good is it for your side to win this trophy and to have this success heading into the new season?
“It is always nice to win a trophy, particularly after we narrowly missed out on one last week in the Czech Republic. We didn’t take that opportunity last week, but we certainly did today.
“It’s always nice to end preseason in good form and with a trophy. We’ve got some good minutes under our belts now, which is just as important as winning the trophy. Preseason is all about getting ourselves ready for the season to come. We have a way of playing and we want to make sure that we play in that style during preseason.
“We have tried a couple of different systems too during pre-season, three at the back, as well as four- like we played today- it shows that we have a squad capable of playing in different formations and that is really good to see”
We are coming towards the end of pre-season, with the new season approaching. Are you happy with where your players are at?
“I am really, really impressed with them. Their fitness, their mentality, it’s all absolutely where it needs to be. We had a really good season last year, but I actually believe that we are in an even better place now than we were this time last year.
“We are really hopeful of having a good season this term. We are fully aware that a good preseason doesn’t always corelate to a good season, it’s up to us now to go into the season full of confidence and put in the performances to give us the season we want.”
Finally, Marshall and Kodua were both in fine goal scoring form. How good were they today is what was a superb all round team performance?
“They were both superb today, but I think it was an all-round team performance today. Their goals obviously pleased me, but the clean sheet was just as important. It is always a fantastic achievement to keep a clean sheet, Mason Terry made a great save at an important time, Kaelan Casey was brilliant in the air in both boxes, there wasn’t a bad performance today from anyone.
“It’s fantastic for Callum and Gideon to score seven goals between them, a huge achievement, and scoring goals is the toughest thing to do in this sport so we are delighted for them, but from my point of view, I’m delighted with everyone’s contribution today.”
