Liverpool taught harsh Chelsea lesson but long-term plan will pay off

Liverpool’s hopes of reaching back-to-back FA Youth Cup finals were dashed as they squandered a three-goal lead to lose 4-3 to Chelsea at the Academy on Saturday evening.

Strikes from captain Luke Chambers, Kaide Gordon and Oakley Cannonier sent the Reds into dreamland early in the second half, before Tudor Mendel-Idowu rounded off the visitors’ impressive 25-minute comeback deep into injury time.

Despite the nature of the defeat, there was plenty of promise for Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s side who bossed the Cobham scholars for large sections of the game.

The long-term planning at the Academy and Anfield was clear to see in flashes, with the young talents reflecting their senior counterparts in their better moments.

Here are the ECHO's talking points from the match...

It was the harshest of lessons for the young Reds who had their hearts set on avenging last season’s final defeat to Aston Villa.

For just over an hour, they looked in cruise control as James Balagizi and Isaac Mabaya excelled in a two-man double pivot.

But the game appeared to flip on its head with a flick of the switch - or more appropriately swing of a boot - as Charlie Webster’s deflected effort from range planted the smallest grain of doubt into the minds of those in red.

The ten-minute period between Chelsea’s second and third goal is exactly where they needed that extra bit of nous, in order to extinguish the Londoners’ momentum.

At that moment there only looked like one side deprived of confidence, as Liverpool’s foothold on the game slipped beyond them.

It’s a loss that will sting the pride of all those involved for a short while.

However, it’s a lesson that the young Reds were bound to be taught at one point in their careers, and in time they