Thorup: Our youngsters took responsibility

F.C. Copenhagen head coach Jess Thorup was delighted with the youth players he fielded in the 4-3 win over Breidablik last week which rounded up the Lions' mid-season training camp in style.

Mamoudou Karamoko got on the scoresheet for FCK before Emil Højlund and two Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson goals secured the victory.

FCK had been 2-0 down at one stage and Thorup was pleased with how the team responded.

"The result shows two different halves, but I don't think we were that bad before the break. We played young players in both halves and that was what made the difference," said Thorup.

"I think we played well across the board before the break, and some of our young players took responsibility. We saw the new players in action again, and Rasmus Falk was back and played for an hour, so that was fine.

"We talked during the break about not playing quite as we would like, in relation to the fact that we were too slow in some sequences and were not compact enough in our pressure, and we tried to adjust that after the break.

"Then delivered a fantastic comeback, and it really means something when you see that we can turn the game around when there is some new energy in the team. We ended up playing with a very young team with eight U19 players on the field.

"We probably had the ball less than in the first half, but in return we were sharper across defence and attack, and that was the difference between the two halves.

"We also handled the pressure better, and it is impressive to see that players like Mattias and Elias go at full steam for 90 minutes after they also played the day before.

"Isak scored two really nice goals, and I also want to highlight the youngsters who came down here, Sahsah, Emil, Clem and Fisnik, who came on in the second half and did well, and were part of the team that turned the game.

"So all in all, if we evaluate briefly our training camp, I'm very happy and will get on the plane with a really good feeling.

"We have had really good conditions (in Portugal) and probably one of the best training pitches on The Campus that I have ever trained on in a mid-season.

"We have had many good training sessions, where we have addressed the things we wanted, and we have tried to translate that into the matches. It has gone well, we have played against some decent opponents who have put a lot of pressure on us, and we needed that to be as well prepared as possible for the Superliga and Europe."