SINGAPORE — Newly-appointed national youth head coach Richard Tardy is unimpressed with the performances of Singapore’s U-15 and U-16 sides at the Lion City Cup, which ended yesterday.

With only four teams including Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur contesting the competition, the two local outfits fought for the third place playoffs, with the older boys winning 3-2 in front of 650 fans at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Spurs beat Liverpool 3-0 to take the 26th edition of the Lion City Cup.

In the opening-day matches on Friday, the Singapore U-16s drew 3-3 with Liverpool’s U-15 side — eventually losing 5-3 on penalties — while the U-15s were defeated 3-0 by Spurs.

It prompted the London team head coach John McDermott to say “there is quality” in the Singapore side, that they were “technically very sound” and good on the counterattack.

But Tardy is not convinced and did not mince his words.

He told the media there were three areas that needed much improvement: Their physical fitness, technical ability and commitment.

“One of the first points I see is that the technical level of our players is still not there,” said the 65-year-old Frenchman. “It’s basic, because if you have no technique, you cannot reach a high level of playing football.

“We also need our players to have more speed, and I’m very concerned that we have problems with endurance. We see many players suffering from cramps in the latter stages of the game and when you’re 15 or 16 this is not normal, even though it’s humid here.

“The final point is that these players must know that once they don national colours, they must give their 120 per cent from beginning to the end. And this must come from training, because if you don’t give your best during training, then you won’t do well in the game. So we need to change their mentality as some of the players are in the comfort zone during training.”

The Lion City Cup was the last chance for Singapore’s U-15s to get some competitive matches under their belts, ahead of the Asian Football Confederation U-16 qualifiers here at the end of this month.

They are drawn in Group H along with Thailand, North Korea and Cambodia, and Tardy said he does not expect the team to progress far in the tournament.

He added that although they were playing on home soil, the Singapore youngsters were not at the same level of teams like Thailand.

Said Tardy: “It will be very difficult for us. Our target is to do our best because I don’t want to set an actual target and then be disappointed as they are not ready to play in this kind of game.

“But competitions like the Lion City Cup are good for the players because they give them the exposure and experience they need against top quality opposition. We need to continue with this and maybe try to organise matches against teams from Japan, Qatar or Saudi Arabia to improve our standard.”

The U-15 coach, V Selvaraj, is also concerned his players’ confidence has been hit after their losses in the Lion City Cup.

“It’s my job as coach to keep the players focused on the U-16 qualifiers and to use the Lion City Cup to get them stronger as a team,” said the former national player. “But I now have to keep them motivated and their spirits high.

“There are many areas we need to improve, and my personal expectation for them at the qualifiers is to play good football. If results don’t go their way, then I want them to at least know they did their best. For now, we have to get back to the drawing board and work on weaknesses.”