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General Reserves Talk
- Thread starter M+D
- Start date
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Country: Iceland
Country: Iceland
BUKAYO SAKA!!!
Found my new favourite prospect, if he could turn into a quality ball playing cb that would be amazing for us.
Xavier Amaechi returns!
Saka? Imagine if he starts vs Sp**s.
He's presumably with the first team. Definitely jumped the queue!
Maybe
You're wrong, no?
When Saka and eventually Amaechi move to first team there's nothing left in the youth setup that we can look forward in the next 2 years. Last two years of youth football were really enjoyable
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Yunus Musah? Matthew Smith? Miguel Azeez?
I really like Musah and Azeez. Two potentially complete midfielders. Smith is very talented aswell.
Maybe
You're wrong, no?
That's what I'm saying, it will take 2 years for them to move from u18 bench to regular u23 players
HBL
Established Member
Not going well for the u23's this season, I guess its understandable given the amount of players they've lost but I'm sure Ljungberg isn't feeling great about it.
The players coming through to the first team right now just barely finished playing in the u18s to begin with.
A good chunk of the players left aren't necessarily shoe-ins for promotion to the first team in all honesty.
From the lineup last night, Medley and John-Jules look like getting chances at a higher level. Gilmour and Sheaf close behind. The rest have struggled for consistency and form, and arguably aren't as quality as the known quantities from the academy. Coyle in particular is a player of immense technical quality but he has not really recovered from his numerous injuries unfortunately. Olayinka had a decent run aswell and he could yet start to perform again. The rest are not likely to go too far IMO - a harsh but objective assessment. Zelalem is probably done aswell.
One other positive is Amaechi returning so early - it was said that he wouldn't play until 2019 yet he's returned in December. Amaechi is the biggest star of those 18 players. With Saka pretty much camped in the first team for the next couple of weeks or so, Amaechi's return is timely as he offers very similar impact to Saka. Quick dribbling, very fast, scores goals and creates chances on a whim.
That AMN goal against Liverpool was so sweet! Immensely happy for them.
Iwobi and AMN must have both dreamt about assisting each other. I hope we carry on playing our own guys.
Iwobi and AMN must have both dreamt about assisting each other. I hope we carry on playing our own guys.
Individually, quite well. Willock, Saka, Medley, Ballard, and Gilmour have all improved under his coaching so far. Willock in particular is a much more dangerous player, while Saka has added better off the ball movement. A lot of players have been missing aswell due to first team duties, while others have struggled after injuries.
It's not been all terrible for the u23s, but they've struggled defensively.
Sounds familiar.
What's even more familiar is that injuries have been a big part of the problem. Pleguezuelo and Sheaf are the usual pairing and they are very strong at U23 level, but both have had injuries at varying different points, which leaves Ballard and Medley, both of whom are promising but not the finished article. Ballard is the better defender but Medley is more composed and better on the ball. They've acclimatized decently and improved quite a bit but both have still had awry moments. The backline has also seen injuries to Osei-Tutu.
HBL
Established Member
It will be interesting to see if Amaechi trains with the first team regularly like some of the others have. I think he could even be more suited to our needs than Saka.
