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General Reserves Talk

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Hunta

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I see the youth teams have struggled this season, disappointing after the last two seasons.

u18 are on tonight in the cup.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
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I see the youth teams have struggled this season, disappointing after the last two seasons.

u18 are on tonight in the cup.
The u23s havent been too bad but the current batch just aren't quite as strong collectively as the team with Nelson, Nketiah and Willock in it, not even Ljungbergs team. Thats fine IMO.

The U18 team is a much younger team with a new coach compared to last seasons team that had lots of 2nd years in it and had the likes of Balogun, Smith and Clarke as options. This team has quite a lot of promising players in it and the u16s also do but I expect them to do a lot better next term if they aren't all moved up straight away - which might be the case as we have a real strong intake coming up.

The youth game is gonna be tough vs Blackburn but we should be quite strong with Azeez and Patino in midfield and potentially Cottrell and Greenwood with them.
 

Hunta

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The u23s havent been too bad but the current batch just aren't quite as strong collectively as the team with Nelson, Nketiah and Willock in it, not even Ljungbergs team. Thats fine IMO.

The U18 team is a much younger team with a new coach compared to last seasons team that had lots of 2nd years in it and had the likes of Balogun, Smith and Clarke as options. This team has quite a lot of promising players in it and the u16s also do but I expect them to do a lot better next term if they aren't all moved up straight away - which might be the case as we have a real strong intake coming up.
Yeah been reading Jeorgebirds tweets and sounds like the u16 team are quality, can’t find a league table though. The same names crop up, Awe, Monlouis, Patino, Hutchinson, Flores, Edwards.
 

MutableEarth

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Yeah been reading Jeorgebirds tweets and sounds like the u16 team are quality, can’t find a league table though. The same names crop up, Awe, Monlouis, Patino, Hutchinson, Flores, Edwards.
Bandeira aswell. Charles Sagoe Jnr. Theres some quality here. Brooke Norton-Cuffy.
 

Hunta

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Bandeira aswell. Charles Sagoe Jnr. Theres some quality here. Brooke Norton-Cuffy.
The u18s will be some watch next season then. :drool:

The u18 team last year was sublime, best I’ve seen at that level, basically averaged 4 goals a game lol. Still annoyed they bottled the final and the youth cup.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
Bandeira aswell. Charles Sagoe Jnr. Theres some quality here. Brooke Norton-Cuffy.
There's also Pedro Virginia(not sure whether u15 or u16 but 2004 born) Billy Vigar Taylor Foran and James Sweet . Potentially 14 scholars. The others are Harry Jones who has been on trial at Sp**s and Raphael Gowan who will most likely be releasd. Interesting to see what happens to the rest we've mentioned .
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Didn't get a chance to watch the game, but it looks like we got thoroughly outplayed. This group is pretty poor defensively.

They don't have a leader like Ballard to help guide the ship when things are rocky.

They also miss a player like Matt Smith who can control tempo and keep things ticking.

I'll give them a bit of a pass as many are still schoolboys, very young group. But at this point the U16 coming in next season look more talented.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
Didn't get a chance to watch the game, but it looks like we got thoroughly outplayed. This group is pretty poor defensively.

They don't have a leader like Ballard to help guide the ship when things are rocky.

They also miss a player like Matt Smith who can control tempo and keep things ticking.

I'll give them a bit of a pass as many are still schoolboys, very young group. But at this point the U16 coming in next season look more talented.
We were outplayed and there was no standout performance but I'm not surprised that was a very young team. We had 8 first years 6 school boys and only 4 second years . Blackburn had 10 second (who all played ) years and 5 first years + a school boy substitute GK. That is a category one academy so such age difference means a lot. In comparison the Chelsea side that beat Millwall 1-0 had 10 second years including Faustino Anjorin and Ian Maatsen who've played for their first team. The other 8 were first years.
Manchester city best Wigan a Category 2 academy
Didn't get a chance to watch the game, but it looks like we got thoroughly outplayed. This group is pretty poor defensively.

They don't have a leader like Ballard to help guide the ship when things are rocky.

They also miss a player like Matt Smith who can control tempo and keep things ticking.

I'll give them a bit of a pass as many are still schoolboys, very young group. But at this point the U16 coming in next season look more talented.
I caught the second half and we were totally dominated and I expected nothing less. That was a very young team . I doubt I've seen that many school boys in an FA quarter final. We had 6 school boys, 3, who played and 8 first years with only 4 second years, one who never played. In comparison Blackburn a category one academy had 10 second years on that pitch with 7 first years and one sub GK schoolboy.
In comparison Chelsea beat category 2 Millwall 1-0 . 10 second years including Faustino Anjorin and Ian Maatsen who've played for the first team. The rest were all first years. Man City beat category 2 Wigan 2 1 . 9 second years including Doyle and Hardwood -Bellis who've played for the first team plus Morgan Rodgers who knocked us out last year and Jayden Braaf. The rest were all first years.
We dominated last year because our core especially defence were all second years plus some talented school boys . I think Jeorge Bird is a bit harsh on them sometimes in his analysis because in youth football age counts a lot and this team is very very young .
 

Hunta

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Watched the first half and didn’t bother with the second. It was like men against boys all half, Arsenal barely had an attack.

Must say I’m not as high on Azeez as most people are, ever since the u17 euros last year I’ve been wary of him. Mentioned it on here at the time but Agoume for France absolutely dominated him in that game and Azeez looked lost, he’s really quite weak defensively.

Musah is the real talent and we ****ing lost him. Hope Patino is as good as the hype, there’s something about midfielders that excites me more than a wing talent or striker talent, maybe it’s because of how injuries ruined Wilshere I’m looking for his reincarnation!
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
Watched the first half and didn’t bother with the second. It was like men against boys all half, Arsenal barely had an attack.

Must say I’m not as high on Azeez as most people are, ever since the u17 euros last year I’ve been wary of him. Mentioned it on here at the time but Agoume for France absolutely dominated him in that game and Azeez looked lost, he’s really quite weak defensively.

Musah is the real talent and we ****ing lost him. Hope Patino is as good as the hype, there’s something about midfielders that excites me more than a wing talent or striker talent, maybe it’s because of how injuries ruined Wilshere I’m looking for his reincarnation!
I absolutely understand your reservations about Azeez. He doesn't dominate games as much as he should with his talent and size. Musah could dominate games. Azeez cites Busquets as his role model and I think it affects how he plays his game . He doesn't really seek to dominate but he tries to be intelligent in his positioning and pass from deep. Musah admires Pogba and it shows in his game . In terms of pure talent ,from what I've seen, I think they're equally as talented and both can go as far as they wish to. I just think with Azeez it might take longer.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Watched the first half and didn’t bother with the second. It was like men against boys all half, Arsenal barely had an attack.

Must say I’m not as high on Azeez as most people are, ever since the u17 euros last year I’ve been wary of him. Mentioned it on here at the time but Agoume for France absolutely dominated him in that game and Azeez looked lost, he’s really quite weak defensively.

Musah is the real talent and we ****ing lost him. Hope Patino is as good as the hype, there’s something about midfielders that excites me more than a wing talent or striker talent, maybe it’s because of how injuries ruined Wilshere I’m looking for his reincarnation!

I think really talented midfield prospects are always the most exciting cause of their ability to control the tempo of games.

The CM is the brain of the team and versatile midfielders are the engine that keeps everything ticking.

With Azeez it's going to take some time. He needs to grow into his body, but he has a decent frame and looks about 5'11.

He has pretty long limbs. I think he plays too passive at times and doesn't really impose himself.

He has to figure out what his bread and butter is going to be. Cause at this point he is sorta stuck in no man's land.

I don't think he has the defensive instincts to be a DM, but he also doesn't have the power and motor to be box to box, he is not creative enough to be the primary playmaker. So it's quite a conundrum.

But when it comes to technical ability, he is up there with the best we have produced in the last 5 years.

His touch, passing ability and ball striking are all class. So there is def talent there, he just needs the right tutelage to improve on his weak points.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
Interesting comments by Jonker on McGuane. Saying out of 250 academy youngsters he was sure 3 would definitely play for the first team. McGuane, Reiss and another younger one whom he won't mention right now for obvious reasons.
He also noted that football was too easy for McGuane at u16 because he never lost the ball however his passing was always sideways or backwards and the "English culture" fears correcting because the players would probably get angry and there's a "risk the player might leave".
Take from that what you will.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
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Some ****ing bangers in here man. Omari becomes a 1st year at the start of next season. That old video seems so long ago now.
 

Country: Iceland

Some ****ing bangers in here man. Omari becomes a 1st year at the start of next season. That old video seems so long ago now.

Reminds me of Wilshere at the same level in that sense that even if he might not be the fastest when he has the ball or is in the movement it's like he has all the time in the world! Hallmark of top talent!
 

MutableEarth

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Reminds me of Wilshere at the same level in that sense that even if he might not be the fastest when he has the ball or is in the movement it's like he has all the time in the world! Hallmark of top talent!
Yeah. He uses his body well for a small lad. Might even have a few more inches to grow. I'm most impressed by his technique- really clean touch and dribble, excellent ball striking aswell.

His intake could be really good - him, Patino, Monlouis, Foran, Flores, Edwards, Bandeira, Sagoe Jnr, Awe etc. Very different from the 99-01 generation but could be just as good if not better. Remains to be seen how they develop but they all look extremely promising.
 

Heskey

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Some ****ing bangers in here man. Omari becomes a 1st year at the start of next season. That old video seems so long ago now.
Clips like these makes me miss the 6 months I was a u17s youth coach.

Omari looks so good! His drive and quick feet are a pleasure to watch especially combined with some precise finishing. I really like those flat finishes in the long corner too!

His pace and finishing in the long corner reminds me of Kun Agüero when he was at Atl. Madrid actually.
 
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