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The Under-18s Thread

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Surprising that Andre Annous hasn't made the provisional squad as I was looking forward to seeing him in this competition. Been one of the standouts for the U18s. Good to see Dan Casey rewarded though and it's a good opportunity for Romari Forde aswell after all his injury woes.

Interested to see the midfield lineup for this. Kabia & Ferdinand is pretty expected - not sure why Kamara has fallen out of favour but Ferdinand has always been rated quite highly. I'd like to see Ibrahim play this alongside Rosiak and Dowman but I'm guessing they'll prefer the legs of Dudziak - who's a pretty good passer himself. Defence kinda picks itself for me. Nichols-Kacurri-Heaven-Ismail seems the most balanced. They could reverse it and play Julienne at RB because both he and Nichols are good at inverting. Hopefully I can find a stream for this as this'll be a very interesting (likely tough) match so it'd be good to see who stands up to this. Dowman will of course be the main one to watch as he's the baby. Hopefully Annous is in the next squad.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Damn I thought he was 15.

That’s wild
Doesn't turn 15 until New Years Eve according to TransferMarkt. A day later and he'd have been born in 2010 💀💀💀

He'll be the 2nd youngest player to play in the UYL if he plays today (the record was apparently broken yesterday by someone even younger than Dowman).
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad

The exact lineup Jeorge Bird predicted.

Set-up will probably be:

Ranson
Julienne Kacurri Heaven Nichols
Dowman Rosiak Dudziak
Kabia Forde Ferdinand
Seems about right.
 

TH14shahriar

A gentle soul

Country: Sweden

Player:Saliba
No stream at all for this. Just as well, we are losing 3-0 at half time. Another comeback in the offing? 👀

What's going on with English teams in this cup lately? It seems like they all keep getting bad results. I saw that City lost yesterday to Inter, and City is supposed to have the best academy in the country, right?
 

Rasmi

Calls It Like It Isn't

Country: England
What's going on with English teams in this cup lately? It seems like they all keep getting bad results. I saw that City lost yesterday to Inter, and City is supposed to have the best academy in the country, right?
They are behind tactically at youth level. But Atalanta has a great academy and is hugely respected across Europe
 

NieThePiet

Loves Overhyping Our Rivals
4-1 at the end.

Last season we finished last with one win and one draw. Hopefully we will perform better this team, still 7 games to go.
 

db10_therza

Senior Spreadsheet Squad Secretary
Moderator

Country: Bangladesh

Player:White
What's going on with English teams in this cup lately? It seems like they all keep getting bad results. I saw that City lost yesterday to Inter, and City is supposed to have the best academy in the country, right?

I think there’s something broken about how football is taught to kids in this country and I can’t put my finger on it. I think Wenger spoke about it a while back as well, too much emphasis on results at a young age instead of exploring the limits of their technical abilities and skills etc
 

Gooner Zig

AM's Resident Accountant

Country: Canada
What is the age group for UEFA Youth League? Is it U/18? Doesn't help that three of Arsenal's best players are (Nwaneri, MLS, Heaven) are in the seniors' squad.
 

Gooner Zig

AM's Resident Accountant

Country: Canada
They are behind tactically at youth level. But Atalanta has a great academy and is hugely respected across Europe

I think there’s something broken about how football is taught to kids in this country and I can’t put my finger on it. I think Wenger spoke about it a while back as well, too much emphasis on results at a young age instead of exploring the limits of their technical abilities and skills etc

Haven't England been doing really well at youth international level recently? The UEFA Youth League is more a case of not having your best players available due to senior football commitments.
 

Rasmi

Calls It Like It Isn't

Country: England
I think there’s something broken about how football is taught to kids in this country and I can’t put my finger on it. I think Wenger spoke about it a while back as well, too much emphasis on results at a young age instead of exploring the limits of their technical abilities and skills etc
Kids football in England is all about preparing kids for PL football. It’s very athletic and direct and lacks the tactical side of the game.
That’s why you don’t see game controllers being produced here. It’s all about overpowering opponents.

The counter argument is it actually works if you look at Englands youth results. They overpower a lot of countries. It’s just that you don’t create variation of players in style and individual uniqueness is gone.
 

Rattata

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't look to much at the result. Atalanta side had 4 19 years old in their team. The oldest at Arsenal is 18. The 1-2 years advantage can make a big difference at this level.

Still Wilshere needs to do something about starting games so poorly. This is the 3rd game in a row his side went down 0:3 in the first half.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
I wouldn't look to much at the result. Atalanta side had 4 19 years old in their team. The oldest at Arsenal is 18. The 1-2 years advantage can make a big difference at this level.

Still Wilshere needs to do something about starting games so poorly. This is the 3rd game in a row his side went down 0:3 in the first half.
Wilshere wasn't the manager today tbf
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
Kids football in England is all about preparing kids for PL football. It’s very athletic and direct and lacks the tactical side of the game.
That’s why you don’t see game controllers being produced here. It’s all about overpowering opponents.

The counter argument is it actually works if you look at Englands youth results. They overpower a lot of countries. It’s just that you don’t create variation of players in style and individual uniqueness is gone.
The main problem is that across Europe they have u17 and u19 leagues then reserves/B-teams to align with the age group competitions whereas England have u16 u18 and u21s . So in many scenarios you find that English teams have to mix players who probably don't train everyday together which can cause rhythmn issues. We know this counts for something even in first team football. Aside from that, Atalanta has a very good youth system. My honest opinion , I believe Wilshere would get better results than Porter/Ali who coach the u19s ; in as much as I know results is not the main focus at this age.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
The main problem is that across Europe they have u17 and u19 leagues then reserves/B-teams to align with the age group competitions whereas England have u16 u18 and u21s . So in many scenarios you find that English teams have to mix players who probably don't train everyday together which can cause rhythmn issues. We know this counts for something even in first team football. Aside from that, Atalanta has a very good youth system. My honest opinion , I believe Wilshere would get better results than Porter/Ali who coach the u19s ; in as much as I know results is not the main focus at this age.
I think Wilshere showed during his first Youth Cup run that he can get cohesive performances out of players who otherwise don't have as much chemistry with each other as it was the same for him, calling up a handful of players who were at that point U21 players mostly

Atalanta - Serie A in general tbh - are quite good at this level, I'm assuming because they often play reserve team football and then drop back down for this level. The European teams have their youth players face adult competition far more than we do. At most we have the Papa Johns (or whatever it's sponsored by now).

I did have a look at the highlights though and the goals seemed unusually sloppy from a defensive standpoint. Heaven loses the ball for the 2nd goal trying to dribble out of trouble for example - and the shot was even deflected in. Heaven still seems somewhat uncomfortable at CB to me, not sure the experiment will work. I have a hunch he will leave as he still hasn't signed pro.
 

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