The Under-18s Thread

[MutableEarth]

Massive game tonight, gonna buy the stream to watch it. We'll probably lose, as I really don't like this defence much. Hamill and Owusu-Gyasi are quite good but the left side is porous unfortunately. A lot will be resting on Bailey-Joseph's ability to carry us forward IF we actually decide to use him properly tonight. O'Neill has been on great form so he could be a threat while Kyran Thompson also has goals in him.

The good news is that we actually look quite solid in midfield with Ibrahim and Murisa both playing. Murisa looked a little overawed last season vs United but with some experience under his belt now should be helpful nulifying City's considerable threat. Julienne playing the forward role is also good. Also, more good news - Andre Harriman-Annous is back for this. He's on the bench after his hip injury but he will be a massive boost as he will not only be a threat but make the team look better when he's involved.

Brando Bailey-Joseph is my danger man, but I can only hope he is utilised more. He's the clutch player in this group, we have to platform him as the man. O'Neill has also been super clinical this season so we need to make sure we get him some shots.

 

[MutableEarth]

4-0 City before HT. I paid a fiver for this

Bailey-Joseph and Ibrahim the only decent players tonight

 

[MutableEarth]

BBJ wins a pen and O'Neill scores it. 4-1 at HT. A small window back in.

 

[MutableEarth]

Full Time. 5-2 to City.

This match was over at half time, with the trio of Heskey/Samba/Dunbar terrorizing our terrible defence. Not surprising that Pedro came on and was actually OK. Annous came on and looked a bit more senior compared to others. Ibrahim tried his best to hold the midfield together. No use, City were rampant and Birchall put out a team that had no chance of winning - particularly the left side of the field was poorly constructed. Thompson - a player who while left footed prefers the right side of the pitch - really struggled while Ogunnaike and Onyekachukwu continued their respective poor form for the U18s. Hamill wasn't much better either. Owusu-Gyasi was probably the best until he got hurt, but Pedro was the best defender tonight for us.

The attack was clunky and lacked cohesion and real dynamism, with one glaring exception: Brando Bailey-Joseph. As expected, he was our best player and our biggest threat once again, despite not receiving as much promising possession nor being played in a position to really hurt City more than he did. In spite of this he managed to win a penalty (which O'Neill smashed into the top corner) and also scored our 2nd goal, a very much deserved goal for his troubles this evening. I hope there's a comp and if there are further loans for the u21s, he MUST be promoted immediately. Platform this kid, he's extremely good and the best prospect outside of Dowman/Salmon.

Special word to Jack Porter aswell - he was quite poor on the FK goal that started this rout but he made a lot of really good saves.

 

[Rasmi]

4-0 City before HT. I paid a fiver for this

Bailey-Joseph and Ibrahim the only decent players tonight

And they were saying look what a great job Per has done. Against the best academies we are miles off in terms of talent and coaching

 

[MutableEarth]

Arsenal U18s lose heavily again. Looks like Porter had a bit of a Weston, same with Hamill who looked troubled against Steele. Porter is rumoured to be leaving in the Summer rather surprisingly but I can only assume that despite his excellent shot-stopping, the errors he's made have turned the tide against him. Shame, he's only young but GK turnover is extremely high at Arsenal for some reason. Angelino Pedro was obviously a big miss aswell, I think he's quite a strong defensive prospect.

Think the team missed the recent thrust that Nwaneri Jr and Nduka have added to the team since their introduction. It will only be a matter of time before some of the other difference makers from the U16 team, namely Yetna and Munoz, will make their venture into the team to add some much needed cutting edge.

Zecevic-John is still very dangerous - if he was more clinical in front of goal he'd be one of our biggest prospects by far. Brando Bailey-Joseph scored a really nice goal after pulling double duty (45 mins for U21s, 45 for U18s a day later) and laid on a nice chance for Zecevic-John aswell. He's one of very few plus points this week and I think he should get another 1st team opportunity, this time vs Mansfield. BBJ's really impressed me a lot since the start of last season and I think he's arguably the closest to Dowman and Salmon of the current group.

 

[grange]

Munoz third youngest (?) player to debut for the U18s and levels the game with a late goal.

 

[MutableEarth]

Munoz third youngest (?) player to debut for the U18s and levels the game with a late goal.

Cue the hype train!

This was his first proper litmus test and he did it with the team down to ten men and the striker in goal after the keeper was sent off.

Also under the radar but u15 captain Mikael Bonaventure-Yetna also debuted for the u18s today and played the whole game.

 

[grange]

Cue the hype train!

This was his first proper litmus test and he did it with the team down to ten men and the striker in goal after the keeper was sent off.

Also under the radar but u15 captain Mikael Bonaventure-Yetna also debuted for the u18s today and played the whole game.

These youngest ever stats only go back to 2008 for some reason. Jeorge Bird was saying Eboue and some others appeared at 13 years old. Are you tracking like that? Lol. Be curious to know.

 

[MutableEarth]

These youngest ever stats only go back to 2008 for some reason. Jeorge Bird was saying Eboue and some others appeared at 13 years old. Are you tracking like that? Lol. Be curious to know.

Cedric Evina and Emmanuel Frimpong were 13 and playing u18s, that much is true certainly.