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The Under-23s Thread

MutableEarth

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Maybe said:
Exactly what I'm saying, do they play some local cup or have a go at PSV?
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Tbf it's not some "local" cup :lol:, it's the FA Youth Cup, the biggest academy competition in England vs some PL international Cup that means nothing. Its a big deal this year especially as we've underperformed in it since we last made the final and we now actually have a decent and dangerous enough side to win.

Wilshere himself will definitely want his strongest team available for it too as he won this competition as a player in 2009 when Steve Bould was u18 manager so he'll want to win it as u18 manager too. He doesn't get half these guys for the league games, at least he gets them for the Youth Cup.
 
A

Afro Mugo

Active Member
avenellroad said:
For some reason I’d thought the likes of Cottrell had moved on.

It’s time for us to sell and get fees if we can for these players rather than stockpiling them at the club.
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I don't even think its a case of stockpiling. For many of these squad fillers at u21s , you can hardly get a fee from lower league clubs unless we do as we've done in the case of McGuinness and Clarke where we let them go for almost free and put sell on clauses, and sometimes like in the case of Cottrell, they are injured so can hardly get a club or are too young like Vigar and Taylor-Hart for clubs to gamble in them. I'm hardly bothered too much about them because its a common case for all u21 teams ; even for Chelsea and City , they have these players who are just there to fill the squad and are needed due to injuries etc like if Monlouis, Quesada-Thorn and Sweet were fit, we wouldn't have needed to play Jeffcott and two fifteen/sixteen year olds at fullback, same case goes with one of Lewis/Ideho if Khayon was fit..Sagoe Jr would have moved to the wing, and that would be a totally different team with some talented players .. to be fair to Cottrell he's been injured, and the club still has a duty of care to him as long as he's under contract. He has only played like 2 games. Its probably Smith who really should be playing Mens football right from August. I'm surprised he chose to stick around.
 
MutableEarth

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Afro Mugo said:
I don't even think its a case of stockpiling. For many of these squad fillers at u21s , you can hardly get a fee from lower league clubs unless we do as we've done in the case of McGuinness and Clarke where we let them go for almost free and put sell on clauses, and sometimes like in the case of Cottrell, they are injured so can hardly get a club or are too young like Vigar and Taylor-Hart for clubs to gamble in them. I'm hardly bothered too much about them because its a common case for all u21 teams ; even for Chelsea and City , they have these players who are just there to fill the squad and are needed due to injuries etc like if Monlouis, Quesada-Thorn and Sweet were fit, we wouldn't have needed to play Jeffcott and two fifteen/sixteen year olds at fullback, same case goes with one of Lewis/Ideho if Khayon was fit..Sagoe Jr would have moved to the wing, and that would be a totally different team with some talented players .. to be fair to Cottrell he's been injured, and the club still has a duty of care to him as long as he's under contract. He has only played like 2 games. Its probably Smith who really should be playing Mens football right from August. I'm surprised he chose to stick around.
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Yeah, both Cottrell and Cirjan have come back from really bad injuries so that's why they're still where they are. Taylor-Hart is kind of in the same bracket aswell. Matt Smith playing PL2 is egregious IMO and I think it's bad for his progression as a player (I actually think he's regressed slightly. Lost momentum compared to the amount of league football he played last season). Not only is he being held back but he's also preventing guys like Ibrahim and Lewis-Skelly from starting at U21 level more than they do - they have Lewis-Skelly playing LB just to accommodate it, fuelling this silly talk of "Zinchenko" roles like they've forgotten what happened to the last midfielder they tried to pigeon-hole into a full back role without good enough reason.
 
G

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player: Saka
MutableEarth said:
Yeah, both Cottrell and Cirjan have come back from really bad injuries so that's why they're still where they are. Taylor-Hart is kind of in the same bracket aswell. Matt Smith playing PL2 is egregious IMO and I think it's bad for his progression as a player (I actually think he's regressed slightly. Lost momentum compared to the amount of league football he played last season). Not only is he being held back but he's also preventing guys like Ibrahim and Lewis-Skelly from starting at U21 level more than they do - they have Lewis-Skelly playing LB just to accommodate it, fuelling this silly talk of "Zinchenko" roles like they've forgotten what happened to the last midfielder they tried to pigeon-hole into a full back role without good enough reason.
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I have time for Cirjan, but Cottrell and Smith are done lol. They need to move on and find lower league clubs more fitting to their level.
 
teamsoutheast

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
Geofranco said:
I have time for Cirjan, but Cottrell and Smith are done lol. They need to move on and find lower league clubs more fitting to their level.
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Cottrell has been unfortunate IMO because injuries just keep hitting him at the wrong times. Just when he gets a bit of momentum he'll get injured. I'm not sure of his contractual situation, but he needs a loan in the summer to try and secure him a long term future in the EFL.

This will all depend on if he can stay fit till the end of the season though. He doesn't seem to have developed physically as he's still quite small. He's very good on the ball though so whoever gets him long term will have a very technical player on their hands.

Smith in hindsight, really should have moved in the summer. I think it may have been his own decision to give it another go and fight for a place and fair play to him, why not eh :lol: He did pretty well in the EFL L1 with Doncaster last season making 37 appearances and getting 2 assists and that would be a good start for him to work his way up the league ranks. Very good passer of the ball but not at the level we require unfortunately, but like I said previously, our job is to try and develop these youngsters to become young pro's at the highest level they can achieve whether that be here or elsewhere.

Cirjan is another player who has been injured at key at key stages of his development. He does seem to have been around for ages but he's still only 20 believe it or not. He also signed a contract last summer so the club seem to want to give him more time and rightly so. If he stays fit he should also be earmarked for a loan in the summer to see if he can handle mens football.
 
MutableEarth

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Ideho with a stinker so far. Sagoe Jr not much better either. Can see the gap between the potentials and the fodder. Backline very solid, all been strong. Chelsea haven't had a proper sniff yet.
 
berric

berric

Established Member

Player: Trossard
MutableEarth said:
Well dealt with by Sousa and Bandeira on both wings.
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Yep credit to FBs especially Sousa who does seem a bit stiff but a good defender. Not able to follow much of the young ones but Cozier-Duberry seems to stand out quite a bit.
 
MutableEarth

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
berric said:
Yep credit to FBs especially Sousa who does seem a bit stiff but a good defender. Not able to follow much of the young ones but Cozier-Duberry seems to stand out quite a bit.
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Sousa is very good, one of our best prospects. Cozier-Duberry does stand out quite a lot. Risen very quickly and is very effective.

He's gotten so good that he is facing the Saka defence and getting triple teamed often. Ideho being left alone largely (and still not doing much).
 
The_Playmaker

The_Playmaker

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
MutableEarth said:
Sousa is very good, one of our best prospects. Cozier-Duberry does stand out quite a lot. Risen very quickly and is very effective.

He's gotten so good that he is facing the Saka defence and getting triple teamed often. Ideho being left alone largely (and still not doing much).
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Crazy to watch the under 23s. Very similar to the first team in terms of positional play. The rb, lw, cf are problem positions. Genuine lack in quality.

Watching ESR. A lot of people wishing him into the left 8 role in our set up. He doesn't have a defensive bone in his body. Watching him trying to tackle is painful.

Front 3 or right 8 is where he is playing for us.
 
GoonerJeeves

GoonerJeeves

Up The Terriers
Trusted ⭐

Country: Norway
The_Playmaker said:
Crazy to watch the under 23s. Very similar to the first team in terms of positional play. The rb, lw, cf are problem positions. Genuine lack in quality.

Watching ESR. A lot of people wishing him into the left 8 role in our set up. He doesn't have a defensive bone in his body. Watching him trying to tackle is painful.

Front 3 or right 8 is where he is playing for us.
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He played pretty well as a LW for Huddersfield, in a team that was totally devoid of quality. I'm afraid injuries is his biggest obstacle as it stands now...
 
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