The Under-23s Thread

[Gunn3rs4urus]

DEMIANE AGUSTIEN Impressive again. I really like this guy and should get a chance in the first team.

 

[MutableEarth]

DEMIANE AGUSTIEN Impressive again. I really like this guy and should get a chance in the first team.

Tbh He has struggled most of this season and yesterday was his best game other than one UYL game. He's promising and was very impressive yesterday but I'd like to see more performances.

 

[MutableEarth]

Live on the dot com tonight. Could be debuts for Mooney and Dixon. Have been intrigued since the recent influx into midfield. Julienne looks like he's found form again, particularly next to Ibrahim who has also played his way back into good form after a short dip. Agustien will want to continue his recent exploits tonight aswell.

Hopefully Bailey-Joseph keeps his place aswell, although with Sagoe Jr potentially STILL at the club it might get a little clogged with Mooney also now involved. Zecevic-John will likely be the one to drop down to the bench. Harriman-Annous will also play IMO so we could see this:

Ranson
Hamill Salmon Dixon Ogunnaike
Agustien Ibrahim Julienne
Mooney Annous Bailey-Joseph
​

Sagoe Jr may likely start ahead of Bailey-Joseph but he really should be out on loan and he can still go if it's abroad. I do think we look a lot stronger for the 2nd half of the season though. Still not as interesting as the U18 team in terms of potential but the main four in Salmon, Ibrahim, Annous and Bailey-Joseph still have a lot of stock and could do something substantial.

 

[MutableEarth]

 

[MutableEarth]

Looks like it'll be:

Setford
Hamill Salmon Clarke Ogunnaike
Agustien Ibrahim Julienne
Mooney Annous Bailey-Joseph
​

Almost the same lineup I posted save for 2 members. Dixon starts on the bench while Clarke gets the nod. Setford (inexplicably) playing and keeping out Porter. I thought Ranson would play but then I remember he's just come back from injury. Setford should have been on loan by now.

Good chance to see Mooney play. Not sure what wing he's gonna play, but I hope BBJ gets the LW spot as I think he has far more potential there with the ability to cut inside and do damage in central areas. Would like to see Harriman-Annous get among the goals today and have a good performance.

 

[Steps]

Hoping the boys can keep their run going. Was a torrid end to the year but may have turned the corner.

Should be a good watch.

 

[MutableEarth]

Hoping the boys can keep their run going. Was a torrid end to the year but may have turned the corner.

Should be a good watch.

Not a surprise that replacing Dudziak and Copley with Ibrahim and Julienne lead to 2 decent results on the spin. BBJ helps aswell. Look much more threatening.

 

[MutableEarth]

Annous playing wide. Not my favourite move. Also means BBJ stays at RW.

 

[MutableEarth]

Good tempo to this game but our passing been awful. Attackers haven't really gotten into the game, BBJ probably the best of the 3 and Mooney's had a couple decent touches. Annous been invisible. Once again the bigger issue with BBJ and Annous in particular for me is that neither player is getting the amount of touches needed to be even more effective than they already are.

Julienne and Agustien combined for our best chance but they've not been in it much either.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Setford is gonna be a good goalkeeper. Made some really good saves tonight. I'm really impressed with him. Has a solid build for his age and is an excellent shot stopper. Mooney looks good. Attack clearly needs time to gel. BBJ looked very lively. Agustien seems to be settling in more to games but for me he drifts in and out too much for such a player with his physical presence. Could be a really good B2B midfielder in the future.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Setford is gonna be a good goalkeeper. Made some really good saves tonight. I'm really impressed with him. Has a solid build for his age and is an excellent shot stopper. Mooney looks good. Attack clearly needs time to gel. BBJ looked very lively. Agustien seems to be settling in more to games but for me he drifts in and out too much for such a player with his physical presence. Could be a really good B2B midfielder in the future.

Speaking of goalkeepers how good was George Pickford..Made some great saves. Ironically, he's not related to Jordan Pickford.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Yeah these guys don't have long term high potential. At most these guys are Vanarama North/South or Isthmian Premier level.

 

[MutableEarth]

Looking forward to tonights game, with Dowman returning.

The game on Monday was refreshing to watch, all the attackers were on-song, backed by a very sturdy midfield with the duo of Ibrahim and Julienne both performing well - particularly the latter who's turning in some really impressive performances of late. O'Neill got the nod ahead of Bailey-Joseph and scored a really nice volley too. I would still prefer to see Bailey-Joseph start as I think he's a more effective winger whereas O'Neill is better centrally - but it's good to see there's a bit more actual competition with fresh talent in this team.

Tonight's lineup therefore isn't quite as cut-and-dry. I'd like to see this:

Porter
Dixon Salmon Clarke Washington
Dowman Ibrahim Julienne
Bailey-Joseph Mooney Annous
​

Reluctant to drop O'Neill but there's far more balance with this forward line in terms of BBJ's dribbling and directness plus BBJ has a decent partnership with Dowman. Annous has also really been on form of late, really showing more personality on the pitch and is well complemented by Mooney who is quite experienced compared to the others and has a good all-round game.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Poor lethargic performance.

Disappointing. I thought Setford made some great saves though. He's gonna be a really good keep in a few years. He should go on loan next year. Unlucky as he got beaten by a worldie.

I wonder what Salmon got sent off for? He must've said something. Needs to control that temperament from now so hopefully this doesn't become a habit.

 

[MutableEarth]

Poor lethargic performance.

Disappointing. I thought Setford made some great saves though. He's gonna be a really good keep in a few years. He should go on loan next year. Unlucky as he got beaten by a worldie.

I wonder what Salmon got sent off for? He must've said something. Needs to control that temperament from now so hopefully this doesn't become a habit.

Ipswich went into this as one of the better teams in the PL2 though, and some of their players are ex-Chelsea with a lot of ability - the goalscorer Tudor Mendel in particular was good.

I felt the midfield definitely met their match as Ipswich were physical and looking to exploit space very quickly. Ibrahim in particular is a talent but he has a weakness in that he can be a bit too composed and slow to react to things which is frustrating because when he's on it, his timing is impeccable. Julienne worked hard but it was a bad match-up for them.

The attack I felt was exposed in this game more than anything. Annous went back to being disconnected until he went into the middle, Mooney was dealt with easily whenever he went into the channel and O'Neill was probably the brightest of the 3 but just wasn't able to have much impact outwide. Again, the best player for us was Brando Bailey-Joseph - has had a couple of struggles of late but he was on it when he came on and created our best chances for Annous.

Setford is pretty good but I need to see more of his game.

 

[MutableEarth]

U21s having the worst game I've watched them have in a while. 3-0 down to a very superior looking Leicester side.
Even Salmon and BBJ have been bad. Ife Ibrahim been awful.

EdIT: 3-1. Mooney, great assist from Annous.

 

[Geofranco]

U21s having the worst game I've watched them have in a while. 3-0 down to a very superior looking Leicester side.
Even Salmon and BBJ have been bad. Ife Ibrahim been awful.

EdIT: 3-1. Mooney, great assist from Annous.

They are shambolic this season

 

[MutableEarth]

They are shambolic this season

Both U21 and U18 sides have been poor. A handful of very good individual talents, but poor chemistry and poor coaching. Revamp cannot come soon enough. A lot of talent is going to waste too early, we're not even getting money for them more time.

 

[MutableEarth]

Have to say, while the coaching is an area of concern for a long time, the players were really, really poor today. Andre Harriman-Annous probably the only one that has any real credit out of the game just due to his brilliant assist and good dribbling. BBJ worked hard but I can't recall a single thing that came off for him.

All in all, the team looked very demotivated, almost as if they were disgusted at having to still play PL2. Could see it quite clear with Salmon, he just did not look bothered. While I understand how much of a dead-end PL2 can seem, you still have to do the business and work hard - no matter how disappointing it is to taste first team football then have to go back to the trenches. Dig your way back up.