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The Under-23s Thread

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
Nelson by far the best player on our side and arguably best on the pitch other than Marcel Lewis. First time in AGES I've seen him dribble rings around people with ease, and I really wish he would start to believe in himself in the first team matches. The freedom he showed today is what I've been praying for him to show in first team matches. He's got to be ready.

Reiss really was something else this game. You could see again how easy this level is for him. Waaaaay too easy :lol:. It's frustrating because if he could show the form he showed in this game in the first team, he would easily make the senior squad every week. I wonder if him deciding to stay could bring a new lease of life in him. It seems he is determined to fight for his place and will do whatever it takes, even if it means playing in the U23's to keep his confidence/match sharpness/fitness levels up.
 

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
Why is Nelson playing for the U-23's? His development is just wasting away.
It isn't. Sometimes you need to go back to basics in order to achieve your goals in life. He seems to be determined to get back into the first team fold and playing a few games in the U23's to gain confidence isn't going to hurt... If you watched the Chelsea game you could see that the U23 level is far too easy for him and he was head and shoulders above both teams players. Now, he needs to show that same confidence in training so he starts making the first team squad on matchdays.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Nothing red card that, same as Luiz. It wasn't really defended well though. Patino gone off for Dinzeyi which is very unfortunate. Would have taken off Akinola but I guess he is more defensive so Bould will stick with him.

Game's almost a write off but Okonkwo with a clutch pen save. Excellent keeper.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Big chance for Flo there but he should have done way better.

Definitely been out of sorts the last couple of games.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Okonkwo's fallen over about 4 times coming off his line. Been a lot of slips.

Kirk and Lopez are struggling a bit aswell. Think Kirk's still getting used to U23 level.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Kirk and Dinzeyi are not very strong CBs at this level IMO.

Cottrell is our best player at the moment. Taylor-Hart good when he has the ball.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Guess who has another U23 runout after not making the first team squad again :lol:

Again, team misses Azeez badly, Akinola is game but doesn't have the quality. Patino though has another chance to stamp his authority against a very good City U23 team (top of the league IIRC).

Balogun misses out - I'm assuming he's injured or something. So Moller is the main #9 today with Taylor-Hart and Nelson flanking him and Cottrell behind all 3. This should be very interesting. I would have liked to see Oyegoke at RB rather than CB but Alebiosu has been good so far this season so he doesn't warrant dropping.

The game is on City+ so I'm gonna watch as I still have my subscription in case of U23 games. To watch it, create a new account and pay for subscription - but if you just want the 30 day trial, select a country where card details don't have to be entered.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Guess who has another U23 runout after not making the first team squad again :lol:

Again, team misses Azeez badly, Akinola is game but doesn't have the quality. Patino though has another chance to stamp his authority against a very good City U23 team (top of the league IIRC).

Balogun misses out - I'm assuming he's injured or something. So Moller is the main #9 today with Taylor-Hart and Nelson flanking him and Cottrell behind all 3. This should be very interesting. I would have liked to see Oyegoke at RB rather than CB but Alebiosu has been good so far this season so he doesn't warrant dropping.

The game is on City+ so I'm gonna watch as I still have my subscription in case of U23 games. To watch it, create a new account and pay for subscription - but if you just want the 30 day trial, select a country where card details don't have to be entered.

For whatever reason, I am not as excited about this current U23 team as I was for the other groups in the last 5 years. Maybe it's cause Taylor-Hart still hasn't signed.

Don't know if it's the club not rating him as highly or maybe it's from his group not wanting to commit. I like Moller, but don't see any special qualities in his game.

Balogun also not signed an extension so a possibility he leaves. Patino is starting to get game time and he is talented, but don't think he is close to Jack Wilshere level of talent like many like to predict.

So only Azeez really gets me excited, cause of his physical and technical qualities.

You can envision him breaking through. I like a lot of guys from the U18 team much more. Zach Awe, Monlouis, Hutchinson, Bandeira, Sweet all look like pretty interesting talents.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
For whatever reason, I am not as excited about this current U23 team as I was for the other groups in the last 5 years. Maybe it's cause Taylor-Hart still hasn't signed.

Don't know if it's the club not rating him as highly or maybe it's from his group not wanting to commit. I like Moller, but don't see any special qualities in his game.

Balogun also not signed an extension so a possibility he leaves. Patino is starting to get game time and he is talented, but don't think he is close to Jack Wilshere level of talent like many like to predict.

So only Azeez really gets me excited, cause of his physical and technical qualities.

You can envision him breaking through. I like a lot of guys from the U18 team much more. Zach Awe, Monlouis, Hutchinson, Bandeira, Sweet all look like pretty interesting talents.
I feel the same to an extent re the U18 compared to the current U23s. Patino IMO will be a slow burner more than anything else, I can see him developing really, really well. Just think people expect him to be first team ready much sooner than he will be.

I think the distribution of talent in the current set-up isn't as good. The good ones are really good (Azeez, Taylor-Hart, Oyegoke for e.g all look very promising) and the not so good ones really stand apart from their peers. The signings have been quite poor aswell except for Moller, who's interesting but not got that kind of impact you'd like him to have (yet). Akinola ruins every game for me, I think he's got some ability but he just doesn't have enough quality over 90 and he's very frustrating. I'm also not terribly convinced by Kirk and Lopez (I think I've seen enough to suggest Lopez won't be a thing here - I want to see more of Ogungbo at LB). I think Alebiosu has improved a lot but he's not as good as Oyegoke IMO and Norton-Cuffy has arguably been better in the games he's played.

Also, as a fan of Cottrell, I haven't been impressed with him as much in recent games. He's shown clear limitations physically despite his combative and determined playstyle. I think this will always count against him, much in the same way that I think Matt Smith - while quality - will always have that problem here.

The current U18s IMO have a bit more about them in terms of an even distribution. The only area where I feel they lack is in the wider areas but I think the team below will have guys like Petrie making a difference. The defenders are better for sure. Monlouis, Awe, Ogungbo and Norton-Cuffy is a far stronger backline IMO, and I think Oyegoke is one of few who challenges it in terms of potential.

RE Taylor-Hart, I think the interest from other clubs has definitely made negotiations difficult.

------------------

Just on today's game, I wasn't impressed. Usual suspects were quite poor IMO. Lopez and Akinola were poor IMO, although Lopes had some decent interceptions. They were both very poor in possession. Thought Kirk was a little overawed aswell. Oyegoke and Alebiosu fared far better, although the latter really isn't that great in the final 3rd. Oyegoke was the best of the backline IMO. Shame he got sent off in the last game, would have made that game far more equal.

Nelson was good when he had the ball but he was very much starved of it for most of the 2nd half. Patino went off and any impetus we had died with his substitution. His replacement Trae Coyle looked rusty in comparison. Taylor-Hart had some good moments but also struggled to get in the game. Cottrell again seemed to be overpowered by the opposition, particularly Doyle in midfield. Moller was OK.

Our best player was easily Okonkwo. Game should have been 6-0 but he did very well keeping that score down. Nelson was very good in the first half; Patino and Oyegoke also did quite well. It's another 90 in the bank for Nelson but, just like last U23 game, this did absolutely nothing for him other than keep him somewhat match fit and he didn't have the added benefit of a starring performance either.
 

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