The Under-23s Thread

[teamsoutheast]

Just heading back from the game tonight. Boreham Wood ended up 4-0 winners and it was well deserved. They were by far physically superior but the boys held their own out there for large periods of the game. Standout performers tonight for me were once again Azeez, he just gets better everytime I see him. He's ready to play men's football IMO. He will definitely shine at this level and will have to move up to first team later in the year as I feel it will be too easy for him eventually. Omari Hutchinson again looked good on the ball. Needs more final 3rd quality though and still seems raw but he's very skillful. Ben Cottrell looked the most technical player on the pitch alongside Azeez. Very skillful and used his size to his advantage to wriggle out of challenges. He never gave up battling for the ball and surprisingly won some battles which he shouldn't have physically. Kirk is growing on me. He looks very composed on the ball and seems very strong. Likewise his CB partner Rekik was also very good, it will be interesting to see how Rekik does over the course of the season. I think Kirk will be really good by the time he's 20-21. KTH didn't demand the ball enough for me. He did well against their full back on occasions but didn't influence the game enough. Omari was more influential on the other flank. Salah was really good when he came on. Really technical talent he is. Kept the ball really well especially for his size and the size of the players he was up against. Although it was a pretty heavy loss, the goals were from individual mistakes I expect when playing against more physical men's teams. They will learn from this. 1 more thing, I didn't see Ryan Garry in the dugout. I think Michiche managed this game, I could be wrong though. Kevin Betsy I suspect will manage the team in their next game.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Ahhhh, I forgot to mention Patino. He's a really good passer on the ball but he seems to put his head down if he makes a mistake or if things aren't going well for him. He's come up a level now so he needs to show the leadership qualities required at this level of he wants to get near the first team. If you wonder why I say that it's just his body language sometimes. Maybe I'm looking too deep into things...

 

[Geofranco]

Just heading back from the game tonight. Boreham Wood ended up 4-0 winners and it was well deserved. They were by far physically superior but the boys held their own out there for large periods of the game. Standout performers tonight for me were once again Azeez, he just gets better everytime I see him. He's ready to play men's football IMO. He will definitely shine at this level and will have to move up to first team later in the year as I feel it will be too easy for him eventually. Omari Hutchinson again looked good on the ball. Needs more final 3rd quality though and still seems raw but he's very skillful. Ben Cottrell looked the most technical player on the pitch alongside Azeez. Very skillful and used his size to his advantage to wriggle out of challenges. He never gave up battling for the ball and surprisingly won some battles which he shouldn't have physically. Kirk is growing on me. He looks very composed on the ball and seems very strong. Likewise his CB partner Rekik was also very good, it will be interesting to see how Rekik does over the course of the season. I think Kirk will be really good by the time he's 20-21. KTH didn't demand the ball enough for me. He did well against their full back on occasions but didn't influence the game enough. Omari was more influential on the other flank. Salah was really good when he came on. Really technical talent he is. Kept the ball really well especially for his size and the size of the players he was up against. Although it was a pretty heavy loss, the goals were from individual mistakes I expect when playing against more physical men's teams. They will learn from this. 1 more thing, I didn't see Ryan Garry in the dugout. I think Michiche managed this game, I could be wrong though. Kevin Betsy I suspect will manage the team in their next game.

I really believe Cottrell has a chance to make it here. He is very good technically, intelligent, has good vision too. His motor is unending and he always competes with a lot of intensity. He is so small, but pretty agile, just hope he doesn't suffer bad injuries. Def think he has what it takes to be a squad player who will become a prominent member of the squad by the time he is like 24/25. Not as highly ranked as Azeez, ESR and Saka, but I think he fits the Arsenal way of playing like a glove. Him and Cirjan (who has had some injury issues) are very technically secure players.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Borehamwood v Arsenal U23 Highlights below:

 

[teamsoutheast]

U23's v West Ham game is being streamed live on YouTube:

[MEDIA]

 

[NieThePiet]

5:0 for West Ham at the moment.

Former Arsenal youngster Okoflex with a hattrick.

 

[boonthegoon]

6 - 0

Wtf happened

 

[Tosker]

6 - 0

Wtf happened

must have downed tools after Bould's sacking

 

[Tom Mix]

The under-23s have made a huge statement tonight.

 

[Hunta]

**** me, what the **** Betsy lad.

 

[Rimaal]

We can catch a break on any front. :confused:

 

[fred1266]

Highlights

 

[Jasard]

Heard the young defense had a nightmare playing out from the back?

 

[fred1266]

yea i thought i was watching the senior side

 

[fred1266]

another thing dey were playing 352 shouldn't dey be playing a similar formation to senior team

 

[Geofranco]

Okoflex vengeance! They need to really work on composure playing out of the back. Really lousy defending with no sense of urgency.

 

[fred1266]

 

[MutableEarth]

Watched this at a studio while working. It honestly didn't look too bad until the 2nd goal went in, then it got terrible. Up until that point, I found this match extremely fascinating actually, and one I was convinced would end in defeat but I was still quite intrigued.

Betsy was VERY adventurous with this team, even with a back 3 set-up of Ogungbo-Rekik-Monlouis. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of Rekik. Every time I've seen him, I've been distinctly unimpressed. That said, I thought Ogungbo and Monlouis struggled. The main thing I noticed was how committed we were to playing out the back and it seemed to be a weird strategy against an experienced West Ham team that had first teamers in it (Yarmalenko was playing ffs). But there were times it looked really good - I came away from that match being actually very impressed with the goalie who conceded 6. Ejeheri might be the best ball-playing keeper at the club - some of his passing was tremendous.

Nonetheless, the match was a huge struggle that really told. Armstrong Okoflex seemed determined to stick the knife in aswell as a former Gunner . We weren't savvy enough to deal with the onslaught and the midfield was very often cut open with ease, confirming my beliefs that Azeez and Patino are not quite ready to step up to the Arsenal first team just yet - as much as I'd still much rather see them play for us than Elneny .

Bandeira would have been useful as he's pretty good defensively. Also could have started Taylor-Hart. I thought Biereth looked a bit overwhelmed too, didn't seem to get into the game at all.

There were positives for me though. Hutchinson was our best player - by far. He was the only one who consistently made things happen. Azeez and Patino both had good moments of possession. Ejeheri's passing was ambitious and mostly impressive (save for the one giveaway that led to the goal, but that's a hazard of being a sweeper keeper that passes the ball). That's about it.

I do hope there are improvements made though - to be beaten 6-1 on the opening game of the season is a very bitter pill and Betsy is going to need to get it right soon, even if results are not the be all and end all of development.

 

[Geofranco]

Watched this at a studio while working. It honestly didn't look too bad until the 2nd goal went in, then it got terrible. Up until that point, I found this match extremely fascinating actually, and one I was convinced would end in defeat but I was still quite intrigued.

Betsy was VERY adventurous with this team, even with a back 3 set-up of Ogungbo-Rekik-Monlouis. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of Rekik. Every time I've seen him, I've been distinctly unimpressed. That said, I thought Ogungbo and Monlouis struggled. The main thing I noticed was how committed we were to playing out the back and it seemed to be a weird strategy against an experienced West Ham team that had first teamers in it (Yarmalenko was playing ffs). But there were times it looked really good - I came away from that match being actually very impressed with the goalie who conceded 6. Ejeheri might be the best ball-playing keeper at the club - some of his passing was tremendous.

Nonetheless, the match was a huge struggle that really told. Armstrong Okoflex seemed determined to stick the knife in aswell as a former Gunner . We weren't savvy enough to deal with the onslaught and the midfield was very often cut open with ease, confirming my beliefs that Azeez and Patino are not quite ready to step up to the Arsenal first team just yet - as much as I'd still much rather see them play for us than Elneny .

Bandeira would have been useful as he's pretty good defensively. Also could have started Taylor-Hart. I thought Biereth looked a bit overwhelmed too, didn't seem to get into the game at all.

There were positives for me though. Hutchinson was our best player - by far. He was the only one who consistently made things happen. Azeez and Patino both had good moments of possession. Ejeheri's passing was ambitious and mostly impressive (save for the one giveaway that led to the goal, but that's a hazard of being a sweeper keeper that passes the ball). That's about it.

I do hope there are improvements made though - to be beaten 6-1 on the opening game of the season is a very bitter pill and Betsy is going to need to get it right soon, even if results are not the be all and end all of development.

Always look forward to these breakdowns lol. I don't think Azeez and Patino will ever be strong enough defensively to play together. Azeez seemed to be playing as an attacking mid. Def much better as a 8. That is really the position I see him thriving in if he puts everything together. I think Patino is the type that would need a player with motor and legs to do most of the dirty work off ball in order for him to be successful. And for that to be the case, he'd have to be excellent on the ball and make almost no mistakes at all. He seemed to make a couple of errors in this game, but still looked competent on the ball. Good to see Hutchinson adapting well to U23 football.

 

[Afro Mugo]

That second half was really bad but I will cut the team some slack due to their inexperience. The team were young and lacked leadership in comparison to the West Ham side who not only had 3 first team players but most of the rest of the team have first team experience . The likes of Alese, Coventry , Odubeko, Johnson have first team league appearances in either the lower leagues or West Ham. Azeez and Swanson were our most senior players on the pitch and bone of them with league appearances in England which creates a massive difference at this level. It was clear to see the team crumbled under pressure and there was no one to offer any from of leadership on the pitch to get them back in rhythmn. I'm not even sure who was the captain but I guess it was Swanson. I think we should join Brighton and United in having a player coach playing with them. When Sokratis played with them last season , it really benefited the team in terms of organization and it was when the senior players stopped playing with them when the team got bad results