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The Under-23s Thread

Yousif Arsenal

On Vinai's payroll & misses 4th place trophy 🏆
Trusted ⭐
Bolagun now has 15 goals in 10 games for U23 this season we need to get a good loan in January he too good for youth level he proven that last season already. Now he 20 he need to start play top level football
 

Big Poppa

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: USA

Player:Saliba
The third goal was a worldie from him.

He needs the loan in January.
You’d think he could get a sub appearance for the first team occasionally. We have some of the worst goalscoring stats in the league.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
I watched the whole match yesterday and I know its weird we lost by such a margin to the last placed team, but it is worth noting Derby has always been good at this level and ever since they dropped the likes of Sibley ,who has over 50 championship appearances they have been good recently. We had a makeshift defence who've rarely played together especially in a 3 and it didn't help having KTH as a LWB. I hope Betsy learns and sometimes switches to a back 4 especially if players are missing.
Having said that, I was disappointed with KTH.. as much as he was playing in an unfamiliar position, he just was always losing his man . Ogungbo who had a brilliant game covered for him numerous times. Patino was also very disappointing. I would go to the lengths to say he was the worst player on the pitch. He was outmuscled regularly and yesterday he misplaced countless of passes. Ever since he returned from injury he has struggled to find his rhythmn. 2 goals were as a result of him losing the ball in midfield. Akinola impressed when he came on and we would have won that match had he played from the start or Olayinka played in midfield as I felt Patino and Salah-Eddine were outmuscled regularly. Enough has been said about Balogun. I'm glad he is still taking the level seriously despite him knowing he is already past it. That's proper mentality . Often players are lackdaisical when they drop down a level. Hutchinson was also very good. I want to see him more centrally , he had some brilliant runs in midfield and dropped deep to try control the game. Its crazy how Saka, Omari and ACD are all very similar players in terms of playing style and versatility.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
I simply don't see a point in playing 3 at the back. Having an extra DMC would allow more freedom to Patino, Salah, and Omari, and it's them who the academy should focus on, not the results or having a solid defense in a meaningless competition. Feels for me that Betsy is focused more on results than actually developing his key players, especially when none of these defenders will ever play for the first team.

For the rest, Balogun needs to go and Flores needs to come in, that's what I'd like to see for the rest of the season. KTH is also a complete waste of a player, replacing him with CozierDubbery should be on the table in January, that's not based on this game
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
I watched the whole match yesterday and I know its weird we lost by such a margin to the last placed team, but it is worth noting Derby has always been good at this level and ever since they dropped the likes of Sibley ,who has over 50 championship appearances they have been good recently. We had a makeshift defence who've rarely played together especially in a 3 and it didn't help having KTH as a LWB. I hope Betsy learns and sometimes switches to a back 4 especially if players are missing.
Having said that, I was disappointed with KTH.. as much as he was playing in an unfamiliar position, he just was always losing his man . Ogungbo who had a brilliant game covered for him numerous times. Patino was also very disappointing. I would go to the lengths to say he was the worst player on the pitch. He was outmuscled regularly and yesterday he misplaced countless of passes. Ever since he returned from injury he has struggled to find his rhythmn. 2 goals were as a result of him losing the ball in midfield. Akinola impressed when he came on and we would have won that match had he played from the start or Olayinka played in midfield as I felt Patino and Salah-Eddine were outmuscled regularly. Enough has been said about Balogun. I'm glad he is still taking the level seriously despite him knowing he is already past it. That's proper mentality . Often players are lackdaisical when they drop down a level. Hutchinson was also very good. I want to see him more centrally , he had some brilliant runs in midfield and dropped deep to try control the game. Its crazy how Saka, Omari and ACD are all very similar players in terms of playing style and versatility.

Patino will really need to work on his off ball defensive play. He gives a lot of Özil vibes in that area. Like I stated in his thread, he simply isn't physically ready. He still gets bullied at U23 and has the body of a 14 year old, but there is no denying that he is the best technician on the team, at least him and Hutchinson.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
I simply don't see a point in playing 3 at the back. Having an extra DMC would allow more freedom to Patino, Salah, and Omari, and it's them who the academy should focus on, not the results or having a solid defense in a meaningless competition. Feels for me that Betsy is focused more on results than actually developing his key players, especially when none of these defenders will ever play for the first team.

For the rest, Balogun needs to go and Flores needs to come in, that's what I'd like to see for the rest of the season. KTH is also a complete waste of a player, replacing him with CozierDubbery should be on the table in January, that's not based on this game

I think you're too harsh on Kido Taylor Hart. He has barely been playing this season and also played in an unnatural position. I think it's best for Duberry to still be allowed to cook at U18, like @MutableEarth would say lol. I don't think he has completely dominated that level yet the way Saka and Nelson did before they made the jump to U23 football.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
I think you're too harsh on Kido Taylor Hart. He has barely been playing this season and also played in an unnatural position. I think it's best for Duberry to still be allowed to cook at U18, like @MutableEarth would say lol. I don't think he has completely dominated that level yet the way Saka and Nelson did before they made the jump to U23 football.
Agreed - I'd like to see more of Cozier-Duberry at U23 level over the rest of the season but I don't think he starts in the strongest XI just yet. He's fine doing what he's doing now for the U18s as a 1st year scholar. I think it's more beneficial for him to be a starter in the U18 team and to keep them strong for now until the loans in January. Even then, I think Edwards, Flores and potentially Sagoe Jnr should be considered first.

I do think of him[Cozier-Duberry] as being more promising than Ideho and Butler-Oyedeji but they've paid their dues already.

As for Kido Taylor-Hart, I do think he's rested on his laurels a little bit after getting his deal, but due to the system that Betsy has opted for, there's little room for him (or Hutchinson for that matter, who's only been getting back into the team recently) so he's obviously not at his sharpest and definitely will struggle to get there playing LWB against a deceptively strong Derby team. I will say - he should take a leaf out of Balogun's book - Balogun could be sulking his way through this PL2 campaign thus far due to lack of first team football but has continued to dominate regardless. KTH should be looking to make a similar mark on this team when chances come his way - he just has to have those chances!
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
I simply don't see a point in playing 3 at the back. Having an extra DMC would allow more freedom to Patino, Salah, and Omari, and it's them who the academy should focus on, not the results or having a solid defense in a meaningless competition. Feels for me that Betsy is focused more on results than actually developing his key players, especially when none of these defenders will ever play for the first team.
In fairness to the 3 at the back, it's not exactly defensive - Rekik is the one that makes it work and he generally plays like a libero and carries forward very often. He's an auxiliary attacker basically. I'd also argue this is to accommodate our most promising batch of defenders in a while. They've made errors this season but they have a lot of ability. Likes of Ogungbo, Monlouis, Foran, Awe and the aforementioned Rekik have impressed in patches. There's definitely more of a consideration for the defenders in this group of scholars and grads.

I will agree that an extra DM should be strongly considered as an alternative - Akinola has been one of the better performers this season and seemingly has been dropped unceremoniously.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?

Didn’t know how highly he was rated by his country.
Still wonder how he is playing for the u18, could be that they needed someone more experienced to lead the team. It could also be related to that lame 3 at the back tactics we use where 1 of the technical guys is being sacked to have more defenders for whatever the reason. He needs to play u23 football ASAP
 

AbouCuéllar

Author of A-M essays 📚
Call me old fashioned but I really don't like playing different systems at U23 level and first team level.

It's good that players are well-versed in different tactical situations but I also believe in a coherent philosophy throughout youth levels and certain unnegotiables technically and tactically.

I know Betsy is doing a very nice job and by all accounts seems like a very nice coach and a massive improvement on what we had, but I'd like to see us move more toward the above approach. Hopefully he is flexible enough to do that.
 

RunTheTrap

Kai Havertz Offense League
Still wonder how he is playing for the u18, could be that they needed someone more experienced to lead the team. It could also be related to that lame 3 at the back tactics we use where 1 of the technical guys is being sacked to have more defenders for whatever the reason. He needs to play u23 football ASAP
I've heard about Flores for some years now and I thought he was in the same class as Hutchinson but apparently not. I think he is more talented than Taylor-Hart. Maybe he'll go up a level in January when we loan out some players. If he is seriously being courted by his country and he is yet to play men's football then it means he must be special. I watched some highlights of him in u20 competition for Mexico and he was balling out. I'm surprised no one talked about it on the youth forums.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
I've heard about Flores for some years now and I thought he was in the same class as Hutchinson but apparently not. I think he is more talented than Taylor-Hart. Maybe he'll go up a level in January when we loan out some players. If he is seriously being courted by his country and he is yet to play men's football then it means he must be special. I watched some highlights of him in u20 competition for Mexico and he was balling out. I'm surprised no one talked about it on the youth forums.
I think one of his problems is that he's a very greedy bastard and is quite lacking physically. I expect him to step up soon.
 
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