Academy: Manchester United vs Bolton

5-1 FT

Competitive, albeit it rather scrappy and disjointed first half. Second half we played from great football and the scoreline could have been even more convincing. Keane and Tunnicliffe were both excellent, and overall it was a very good all round display.
 
very good game. Second half everyone was on song. I can't name names sadly as I'll have to mention everyone but very impressive :)
 
Excellent second half display, when this group of players clicks it's really good to watch.
 
Sounds great, how did Petrucci look after his injury?
 
Unlike last year - this team has no real weaknesses. Fryers is no left-back but he is so good with the ball and has a lot of pace so he deals with it nicely. And in Massacci and Brown we have good competition for the rightback position.

Central midfield is simply scary - the only problem is finding the proper balance. As it stands today - maybe this is our strongest side if all players are fit:

Devlin - Fryers, Wootton, Thorpe, Brown - Brady, Tunnicliffe, Petrucci, Pogba, Morrison - King

Bench: Johnstone, McGinty, Massacci, Cofie and Ajose

Maybe...
 
lysglimt said:
Unlike last year - this team has no real weaknesses. Fryers is no left-back but he is so good with the ball and has a lot of pace so he deals with it nicely. And in Massacci and Brown we have good competition for the rightback position.

Central midfield is simply scary - the only problem is finding the proper balance. As it stands today - maybe this is our strongest side if all players are fit:

Devlin - Fryers, Wootton, Thorpe, Brown - Brady, Tunnicliffe, Petrucci, Pogba, Morrison - King

Bench: Johnstone, McGinty, Massacci, Cofie and Ajose

Maybe...
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I like Fornasier & Thorpe as the centre backs. You've left out Keane too who has been one of our best players this season.
 
Top said:
Sounds great, how did Petrucci look after his injury?
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He was peripheral first half and got pulled up for a few niggly fouls. He played a few incisive passes, but he got far more involved 2nd half and was creative and showed some great skill down the right. He's still working his way back into it, you probably won't see the best of him for a few games yet.
 
There are going to be some very good players not involved when the Youth Cup comes around.
 
datura said:
I like Fornasier & Thorpe as the centre backs. You've left out Keane too who has been one of our best players this season.
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Should have had him on the bench - but as a striker, King is a clear first choice - and I doubt we will play 4-4-2 simply because we have too many good midfielders.

And I still think - injury-free, our central-midfield will be Petrucci, Pogba and Tunnicliffe

Wootton will play - he is the best central-defender! He is much more physical than the other 2
 
lysglimt said:
Should have had him on the bench - but as a striker, King is a clear first choice - and I doubt we will play 4-4-2 simply because we have too many good midfielders.

And I still think - injury-free, our central-midfield will be Petrucci, Pogba and Tunnicliffe

Wootton will play - he is the best central-defender! He is much more physical than the other 2
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I'm not convinced by Wootton personally. I think Thorpe is a better player and I like what I've seen from Fornasier so far, albeit he is still in the process of adapting to the English game.

I think it would be a very harsh decision to leave Keane out given his contribution this season so far in terms of goals and assists.
 
datura said:
I'm not convinced by Wootton personally. I think Thorpe is a better player and I like what I've seen from Fornasier so far, albeit he is still in the process of adapting to the English game.

I think it would be a very harsh decision to leave Keane out given his contribution this season so far in terms of goals and assists.
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Wootton seems to have the same problem as Pique and Gill had in that he turns about as quickly as a bus. If up against pacey players with good dribbling ability he looks lost. I like Thorpe he has that Jonny Evans type knack of being in the right place at the right time to get in important tackles and headers, his positional sense is very good. Fornasier looked very assured and more aggressive in going for the ball today than he has in previous games so hopefully that means he's getting used to the English game. Depending on the strength of the opposition we face in the youth cup I could see Morrison being left out of the side in favour of more combative players like Pogba and Tunnicliffe and and less gifted but more hard working team players like Ajose and Keane because despite his obvious ability he tends to flit in and out of games. I can see King making a real name for himself in this competition aswell.
 
I've not really caught much of any academy games recently, but how are Devlin and Johnstone doing? I've never been that impressed with Devlin and Johnstone is getting a lot of encouraging praise - has he got any realistic chance of pushing Devlin out of the team, or is it more a question of age and experience being even more important for keepers than elsewhere? Or have I just got Devlin all wrong?
 
jb8521 said:
Wootton seems to have the same problem as Pique and Gill had in that he turns about as quickly as a bus. If up against pacey players with good dribbling ability he looks lost. I like Thorpe he has that Jonny Evans type knack of being in the right place at the right time to get in important tackles and headers, his positional sense is very good. Fornasier looked very assured and more aggressive in going for the ball today than he has in previous games so hopefully that means he's getting used to the English game. Depending on the strength of the opposition we face in the youth cup I could see Morrison being left out of the side in favour of more combative players like Pogba and Tunnicliffe and and less gifted but more hard working team players like Ajose and Keane because despite his obvious ability he tends to flit in and out of games. I can see King making a real name for himself in this competition aswell.
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I see Thorpe as very similar to Evans too. He's very composed and unflustered and seems to read the game very well. It's good to see him back in the middle.

I agree about Morrison, he would be a great asset from the bench too. I was very impressed with him today though, he was far more focused and the tricks had a purpose and he made a difference when he came on. The ball to Pogba was brilliant.
 
samabachan said:
I've not really caught much of any academy games recently, but how are Devlin and Johnstone doing? I've never been that impressed with Devlin and Johnstone is getting a lot of encouraging praise - has he got any realistic chance of pushing Devlin out of the team, or is it more a question of age and experience being even more important for keepers than elsewhere? Or have I just got Devlin all wrong?
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Devlin has been impressive of late, he had a great game against Wolves where he made numerous saves to keep us in the game.

Johnstone looks promising too, I imagine he'll get his fair share of games this season.
 
datura said:
I see Thorpe as very similar to Evans too. He's very composed and unflustered and seems to read the game very well. It's good to see him back in the middle.

I agree about Morrison, he would be a great asset from the bench too. I was very impressed with him today though, he was far more focused and the tricks had a purpose and he made a difference when he came on. The ball to Pogba was brilliant.
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Yeah I agree he was a lot better than he has been of late. That pass was excellent and he made a couple of great runs too and took his goal very calmly
 
samabachan said:
And most importantly, was Petrucci back? I mean, I know he was back but was he back?
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Petrucci did fine but collectively we were exceptional in the second half. He wasn't afraid to get stuck in, he even picked up a booking first half.

It was a hard first half but second half ...top drawer. Petrucci went to the wing and did fine. He was subbed late on. Hopefully someone will upload it at some stage

The second half is definately worth watching.
 
I believe Hussein deserves a place in th team. He has been great, although injured now.
 
datura said:
Devlin has been impressive of late, he had a great game against Wolves where he made numerous saves to keep us in the game.

Johnstone looks promising too, I imagine he'll get his fair share of games this season.
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My impression of them (I haven't seen Johnstone that many times though) is that Devlin is exceptional as a shot-stopper - quite good at crosses, but tends to make some quite absurd errors which I would assume is down to lack of concentration. Not that many lately though

Johnstone is much better in the air (the few times I have seen him - he looks very convincing dealing with crosses) but is not quite as good as Devlin on the line!
 
datura said:
He was peripheral first half and got pulled up for a few niggly fouls. He played a few incisive passes, but he got far more involved 2nd half and was creative and showed some great skill down the right. He's still working his way back into it, you probably won't see the best of him for a few games yet.
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Cheers mate, it bugs me I'm not able to catch the academy games.
 
I demand to see Pogba, Petrucci and Morrison in the CC team in some capacity :devil:
only kidding ;)​

On a side note, what is Larnell Cole like as a player? Looks similar to Brandy in the little I've seen, but what's his best position? And is that a fair comparison? Will Keane is also starting to look like a very talented player, seems to be starting to get it together now and seems to not only score goals but knit the attack together brilliantly as well, something we have often struggled to do both in the academy and especially the reserves.
 
Brilliant, thanks a lot for that Girish II. Keane and Pogba make things look very easy don't they, they glide around the pitch. And I thought Tunnicliffe and Fryers looked very impressive too.
 
samabachan said:
I demand to see Pogba, Petrucci and Morrison in the CC team in some capacity :devil:
only kidding ;)​

On a side note, what is Larnell Cole like as a player? Looks similar to Brandy in the little I've seen, but what's his best position? And is that a fair comparison? .
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Not really, he's a central midfielder primarily, nice passer of the ball. First time I've ever really seen that sort of pace from him because he's not often in those sorts of positions.
 
datura said:
5-1 Pogba pen after Fryers brought down. Eckersley sent off for the challenge, perhaps harshly.
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Sure it was for the challenge? It looks a bit like the ref reacted to something the player said. The challenge certainly didn't warrant a red card.
 
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