76’
Ibragimov is replaced by James Bailey.
Ibragimov is replaced by James Bailey.
U18s: United vs Everton
- Thread starter top1whoisman
- Start date
Must be said that even if the scoreline is tighter than usual, it’s been another absolutely dominant performance. This could be easily another 6-0 or something.
Not been a vintage performance today, Everton have made it difficult but the final ball hasn't been good.
Biancheri looks like he's having a bit of a growth spurt.
Derby vs man City is crazy 3-3 before haft time
Then again they’ve created nothing and not even attacked many times in this half. It’s been all United.
Plunkett you at least see there is a player there - going forward. Lusale - I am yet to see anything that can explain why we signed him.
I don't know how many times Lusale gave away the ball since he's come on. 
90+2’
3-0 Mantato
3-0 Mantato
Good finish Mantato
Then again we’ve seen less than an hour of him.
FT
3-0 (Obi, Thwaites, Mantato)
3-0 (Obi, Thwaites, Mantato)
I may be wrong but I do seem to remember seeing Mantato playing LB at one point, maybe for England. Can anyone confirm this? If so, perhaps he could be used in the RWB role we see Quenda occupying for Sporting.
Yeah he’s played LB plenty of times, both for England and United.
He could definitely become a good WB, but I think the big question is which side would be the strongest one. If that role would mean less cutting inside he could be even more effective as a LWB.
From what I've seen of Sporting, they choose one WB who is 'wrong footed' so that they can play passes inside more easily. Quenda does that now on the RWB side. I would love to see Amad RF with someone like Mantato RWB.
Supposedly Amorim is more than happy to dip into the youth setup if he sees a better fit there. It would be interesting to see who he does use. Do you have anyone in mind?
Ethan Williams is another who I see big potential as a WB. On either side.
If we play with wing backs, there is quite a few from the acadamy that could be seen as options. Amass, Mantato, Williams and maybe even Scanlon?
16s beat Everton 5-2, Bassirou Nkoto got one.
I hope so. He seems to go under the radar. Not one of the ones currently in and around matchday squads, and not one of the 'up and coming' future ones often talked about from the group below. He seems stuck a little betwixt and between at the moment, but he does look to have a lot of potential - especially his two footedness allowing decent shots, crosses and set pieces with either foot. Does seem a little too loose with his touches at times in build up play, which he something he can work on.
Definitely exciting prospects in Mantato and Amass as wing backs as well.
Yeah it's early days of course - clearly there should be a player there. I trust our judgment when it comes to u18 players a lot more than our first-team players
Two assists too apparently.
Jaedon Donkor with a goal + assist. He has the score at being 4-2.
Very accomplished performance from the defence. Feels like playing Munro at RB and Kukonki at LB will be very beneficial for them in Amorim's 3 at the back system. Munro does really well going forward too surprisingly.
What a player Thwaites is,controls the midfield with Fletch.
Was a good test today against a physical Everton side and a ref who chose to ignore how bad some of their tackling was.
Was a good test today against a physical Everton side and a ref who chose to ignore how bad some of their tackling was.
Munro looks a completely different player from last season - last season he looked just tall - now he looks much stronger. And his ability on the ball as a right-back has impressed me - he never looked capable of doing that last season
Munro is a pleasant surprise at RB, really impressed me today and last week.
Thwaites was class today, in my opinion the best player on the pitch
Thwaites was class today, in my opinion the best player on the pitch
Post-match comments from Adam Lawrence.
Liked this kid everytime I’ve watched. Refreshing change in current academy system to see a kid excelling based on football ability rather than physicality. Proper footballer
Hmm, wondering whether Shea Lacey could’ve been one of the two players spending last week training and playing in a match behind closed doors at Doncaster. That could be one explanation why he didn’t play in this one.
@Gungerz any idea on who those two players were?
@Gungerz any idea on who those two players were?
Some people have suggested they are just being cautious with Lacey due to his injuries.
The Doncaster manager mentioned they were some of our best u21s players so I’d imagine the winger would have been Mather or Ennis.
It would make more sense that it was a couple of the older players.
Last season he impressed me bringing the ball out of defence with a bit of speed and dribbling, more than actual defending so I'm not surprised he can play rightback
I think we have quite a few midfield and attacking midfield types like that. Gore, Fitzgerald, Ibragimov, Thwaites, Ibrovic-Fletcher, Baumann and Devaney too and then perhaps further forward J. Fletcher - they all have ability with the ball thats exciting rather than just running power. Its just that other than Mainoo - who despite his age was always pretty good at keeping his balance in a physical tussle, we didnt really see any of them get pushed forward towards the first team. Most of them would be super young to do so anyway, but my point is this summer we got all the big talk and the couple of chances for Collyer which might have given the impression he was the best, or that we dont have ball playing youngsters coming through in midfield positions. We absolutely do, we just doing see a lot of them getting a chance in the first team yet