U21s: Arsenal vs. United

That was good play by Arsenal till Thorpe's great tackle
 
They are have been on top this half pretty much.
 
Phew big miss by Arsenal.

Make a change Joyce.
 
Is this supposed to be some sort of Development exercise for Januzaj ? Doesn't make any sense otherwise.
 
Joyce needs to make a change now. Arsenal have gotten really close on the last couple of chances.
 
Not often you'll hear this but we've struggled with Arsenals physicality. They're just too big and strong for us in some key areas of the pitch.
 
Tunnicliffe's confidence seems shattered from his loan.
 
Bellerin with a gun goal.

Deserved for them and he looks a talent.
 
We defended well, they were just a more physical team.

Typical performance from a Warren Joyce side though; excellent without the ball, shite with it.
 
cj_sparky said:
Cofie sat on the bench after scoring a cracker against WBA
Click to expand...

He's been back a few days, perhaps he has a knock and we didn't want to risk him on that pitch, perhaps he was tired and the staff were reluctant to play him, perhaps it's a message that you need to earn your place in the team, who knows?

When you have one striker in the matchday squad and he's on a senior loan, or just back from one, it's not unreasonable to say there's nobody to play up there.
 
Yeah, but Januzaj started against WBA as a striker. Didn't work and was shifted right in the first half itself with Cole then Lingard going forward.

Should have done the same as Januzaj was the best player after going to right at the weekend. He needs to be on the ball, while facing the goal.

Unless it is supposed to be a development thingy, made little sense.
 
SkeppyRed said:
Typical performance from a Warren Joyce side though; excellent without the ball, shite with it.
Click to expand...

Know very little of his teams when he's managed at first-team level but certainly not true of his time in charge of the reserves, in the main. Group of players at his disposal this year just isn't as good as it has been.
 
Was a bit dreary, dunno if you could hear it on TV but there was a an old lady singing shit Arsenal songs all game. Then at the end a blocked shot flew into the stands and as the ball was thrown back she sings 'Missed me!' :lol:

Can't really complain about the score, United did little in terms of goal threats all game. Januzaj looked extremely isolated up top and was getting bullied by their defence, ref didn't seem to take any notice.
 
PS18 said:
Know very little of his teams when he's managed at first-team level but certainly not true of his time in charge of the reserves, in the main. Group of players at his disposal this year just isn't as good as it has been.
Click to expand...

Its easy to play good football when you have Pogba, the Keane brothers, Petrucci and Morrison in your side. He's excellent at teaching his teams defensive discipline and getting them to work tirelessly for eachother and when you have players like that in your team if you defend well you will always have a good chance.

I get the impression his style is to surrender possession, make sure you have plenty of men behind the ball and be direct when you get it to try and hit your forward players quickly so they can exploit the space. I just don't think this style suits Lingard, Januzaj, Cole or Lawrence and I cant see it suiting Pearson, Daehli or Rothwell next year either.

Its just seems a contradiction from our 18s who play a far more patient possession based game.
 
Another thing I was wondering is what position do people think Januzaj is being readied for from the current system our first team play? Where would he fit in? Or are we trying to change the type of player he is to suit us?

The player he is most similar to from our team currently is Kagawa, someone who we are currently struggling to accommodate into our style of play.

Same questions could be asked about Daehli as well. They can all play wide but none are natural wingers as they all prefer to come inside and link up play. You also get the impression that long term they will all be most effective in the middle behind the forward. I wonder if we are planning to change our style of play to incorporate this type of player somewhere down the line.
 
SkeppyRed said:
Another thing I was wondering is what position do people think Januzaj is being readied for from the current system our first team play? Where would he fit in? Or are we trying to change the type of player he is to suit us?

The player he is most similar to from our team currently is Kagawa, someone who we are currently struggling to accommodate into our style of play.

Same questions could be asked about Daehli as well. They can all play wide but none are natural wingers as they all prefer to come inside and link up play. You also get the impression that long term they will all be most effective in the middle behind the forward. I wonder if we are planning to change our style of play to incorporate this type of player somewhere down the line.
Click to expand...

Kagawa is struggling centrally right now because he isn't physically ready in terms of strength or stamina. And he needs to dislodge Rooney centrally.

What's that got to do with Style of play ? It's not like we play Hoofball in the first team.

And Januzaj will have to start out wide. Hell, even Iniesta started there and still plays wide for Barca. Xavi had to play out of position too. Silva started wide, so did Mata...

Januzaj will be fine wide till he develops and then moves more central, if he has too. As for Daehli it depends on his development tbh.
 
Barclays Under-21 Premier League
20 March 2013
Barnet FC, Underhill

ARSENAL 2
(Henderson 43pen, Bellerin 89)

MANCHESTER UNITED 1
(Ekangamene 40)

U21s: Arsenal 2 United 1

Manchester United's Under-21s were beaten by Hector Bellerin's late winner despite a resolute defensive display.

Charni Ekangamene's first goal at this level, with the Reds' only noteworthy shot on target, opened the scoring but the home side responded quickly thanks to a Conor Henderson penalty.

A dreadful surface at Underhill did not help either side develop a passing game and the first half was littered with free-kicks. Bellerin was booked for a foul on Jesse Lingard early on and that set the tone for some strong challenges from both sides.

Pierluigi Gollini was equal to a Henderson free-kick but the Reds defended stoutly until Isaac Hayden was allowed a far-post header from a free-kick after he had been involved in a flare-up with Sean McGinty. Thankfully, the Gunners forward nodded wide.

A moment of magic by Ekangamene illuminated proceedings on 40 minutes as the Belgian midfielder rocketed a rasping drive past Emiliano Martinez after Larnell Cole latched onto a Marnick Vermijl pass down the line to pull the ball back to the edge of the area.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the impressive Bellerin was felled by Lingard inside the box and a rather soft penalty was awarded. Up stepped Henderson to hammer his spot-kick straight down the middle after Alexander Büttner, rather than Lingard, was shown a yellow card - presumably for dissent.

Despite the goals, things remained untidy after the interval and Lingard did receive a caution after a reckless tackle on Francis Coquelin, even if the Frenchman made a meal of it. Adnan Januzaj, working his socks off as a lone attacker with little reward, drifted a rare shot well wide before drawing a booking out of Ignasi Miquel when skinning the Spaniard.

At the other end, the excellent Tom Thorpe and substitute Michele Fornasier made masterful tackles on Thomas Eisfeld and Sanchez Watt respectively but there was relief when Hayden passed up a glorious opportunity to give the hosts the lead by side-footing wide of an inviting target.

Thorpe looped a speculative effort over the top before McGinty was booked for a foul that almost led to further punishment as Henderson beat Gollini with the free-kick but the bar came to United's rescue. It proved to be only a stay of execution as Arsenal dominated the possession in the closing stages and snatched a winner when Bellerin beat Lingard to a loose ball just outside the area and swerved a volley past Gollini.

There was controversy at the death when Bellerin blotted his copybook with a poor challenge on Ekangamene. Incredibly, it was the United scorer who was booked for complaining rather than the adventurous full-back.

United: Gollini; Vermijl, Thorpe, McGinty, Büttner (Fornasier 46); Cole, Veseli, Tunnicliffe, Ekangamene, Lingard; Januzaj. Subs: Blackett, Sutherland, Cofie, Daehli.

http://www.manutd.com/en/Players-An...-manchester-united-under-21-match-report.aspx
 
SkeppyRed said:
Its easy to play good football when you have Pogba, the Keane brothers, Petrucci and Morrison in your side. He's excellent at teaching his teams defensive discipline and getting them to work tirelessly for eachother and when you have players like that in your team if you defend well you will always have a good chance.

I get the impression his style is to surrender possession, make sure you have plenty of men behind the ball and be direct when you get it to try and hit your forward players quickly so they can exploit the space. I just don't think this style suits Lingard, Januzaj, Cole or Lawrence and I cant see it suiting Pearson, Daehli or Rothwell next year either.

Its just seems a contradiction from our 18s who play a far more patient possession based game.
Click to expand...

None of his reserve sides have ever been quite as possession-based as the current U18 group but neither have they been anything like 'surrender possession, men behind the ball etc'. Over the last couple of seasons we've won heaps of trophies playing some really stylish football with plenty of possession.

You said it yourself - it's easy (easier) to play good football with players like those named in the side. That hasn't been the case really this season - Pogba/Morrison are gone, Will Keane looks like missing the whole season, Petrucci's only played 7 games, Lingard's been away on loan for a spell and hasn't really found form, Cole's been similarly inconsistent, King and Brady left mid-season. There's really been no striking/goalscoring options at all since Macheda/Henriquez went out on loan - he's even been hampered by the U18s' best striker being injured at the time he might have wanted to really use him. The overwhelming strength of the group of players that has really been available to him on a consistent basis has been the defensive side - Thorpe, Fornasier, Vermijl etc.

Results-wise he's done a really good job given the restrictions he's operating under. He can't really do much about the lack of options at his disposal - that's not really down to him (certainly not primarily). I'd have liked to see Dæhli involved more, and I'd rather see Pearson promoted and playing CM ahead of Veseli, but those decisions are taken by the coaching staff as a whole.

The bigger issue for me is what looks to me like an excess of deadwood at U21 level right now. I'm not one to be harsh or write kids off prematurely but there's so many in the U21 squad at the moment who haven't pushed on at all (I can see a lot getting released in the summer). The 2011 Youth Cup crop was hugely promising (even though it's not quite panned out as we'd have hoped) but the following year's intake (the 93/94-borns) have been a major drop-off - McCullough, Blackett, Ekangamene, Hendrie, Lawrence, Van Velzen, plus the two keepers who've already moved on (Coll and Jacob). Only Ekangamene's anything like an U21 regular at the moment, and that's really only because of loans. Blackett's been unlucky with injury and could still emerge but at the minute it's looking like a really poor crop and if you have that, you're going to suffer the effects of that as they move through the ranks/leave the club. That's where we are at the minute I think.

Next year will be interesting - lot of the U18s moving up full-time to the 21s, plus you'd expect Wilson to feature regularly even though he's still U18 eligible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.