U21s Final: Chelsea vs. United

gooDevil

Worst scout ever
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The Kids are the Future
Wednesday, 14 May, Old Trafford, 7:45 pm BST.

Live MUTV coverage starts at 7.

Chelsea is the 1 seed but for some reason we'll be hosting the game.

Perhaps that reason is we are the holders.

ChelseaTV have already announced they will show the game.
 
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What are the chances of United winning?

Also, date and location are yet to be announced.
 
iBoss said:
Great job by the coaching staff for getting to the final again. This Chelsea team have looked good the times I have seen them though.
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1/3rd of the way through the season MUTV and most everyone were basically writing off the season. IIRC we were in the bottom half of a tight table and most of the talk was about how depleted the team was. Januzaj and Daehli, the best players from the U18s were gone to the first team and Cardiff via Molde respectively, Pereira wasn't getting games either.

We've phased in more U18s as even more players have gone on loan in the 2nd half of the season and we've only gotten better, the coaching staff deserve a lot of credit. Liverpool came here and scored 4, to hold them scoreless on that relatively huge Anfield pitch is simply amazing.
 
In the first half of the season the u21s was full of players treading water - they really should have found teams (loan or transfer) for them in summer but couldn't afford not to in January. The likes of Thorpe, Keane, Petrucci, Macheda, Lingard, Lawrence had nothing to prove in the u21s and nothing to gain by staying there, so I can understand if maybe they lacked motivation or cohesion. Once they all went out to get senior football the 'u19 squad' for want of a better term, i.e. those players who had barely played in the first half of the season but played in the youth CL instead, moved up to the reserves and managed to look a much more cohesive unit and more motivated, which went a long way to pushing us up the table late on. And of course Wilson's goals were a massive part of it too.
 
Agree completely except for Lawrence, he only had 5 starts for the U21s last season and only stepped up from the U18s at the end of last season. A season in the U21s would have been reasonable in his case.

But I agree that the others did not need another season, or half season, in the reserves, and there are probably others I'm forgetting that we could add in, like the other Keane.

And Tunnicliffe.
 
Is there an official away end for this?

Wouldn't mind going, could organise a Red Cafe end of season piss up in London.
 
MancunianAngels said:
Is there an official away end for this?

Wouldn't mind going, could organise a Red Cafe end of season piss up in London.
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There was some United fans in the away end vs Liverpool, I don't think you get a seat so you can sit wherever you like.
 
Didn't Chelsea have the right to play this at home if they chose? If so, any idea why they didn't want that?
 
Gerald G said:
It's at Old Trafford on Wednesday 14th May. 7.45pm. On SkySports.
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The day of my exam, great!


:(
eddiebigballs said:
Didn't Chelsea have the right to play this at home if they chose? If so, any idea why they didn't want that?
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I am rather annoyed that they didn't choose to play at home, no way I can make the journey now! :lol:
 
Suli said:
The day of my exam, great!


:(

I am rather annoyed that they didn't choose to play at home, no way I can make the journey now! :lol:
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Same here, was looking forward to going to this.
 
Can someone record the game and put it up for download? I`m not sure the usual suspect forum/sites will have it up, though if it's indeed on Sky they might.
 
Bizarre decision to dig the pitch up. I know it's only an U21s final, but it's still worth winning, and would be a great experience for their players and fans.
I'm pretty sure 15th May isn't too late to start work on a new pitch.
 
Sir A1ex said:
Bizarre decision to dig the pitch up. I know it's only an U21s final, but it's still worth winning, and would be a great experience for their players and fans.
I'm pretty sure 15th May isn't too late to start work on a new pitch.
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Hardly matters to Chelsea. It is not like that the youngsters will be given chances in senior team if they win.
 
Still think Chelsea are the favourites for this one, but honestly it won't bother me that much if we don't win. Big achievement to get into the final with such a young squad, so many of them local boys, and it always feels extra special when you've got players succeeding in the first team (Januzaj) or getting their first chances there (Wilson, Lawrence etc).
 
As the season is over for most on-loan players - we should be able to field a really strong side.

L
 
Orc said:
Look how fecking gigantic Ruben Loftus-Cheek is...:eek:
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Is he the vertically gigantic one to the right or the horizontally gigantic one to the left? Looks like a pretty physical side.
 
Elliott said:
Is he the vertically gigantic one to the right or the horizontally gigantic one to the left? Looks like a pretty physical side.
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He's the really tall one on the right.

I think he's the most likely to break into Chelsea's first team within a couple years according to their fans. I remember Mourinho brought him on their preseason tour last summer which was televised here in the States and I watched him hold his own quite well against Yaya Toure.

They have some excellent young players.
 
Hopefully Wilson and Lawrence will be high on confidence. Do you think Januzaj will play?
 
Brightonian said:
Still think Chelsea are the favourites for this one, but honestly it won't bother me that much if we don't win. Big achievement to get into the final with such a young squad, so many of them local boys, and it always feels extra special when you've got players succeeding in the first team (Januzaj) or getting their first chances there (Wilson, Lawrence etc).
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I'd expect Chelsea to be favorites even at Old Trafford, it's not a huge advantage to play in a mostly empty stadium though I'm certainly glad it's a home game and it will help.

But Joyce's teams know how to win tight games, it's a big part of their education imho. They will go out there with a great plan and with our best-in-the-U21-league defense we can hold anyone scoreless on our day.
 
lysglimt said:
As the season is over for most on-loan players - we should be able to field a really strong side.

L
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Who will be available for this game who wasn't for the last?

Personally I hope we play basically the same team we did against Liverpool, Lingard is the only one that pops into my mind as perhaps deserving a start.

Lawrence came in though, first chance after his loan spell ended, so it's certainly possible.
 
gooDevil said:
Who will be available for this game who wasn't for the last?

Personally I hope we play basically the same team we did against Liverpool, Lingard is the only one that pops into my mind as perhaps deserving a start.

Lawrence came in though, first chance after his loan spell ended, so it's certainly possible.
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Yeah me too. It wouldn't seem fair or right to leave out the players that got us to this final. I doubt Warren Joyce would completely change the team anyway. Lingard and Powell have a play-off final I believe so I doubt they'll be back.
All the others could potentially return I suppose.
 
gooDevil said:
Who will be available for this game who wasn't for the last?

Personally I hope we play basically the same team we did against Liverpool, Lingard is the only one that pops into my mind as perhaps deserving a start.

Lawrence came in though, first chance after his loan spell ended, so it's certainly possible.
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Same. For starters, bringing a load of new faces in would probably make us play worse - that same hotch-potch of players a bit beyond U21 level was the reason we started the season poorly, after all - it was only when we shifted them out on loan and brought the more cohesive unit of 'U19s' in that we started playing better.

And even aside from that, you should always play the lads who actually put the work into getting you there, it would be unfair to do otherwise.
 
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