U21s Semi-finals: Liverpool vs United @ Anfield
- Thread starter gooDevil
- Start date
Shaky at the end there. Two converted midfielders at CB so we weren't the strongest in the air and could have easily lost it there. Poor last 15 minutes and poor first 20 minutes or so but we played well for the rest. Liverpool dominated possession at the start but nothing really productive. Solid defence from the lads and McNair has really impressed me lately. We had little possession and tried to force it too much. I think once we calmed down a bit we got a better hold of the match and were more effective on the counter.
Great running from Lawrence, final ball was off at times but we didn't have much options up top. Better second half from Andreas, had some good runs and showed pace that I didn't know he had. Good link-up down the left from Lawrence, Andreas and James at times in the second half too. Wilson was quiet throughout but he didn't look 100%. Can see a few of these making the step-up. Pearson and Rothwell is my dream type of midfield, hopefully both make it here.
Great running from Lawrence, final ball was off at times but we didn't have much options up top. Better second half from Andreas, had some good runs and showed pace that I didn't know he had. Good link-up down the left from Lawrence, Andreas and James at times in the second half too. Wilson was quiet throughout but he didn't look 100%. Can see a few of these making the step-up. Pearson and Rothwell is my dream type of midfield, hopefully both make it here.
You had the better chances in the first half, but again, I thought we controlled the game well. The teams were fairly even in the first half with you lot having the better chances, but in the 2nd half we were better.
I wonder if that Hull game at home might be an opportunity - particularly if Rafa is still out.
100% - he's done a tremendous job for long while now
You certainly didn't control the game for the whole second half bar the last 10 - 15 mins (when 3 of our best players went due to injury). Unless controlling a game means kicking seven shades of shit out of your opponents who are visibly better on the ball. First half was mostly pointless passing without penetration but you had your chances so yeah I guess it's called having control.
There's something wrong with the minds of Liverpool fans. A newb Liverpool fan is claiming we had eleven men behind the ball performance.
Someone please tell me Rossiter's first name is Leonard.
I thought that Liverpool were toothless for 75 minutes, a lot of soft possession and no cutting edge. We played a good game, pressing hard and attacking with intent. The only disappointment was that Wilson was anonymous. Liverpool came into in the last 10 minutes whilst chasing game but it was too little too late.
A draw probably would have been a fair result on the balance of things. We lacked a cutting edge though.
Jordan.
You're having a laugh. our team last night was very young and small. The Man City forwards dwarfed our defenders and our centre forward is about 5'7". We're a very fast and skillful side at youth level, not a bunch of bruisers.
Also, you lot had a 24 year old playing tonight!
Well that's my evening well and truly ruined now.
Liverpool the better side!?? Haaha. I like Barney one of my favourite opposition posters but that's garbage. Liverpool didn't control the game, they dominated possession yet didn't create anything until the last 15 mins. No point of having possession if you're not going to create chances.
The game should have been over by then anyway, I thought our players were showboating a bit too much when they should have just killed the game off.
The game should have been over by then anyway, I thought our players were showboating a bit too much when they should have just killed the game off.
I thought we fully deserved the win.
Liverpool had more of the ball in the first half, we broke and had the best chances including the goal and hitting the post. Second half we had a stronger spell and in the last 15 mins they were all over us and should have scored.
It doesnt surprise me in the slightest that a Liverpool fan would think they had the better of it. It was very close
It doesnt surprise me in the slightest that a Liverpool fan would think they had the better of it. It was very close
I thought that was one of our best performances this season. Amazing to get this far and lots of credit must go to Warren Joyce. He's done an outstanding job.
Pereira today in the 2nd half was the best he's played for a long time. He's been pretty inconsistent/poor in the last few games and so good to see the performance. Lawrence, Pearson, Rothwell - outstanding. In fact everyone played well... except Wilson. Not sure whether he was carrying a knock or what but he was quiet today.
I hope Wilson, Lawrence and Rothwell are fit for the Chelsea match because we will definitely need them. Chelsea have a very strong team at that level.
Pereira today in the 2nd half was the best he's played for a long time. He's been pretty inconsistent/poor in the last few games and so good to see the performance. Lawrence, Pearson, Rothwell - outstanding. In fact everyone played well... except Wilson. Not sure whether he was carrying a knock or what but he was quiet today.
I hope Wilson, Lawrence and Rothwell are fit for the Chelsea match because we will definitely need them. Chelsea have a very strong team at that level.
Agree with that. I'd put Varela in the bolded category too. He had another really good game and he's had an excellent season considering he returned to Uruguay for an extended spell part way through.
I seriously love everything about Ben Pearson. Slow start to the season, not playing too much, but he's ending it very strongly.
I can't seem to find out when the final of this thing is. We've got the under 18 Fa Youth Cup Final on monday and about half our Under 21 side will play in that as well (it's a very young Under 21 side).
It will be a Stamford Bridge won't it? We won the league and you finished 4th. Surely we get home advantage?
#MoyesTalk
Is Mourinho likely to give any of your lot a chance next season? For example making space for Feruz to have a go up front?
Chelseayouth twitter said date not set and venue not set either and may not be at Stamford.
Yes, but you gave up home advantage for the semi, and may do again according to an earlier tweet.
We did that because we played at Stamford Bridge (against Atletico) the night before. We've only got 1 game left this season at Stamford Bridge and that's on sunday. Would be odd to give up home advantage when we don't have to.
Anfield is a bigger home advantage than Stamford Bridge, and we still beat Liverpool.
Yeah I think so. I heard it may be on the 9th but it hasn't been confirmed yet. Still think it should be played at a neutral ground, same way I didn't think it was fair we played the final at OT last season. Either a neutral ground or a two-legged tie.
Why? Not like they were going to fill the stadium. It'll be similar but Chelsea have a better team than Liverpool in my opinion. Some great young players.
Hes an under 16 this year so its unlikely
A bit off topic but is Angel Gomes an under 16? And does anyone think he will play for the under 18s next season?
I'm pretty sure he's an U15 and possibly a young one at that so probably a few years before he makes an appearance at the U18 level.
I think he might still be under 14 this season. He was recently called up to the English under 15's although it is a year ahead of his age group. He seems really talented but I imagine he will play for our under 16's next year.
Usually good games v Chelsea at youth levels.
I read somewhere he just turned 13 in August and another that said he was 13 during a tournament in August.
Hes an under 14 this year and was only a day away from being an under 13 since he was born on 31-8-2000. He has regularly trained with the under 16s this year. Hes likely to be in the squad for the Marveld tournament at the end of May
He is 12.
13, if i recall
Got called into fecking work this evening just when this was about to kick off, but luckily (and thanks to MUTV's free-to-air coverage) set it to record, and I've just watched it.
Great game, fantastic performance from the lads against a much older (and less injury-struck) side. I thought we were fairly in control for the entire match until the last ten or so minutes when we really let them come at us. But that obviously had a lot to do with players going off injured and cramp setting in for others. Overall we were definitely the better team, and a 2-0 win would have better reflected the actual balance of the match.
Liverpool probably had more possession but we're not talking about us sitting back and letting them play here - most of it came from their centre-backs being oddly willing to just sit on the ball for big chunks of the first half. In the first half in particular, their midfield struggled to keep hold of the ball for any time at all, thanks to Pearson and Rothwell. They showed a surprising lack of ambition as the home side. But then I guess I'd have set my side out pretty cautiously if I knew a player like James Wilson was going to be waiting to pounce on any errors. Even with their cagey first-half game plan he was unlucky not to capitalise on that mistake five minutes in when he hit the post.
Everyone was excellent today, and big kudos to the back four - it's amazing that a defence with so few proper defenders in it is the tightest in the league. Huge achievement from them, Charni and Paddy in particular. However, if I had to pick three stand-out performers they'd be:
-Lawrence: It's easy to forget the whole generation of talent we have out on loan at the moment and just think about the younger set of Wilson, Pearson and Rothwell, but Lawrence sure as hell reminded us tonight. Looked light-years ahead of any Liverpool player in terms of his ability on the ball. There were a couple of incredible mazy runs where they just couldn't get near him and he seemed to weave past practically every red player on the pitch!
-Rothwell and Pearson: Lumped them together because although they'd make this list as individuals, it was their partnership that really stood out tonight. They complement each other beautifully. Rothwell is so positive, especially in the way he defends - harrying, chasing down, throwing himself into controlled but aggressive tackles. His energy levels are ridiculous, and his intelligence and attacking prowess were there for all to see too. Next to him, Pearson is just magic. So, so canny for a youngster. I swear sometimes he seems to have a teleporter in his pocket, the way he bursts out of nowhere to claim every single loose ball in our half, to nip in and steal every fifty-fifty. I lost count of how many times Rothwell slid in to knock the ball off a harassed-looking 'pool defender and Pearson materialised to take it neatly into his stride. Perfect partnership. Both could have scored with strong efforts on goal, too.
-Pereira: I've finally got a recorded match so my dad can get a glimpse of the players I rave about to him constantly, and this match couldn't have summed Pereira up much better. Technically sublime; I felt quite sorry for Liverpool's RB in the second half with Pereira, Lawrence and James running glittering rings around him. Like Lawrence, he looked like a man amongst boys when he had the ball at his feet (ironic given that he was presumably(?) the youngest starter on the pitch). And the goal was typical of the sort of strikes he is capable of producing at any time and against any opponent. That said, he was pretty invisible for much of the first half. He still needs to learn how to get his foot in the door in games where the possession isn't coming to him of its own accord. That aside, however, his goal seemed to energise him and after that he was key to most of our second-half attacks.
A few slight disappointments amongst the positives:
-Wilson seemed a little off the pace (understandably), and it was a shame that in the first half we weren't able to bring him into the play more. But some credit for that has to go to Liverpool; their wary, low-risk-passing approach probably cost them the game, but it was effective at keeping Wilson away from the ball and from support when he did manage to get on it.
-Our right wing wasn't able to match the effectiveness of our left. I don't know what the point of Varela and Janko swapping positions half way through was supposed to be, but it didn't appear to do any good, and I'm not surprised Lawrence ended up focussing his efforts on linking up with Pereira and Reece James in the second half.
-All the injuries! I hope we haven't lost too many of the lads who had to go off.
/ramble
Great game, fantastic performance from the lads against a much older (and less injury-struck) side. I thought we were fairly in control for the entire match until the last ten or so minutes when we really let them come at us. But that obviously had a lot to do with players going off injured and cramp setting in for others. Overall we were definitely the better team, and a 2-0 win would have better reflected the actual balance of the match.
Liverpool probably had more possession but we're not talking about us sitting back and letting them play here - most of it came from their centre-backs being oddly willing to just sit on the ball for big chunks of the first half. In the first half in particular, their midfield struggled to keep hold of the ball for any time at all, thanks to Pearson and Rothwell. They showed a surprising lack of ambition as the home side. But then I guess I'd have set my side out pretty cautiously if I knew a player like James Wilson was going to be waiting to pounce on any errors. Even with their cagey first-half game plan he was unlucky not to capitalise on that mistake five minutes in when he hit the post.
Everyone was excellent today, and big kudos to the back four - it's amazing that a defence with so few proper defenders in it is the tightest in the league. Huge achievement from them, Charni and Paddy in particular. However, if I had to pick three stand-out performers they'd be:
-Lawrence: It's easy to forget the whole generation of talent we have out on loan at the moment and just think about the younger set of Wilson, Pearson and Rothwell, but Lawrence sure as hell reminded us tonight. Looked light-years ahead of any Liverpool player in terms of his ability on the ball. There were a couple of incredible mazy runs where they just couldn't get near him and he seemed to weave past practically every red player on the pitch!
-Rothwell and Pearson: Lumped them together because although they'd make this list as individuals, it was their partnership that really stood out tonight. They complement each other beautifully. Rothwell is so positive, especially in the way he defends - harrying, chasing down, throwing himself into controlled but aggressive tackles. His energy levels are ridiculous, and his intelligence and attacking prowess were there for all to see too. Next to him, Pearson is just magic. So, so canny for a youngster. I swear sometimes he seems to have a teleporter in his pocket, the way he bursts out of nowhere to claim every single loose ball in our half, to nip in and steal every fifty-fifty. I lost count of how many times Rothwell slid in to knock the ball off a harassed-looking 'pool defender and Pearson materialised to take it neatly into his stride. Perfect partnership. Both could have scored with strong efforts on goal, too.
-Pereira: I've finally got a recorded match so my dad can get a glimpse of the players I rave about to him constantly, and this match couldn't have summed Pereira up much better. Technically sublime; I felt quite sorry for Liverpool's RB in the second half with Pereira, Lawrence and James running glittering rings around him. Like Lawrence, he looked like a man amongst boys when he had the ball at his feet (ironic given that he was presumably(?) the youngest starter on the pitch). And the goal was typical of the sort of strikes he is capable of producing at any time and against any opponent. That said, he was pretty invisible for much of the first half. He still needs to learn how to get his foot in the door in games where the possession isn't coming to him of its own accord. That aside, however, his goal seemed to energise him and after that he was key to most of our second-half attacks.
A few slight disappointments amongst the positives:
-Wilson seemed a little off the pace (understandably), and it was a shame that in the first half we weren't able to bring him into the play more. But some credit for that has to go to Liverpool; their wary, low-risk-passing approach probably cost them the game, but it was effective at keeping Wilson away from the ball and from support when he did manage to get on it.
-Our right wing wasn't able to match the effectiveness of our left. I don't know what the point of Varela and Janko swapping positions half way through was supposed to be, but it didn't appear to do any good, and I'm not surprised Lawrence ended up focussing his efforts on linking up with Pereira and Reece James in the second half.
-All the injuries! I hope we haven't lost too many of the lads who had to go off.
/ramble
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