U21s: United vs. Spurs

Evans MOTM for me - Keane and Lindegaard also had a good game. Evans looked well above everyone else out there - outstanding game
 
Seriously, Olly get on giffing that Slow Mo challenge, spin and stay upright in one motion for the first goal.

MAJESTIC! :lol:

That double save from Anders :drool:

Is Harry Kane the number 10? feck he looks unco. Quality milking of the penno as well.
 
Tunnicliffe is 19, Brady 21. Brady's best chance is at left back in my opinion. If can convert and improve his positioning and concentration he be a useful future wing back for us.

Disagree about the left back thing. Think that was just a once off personally. Still think he's best in a central position.

Age wise your a bit out there....Brady is only 11 months older.
 
Hearing good praise for Tunnicliffe - apparently was one of the best players on the field tonight? I have high hopes for him - wouldn't be suprised if he'll play a few games in the COC* Cup this season.

*:lol:

I wouldn't be surprised to see him appear in the PL this season at some point. Really impressed with him whenever I've seen him. He's a monster!:devil:
 
Fantastic save by Lindegaard :eek:

How would you guys rate our strikers this season by the way? From what I've heard, Macheda has been sub-par in plenty of games so far. I'm not sure which of him or King I rate the highest these days. Probably King, due to my obvious bias.

Rooney
RvP
Welbeck
Hernandez
King
Macheda
Henriquez (No idea really)
W.Keane when back

We do got ourself some freaking fantastic prospects up top :drool:
 
If King didn't have incredible pace and strength he wouldn't stand out a all. Technically he is nothing special. He has too much work to do to become one of the best in the world at his position which is what we require. He can still go on to have good career at a high level.

Wootton is the same age as Smalling and older than Jones. He will also be a good player but I doubt it will be here.

Technically he is good. I think he has probably slightly regressed, in respect that apart from what he might have got mentally out of it - he don't look like a lad who's benefited from his loans. Bear in mind his versatility which he does have going for him. His crossing was fine. His shooting was off. But the more games he get's the better he will be. I wouldn't worry about king. I thought Kiko however, looked like a lad playing for his future last night. He put in a good shift.
 
Fantastic save by Lindegaard :eek:

How would you guys rate our strikers this season by the way? From what I've heard, Macheda has been sub-par in plenty of games so far. I'm not sure which of him or King I rate the highest these days. Probably King, due to my obvious bias.

Rooney
RvP
Welbeck
Hernandez
King
Macheda
Henriquez (No idea really)
W.Keane when back

We do got ourself some freaking fantastic prospects up top :drool:

Kings better then Kiko but Kiko on his day is probably a more polished finisher. We know the first four. You missed out Cofie. In keane, Cofie, King and Henriquez...we have an interesting problem. In my time watching United, I don't think we've ever had strikers of that quality in the youth system.
 
Yes, Cofie aswell!

Some part of me really wants King to go to Molde on loan, partly because he would play every single week, but also gets some much needed guidance from OGS. He made great strides when Ole was at the club, and who better to teach you the art of finishing then our BFA?
 
Yes, Cofie aswell!

Some part of me really wants King to go to Molde on loan, partly because he would play every single week, but also gets some much needed guidance from OGS. He made great strides when Ole was at the club, and who better to teach you the art of finishing then our BFA?

I would like us to keep him at the club, give him games in the cups and then loan him out in Jan - maybe to Molde. He just needs games. King can finish. He just needs games to get into the right mindset again
 
Strange game at times I thought. Spurs had plenty of the ball without really doing enough. Powell looks a wee bit lost for me at times, but getting used to a new position that is sort of expected no?

Josh King was good in the build up, finishing was poor unfortunately.

Keane and Wooton I really like. Evans was good.

Tunners loves a tackle, and thought he was alright.

Buttner looked decent both ends of the pitch and really seems to want the ball.

Couple of sharp saves from Lindegaard. He is real competition for De Gea.

Why were Petrucci and Bebe not involved?
 
Fantastic save by Lindegaard :eek:

How would you guys rate our strikers this season by the way? From what I've heard, Macheda has been sub-par in plenty of games so far. I'm not sure which of him or King I rate the highest these days. Probably King, due to my obvious bias.

Rooney
RvP
Welbeck
Hernandez
King
Macheda
Henriquez (No idea really)
W.Keane when back

We do got ourself some freaking fantastic prospects up top :drool:

Rooney
RvP
Welbeck
Hernandez

Henriquez
Keane
Macheda
King
 
King at the bottom? I gotta say I disagree with that list. We've not even seen Henriquez play at U21 in England, yet you claim he's our biggest striker talent?
 
Was not a brilliant performance yesterday.

Buttner was surely the standout player in terms of composure, control and looked like he belongs to the first team level.

Otherwise M. Keane looked pretty impressive to me. Even Wooton was decent.

Nice to see Fletcher and Evans back who were decent.

King and Brady had decent games but need to improve more seriously.

Powell and Tunnicliffe , I seriously don't see the fuss so far. Tunnicliffe can tackle and all that but he seriously lacks the skill and talent.
 
The reserves are playing a game today aswell, which I think is where a few of the regulars will play.

Hope you're right about that. Petrucci picked up a knock a few weeks back so he might be injured.
 
The reserves are playing a game today aswell, which I think is where a few of the regulars will play.

They won this game against Burnley with 3-0 and Bebe, Lawrence and Petrucci scored the goals. I have no team, that is all I know.
 
Here's the write up from the official site:

Federico Macheda scored both goals as a strong United side made it two wins out of two in the new Barclays Under-21 Premier League with a 2-1 triumph against Tottenham.

Recent recruit Alexander Buttner made his first appearance for the club at left-back while Jonny Evans, Darren Fletcher and Anders Lindegaard all played the full 90 minutes.

With Sir Alex Ferguson, Angelo Henriquez and Tom Cleverley amongst those in attendance, a goal arrived almost instantly, with around 70 seconds on the clock. Ryan Tunnicliffe won the ball in midfield to release Macheda and, when his shot was blocked by Jordan Archer, it rebounded back off the Italian and deflected into the net.

Joshua King's blistering pace and some wayward shooting were the main features of the rest of the first half with Nick Powell having a shot blocked and then unable to supply the finishing touch following a run by the electric King. Captain Scott Wootton beat Harry Kane to head a dangerous cross behind and Spurs had openings but Andros Townsend, Iago Falque and Kane provided disappointing attempts.

King skied his finish after being put in the clear by the impressive Macheda and Robbie Brady clubbed an equally wayward shot off target as the Reds went in for the break a goal to the good. Buttner had to make a goalline clearance to thwart Townsend at the start of the second period before Macheda extended the lead from the penalty spot.

Powell collected a pass from the Italian striker and was unceremoniously bundled over by Adam Smith, allowing Macheda to calmly slot in his second goal of the night. Archer denied Michael Keane but Lindegaard was called upon at the other end to show his class. The Dane made a truly astounding double save to frustrate Jonathan Obika and Kane, although the latter's effort would have been ruled out for offside.

Lindegaard dived to prevent Obika netting a tremendous overhead kick from Kane's header and Warren Joyce introduced Jesse Lingard and Larnell Cole in a bid to regain control. However, after Kane worked Lindegaard again, the young striker earned a penalty after tumbling under Wootton's challenge. Ryan Mason drilled in the spot-kick to give Spurs hope with 10 minutes left and end a run of over 10 hours without conceding a goal competitively for Joyce's team.

The Reds held out with Tom Thorpe replacing King to add more defensive stability but the visitors provided a real test throughout the encounter.

United: Lindegaard; Wootton, Evans, Keane, Buttner; Fletcher, Tunnicliffe, Powell; King (Thorpe 85), Macheda (Cole 65), Brady (Lingard 60). Subs not used: Sutherland, Veseli.

http://www.manutd.com/en/Players-An...-u21-tottenham-u21-match-report.aspx?pageNo=1
 
And as Sir Alex and Dario Gradi have replied, you're talking rubbish

He's not played that deep on a regular basis as far as I'm aware. I took at as it being his best position for the future.

"The 18-year-old operated as a forward last season and finished the campaign with 16 goals for the Alex.

But Sir Alex Ferguson plans to utilise Powell, who scored in Crewe's League Two play-off final win against Cheltenham, in a deeper role.

"We see him as a central midfield player," said the United boss.

"Crewe played him as a forward in behind the striker, but I asked a question of [Alex director of football] Dario Gradi as to whether he thought central midfield was his position.

"That's what he thinks, and Nick thinks that's his position too, so we're all in accord on that."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18816511

Now...feck off you smart arse cnut.
 
Kings better then Kiko but Kiko on his day is probably a more polished finisher. We know the first four. You missed out Cofie. In keane, Cofie, King and Henriquez...we have an interesting problem. In my time watching United, I don't think we've ever had strikers of that quality in the youth system.

In recent years, thought Rossi, Campbell and Welbeck were better than all the players mentioned above except Keane.

Henriquez hasn't kicked a ball for us yet so not sure how he is on the list...and he hasn't come through our youth system either.
 
I wouldn't say Keane's on nearly the same level as Welbeck or Rossi in terms of talent either. He does look like such a natural goalscorer though, and he really did seem to be improving by the game before he picked up the injury (thought he'd been finding reserve football all too easy for a while as it was).

I've not really seen that much of Cofie, but King I've not seen anything to suggest he's significantly better than what we usually have on the books. Not that he doesn't potentially have a good career ahead of him, but hopefully that applies to all the players we bring through, or at least as many of those as possible who don't go all Ravel Morrison.
 
So he got injured late May, was expected to be out for up to 9 months but is ahead of schedule. Could we see him back as early as January? Would be great if the season wasn't a total write-off for him.
 
In recent years, thought Rossi, Campbell and Welbeck were better than all the players mentioned above except Keane.

Henriquez hasn't kicked a ball for us yet so not sure how he is on the list...and he hasn't come through our youth system either.

Rossi was exceptional. However Campbell was not better then Cofie/Keane and I wouldn't say he was as good as King. He might be a better finisher, but than again it's not the best time to talk about their development yet.

Yep Henriquez is a wild card.
 
I wouldn't say Keane's on nearly the same level as Welbeck or Rossi in terms of talent either. He does look like such a natural goalscorer though, and he really did seem to be improving by the game before he picked up the injury (thought he'd been finding reserve football all too easy for a while as it was).

I've not really seen that much of Cofie, but King I've not seen anything to suggest he's significantly better than what we usually have on the books. Not that he doesn't potentially have a good career ahead of him, but hopefully that applies to all the players we bring through, or at least as many of those as possible who don't go all Ravel Morrison.

Keanes different to Rossi but is highly technical - especially in this day and age where there are so many crap English strikers out there. Cofie has everything to be a quality forward, if he keeps on progressing. He was like King before he went on loan to antwerp. His game developed so much.

I know people will think this and that, they all can't make it - would be a shame to lose King seeing as there's potential there.
 
it's always tough. a player gets bought for 2-4m from abroad, on that basis alone he will have more opportunities.

Will Keane is one of the best striking talents in England. i feel very confident in saying that.

it's a lot harder to compare his style (inside the 18yd box) to that of a Macheda or Rossi.
 
In terms of all the strikers coming through, say over the last ten years I would put them roughly in this order...and I always judge forwards by goalscoring...that's their job.

This is also judged at youth level not first team for United.

Rossi - outstanding technique, pacy, and scored goals for fun
Campbell - good technique, great movement off ball, quick, good goal scorer
Welbeck - superb technique, skilful, versatile, good temperament, not prolific
Keane - Good technique, scores goals, very intelligent, lacks pace
Macheda - good technique, decent scorer, takes too many touches, loses ball too easy, not that good off the ball

In terms of the rest...they just couldn't score enough goals so order not that important

Eddie Johnson
Sylvan Blake
Febian Brandy
Christy Fagan
Josh King
John Cofie
Sam Byrne
Ramon Calliste
Phil Marsh
Jami Puustinen
 
look up some of those names. makes you shudder at how some are no longer even in the game!

and, definitely would say Keane has 'superb technique' as well.
 
Keanes different to Rossi but is highly technical - especially in this day and age where there are so many crap English strikers out there. Cofie has everything to be a quality forward, if he keeps on progressing. He was like King before he went on loan to antwerp. His game developed so much.

I know people will think this and that, they all can't make it - would be a shame to lose King seeing as there's potential there.

King's definitely better off moving somewhere else and getting opportunities rather than playing in a glorified reserve league though. I didn't realise he was 20!

Keane just finds reserve football far too easy. I think I said that at this time last year too (just before some game where he missed about 5 open goals and got taken off). The injury was a big shame as I'm guessing we'd have looked for a decent loan opportunity for him this year.
 
In terms of all the strikers coming through, say over the last ten years I would put them roughly in this order...and I always judge forwards by goalscoring...that's their job.

This is also judged at youth level not first team for United.

Rossi - outstanding technique, pacy, and scored goals for fun
Campbell - good technique, great movement off ball, quick, good goal scorer
Welbeck - superb technique, skilful, versatile, good temperament, not prolific
Keane - Good technique, scores goals, very intelligent, lacks pace
Macheda - good technique, decent scorer, takes too many touches, loses ball too easy, not that good off the ball

In terms of the rest...they just couldn't score enough goals so order not that important

Eddie Johnson
Sylvan Blake
Febian Brandy
Christy Fagan
Josh King
John Cofie
Sam Byrne
Ramon Calliste
Phil Marsh
Jami Puustinen
Didn't Calliste end up signing for Liverpool?
 
I always thought Welbeck was a far better talent than Campbell. Campbell just had the right attributes to take advantage of the poorer and less intense quality of defending at reserve level, while Welbeck would stand out as being far more comfortable on the ball than anyone else. He could take and make something of the ball in situations almost no one else at that level would even attempt.

Same with Rossi, except he'd be banging in hatricks every other week to go along with it. Still think it was a big shame to lose him. He just came through at the wrong time.