U21s: United vs. Wolves

4 clean sheets in a row since Thorpe moved back to CB.
 
And 5 straight for him at CB overall. He has the best goals against average of anyone to play more than 1 game at CB in the reserves.


GOALS ALLOWED AVERAGE
Code: 
| [U]Center Backs[/U]      |  [U]G[/U]   |  [U]GA[/U]  |  [U][B]GAA[/B][/U]   | [U]GG[/U]                                      |  

| Sean [B]MCGINTY[/B]      |   1  |   0  |  [B]0.00[/B]  | 0                                       |
| Chris [B]SMALLING[/B]    |   1  |   0  |  [B]0.00[/B]  | 0                                       |
| Tom [b]THORPE[/b]        |  13  |   8  |  [B]0.62[/B]  | 0,1,0,2,2,0,2,1,0,0,0,0,0               |
| Scott [B]WOOTTON[/B]     |   7  |   6  |  [B]0.86[/B]  | 2,0,1,1,1,1,0                           | 
| Jonny [B]EVANS [/B]      |   1  |   1  |  [B]1.00[/B]  | 1                                       |
| Michele [B]FORNASIER[/B] |  20  |  26  |  [B]1.37[/B]  | 2,0,2,2,0,3,1,4,1,1,1,2,1,0,1,0,2,3,0,0 |
| Luke [B]MCCULLOUGH[/B]   |   2  |   3  |  [B]1.50[/B]  | 2,1                                     |
| Frederic [B]VESELI [/B]  |   2  |   3  |  [B]1.50[/B]  | 2,1                                     |
| Reece [B]BROWN[/B]       |   3  |   5  |  [B]1.67[/B]  | 0,2,3                                   |
| Tyler [B]BLACKETT[/B]    |   3  |   5  |  [B]1.67[/B]  | 2,1,2                                   |
| Michael [b]KEANE[/b]     |   7  |  13  |  [B]1.86[/B]  | 1,1,1,3,1,4,0                           |
 
Have been as disappointed with Lingard and Cole recently as have been impressed with Thorpe and Januzaj. Will Keane was sorely missed last night.
 
Lingard was as underwhelming as the rest of 'em yesterday but he's been one of our best players all season, and that includes the games leading up to last night's.
 
Yes, ok, but being one of our better players at reserve level isn't enough at this stage - that's really the minimum expectation given that he's one of the eldest of the group now. He didn't play much at Leicester, didn't impress when he did, and needs to up his game I think. A loan to a League 1 club or similar would be good for him, if he's still around next season, which I don't think is nailed on.

Reminds me a bit of Ajose - some definite talent but I doubt he has enough to play at the top level.

Cole seems to have gone backwards a bit, and needs to get back on track pretty quickly - also needs a loan.
 
He was never given a chance at Leicester but that's down to stature, not ability. He's good enough to play above u21 level but at the moment there probably aren't a lot of takers due to his size. It looks like he's doomed to seeing out the season as one of the best players on the pitch each and every time the u21s play, and hopefully he'll fill out a bit over the summer. He's clearly got a lot more to his game than Ajose did and we're not letting him go.
 
I've not been impressed by Lingard really this season. There's been solid performances throughout, but I'm just not seeing that quality to set him apart. I thought after preseason that he'd kick on and push for the first team, but he's been completely bypassed by Januzaj. Cole has been even more unimpressive when measured against the expectation.
 
Lingard isn't ready for our first team no doubt but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the potential to reach it. It's such a cliche but he does need to bulk up, he impressed me a lot in pre season and next season should see a big improvement in him hopefully.

If he doesn't go back out on loan then I'd expect him to be involved in some early carling cup matches hopefully.
 
Elliott said:
He was never given a chance at Leicester but that's down to stature, not ability.
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Not entirely sure that's true. He was brought on in a few games, when most fans thought he should not have been preferred to other players in the squad, and looked out of his depth. Admittedly, he did not get many minutes, but that is definitely in part down to how he did when he got on.

Elliott said:
He's clearly got a lot more to his game than Ajose did and we're not letting him go
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I'm encouraged that you think so. I think we should keep him next season but if he fails to make in impact on loan that would be a pretty bad sign.

IMO he is one of those players destined for a decent career in the lower leagues. Not seeing the potential for more than that. I think the same applies to a lot of others in the U-21s to be honest.

It's approaching the end of the season and the reality is that a number of the current reserves will be allowed to leave. I wouldn't be shocked if Lingard was among them.
 
pocco said:
I've not been impressed by Lingard really this season. There's been solid performances throughout, but I'm just not seeing that quality to set him apart. I thought after preseason that he'd kick on and push for the first team, but he's been completely bypassed by Januzaj. Cole has been even more unimpressive when measured against the expectation.
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Classic case of Caf hype. Januzaj's the exciting new kid and has, for the most part, done very well since stepping up to the u21s. And, being 2 years Lingard's junior, there's every chance he has the bigger potential. But to say that he has completely bypassed Lingard in terms of performances this season is nonsense. In the games they've both played Lingard has more often than not come out on top.


sincher said:
Not entirely sure that's true. He was brought on in a few games, when most fans thought he should not have been preferred to other players in the squad, and looked out of his depth. Admittedly, he did not get many minutes, but that is definitely in part down to how he did when he got on.
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I'm not disputing that. He was never given a chance was perhaps a poor choice of words on my part. I meant that a player of his stature would need time to adapt to a league like the Championship and that promotion-chasing Leicester couldn't afford him that luxury. I've seen quite a few Leicester matches this season and ability-wise Lingard would have no problems.
 
Yes that's fair.

A year ago Michael Keane would probably have been a bit out of his depth in the champo and look at him now. Let's hope Lingard and a few others can do similarly.
 
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