U23s - Manchester United vs Southampton

Irrational. said:
Southampton playing like some PL relegation candidate sluggers packing their box much in the same way as Brighton, playing rough and tumble football. How can this be any good for their development?
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It isn't, which is the crumb of comfort I'll take from this game if we lose. It's actually of more benefit to the United players, it gives them practice on how to break down a parked bus from an early age, something they'll have to learn how to do if they want to make it with the first team.
 
Gomes sends the ball in and Bohui misses the free header from 5 yards, probably our best chance of the night.

We are actually playing it into the box now, only took us the best part of 70 minutes.
 
lysglimt said:
Overdoing it - time and time again. Only Greenwood tries to do it simple. Chong and Gomes especially always have to make it look nice.
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Its so often the case for some of these talents. Andreas Pereira has that to. Making it too difficult, trying too hard to impress!
 
SteveW said:
He is.

Still think Gomes could be great.

Not sure what to make of Chong.
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Yeah he might - Chong probably not. His skills with the ball are good enough - but he makes weird tactical decisions and I question his passing abilities.
 
Time wasting, hoofball and bus parking at U23 level. Fecking pathetic.

This is the future of the Premier League, ladies and gentlemen. Though most of these will fade into obscurity and end up nothing players anyway.
 
Gomes looks out of his depth at this level. He could smash it in the U18s with his technical skill, but at this level he's a kid amongst men.

Very uninspiring performance. Southampton didn't come to play and hit us with a sucker punch, much like Burnley earlier this week with the senior team.
 
Irrational. said:
Gomes looks out of his depth at this level. He could smash it in the U18s with his technical skill, but at this level he's a kid amongst men.

Very uninspiring performance. Southampton didn't come to play and hit us with a sucker punch, much like Burnley earlier this week with the senior team.
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He's been our best player this season so that is clearly a load of bollocks.
 
Irrational. said:
Gomes looks out of his depth at this level. He could smash it in the U18s with his technical skill, but at this level he's a kid amongst men.

Very uninspiring performance. Southampton didn't come to play and hit us with a sucker punch, much like Burnley earlier this week with the senior team.
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Add Brighton in the FA Youth cup as well. Very frustrating few games at all levels! Got to agree with the comments above about Chong; he’s not developing as I’d hoped at the minute... still plenty of time though but his passing and final ball need to vastly improve for him to stand a chance! Thought Gomes and Greenwood were very good just couldn’t find a way through the ten guys on the edge of the box.
 
Southampton can feck off, pathetic tactics at this level. Time-wasting, bus parking knob-jockeys. Get one chance all game then never left their box, I'd be ashamed if we played like that. 5 at the back, until this year I'd never seen anything like it. I look forward to never seeing a single one of their players in top flight football.

I won't be too disheartened, not every team will park the bus against us and on another night we'll stick some of these chances away. We controlled the game better than we have all season, they just rode their luck and we didn't. We need to start learning from games like these or else every team will actually start playing like this against us. Same story as always though, we just rely too much on individual brilliance for our chances. We needed to exploit the wings far better than we were doing, especially when they were so compact. We need to get a system in place that isn't so individual-reliant to create chances.

Chong was very out of sorts tonight, second half he was really poor. Gomes tried a few things but they didn't come off for him, his quick one-two passes can be very useful but they fell flat today. Thought Bohui was a sensible change and he did well when he came on, we should've brought Barlow on for one of the midfielders as the Saints's danger basically evaporated in the second half. Garner and Levitt were both seriously impressive today, Williams continues his great form this season. Greenwood was still our best attacker and carved out a few chances by himself and was unlucky not to score at the end.
 
Gomes could learn from Greenwood about the power of being more direct. He does slow things down a little too much and given his technical skills he would be frightening if he didn't let the opposition the time to set themselves.

Chong is just very loose with his passing and seems to almost read the game incorrectly at times by relying on intuition.
 
All negativity about the result aside I have to say I quite liked the lineup. It might actually be worth watching the u23s for the next few months.
 
SteveW said:
All negativity about the result aside I have to say I quite liked the lineup. It might actually be worth watching the u23s for the next few months.
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Nearly all of our best players are in the u23s now so they'll definitely be worth watching, it'll be interesting to see who takes the step up in their stride.
 
AltiUn said:
Nearly all of our best players are in the u23s now so they'll definitely be worth watching, it'll be interesting to see who takes the step up in their stride.
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Starting to feel like an actual audition for the first team as opposed to just going through the motions and filling a team full of future journeymen like we have in recent years. I'd imagine Ole has had some influence in that. You'd imagine if someone smashes it for the next few months he will reward them with the odd cameo. It will be nice to get Ethan Laird in there too.
 
AltiUn said:
Southampton can feck off, pathetic tactics at this level. Time-wasting, bus parking knob-jockeys. Get one chance all game then never left their box, I'd be ashamed if we played like that. 5 at the back, until this year I'd never seen anything like it. I look forward to never seeing a single one of their players in top flight football.

I won't be too disheartened, not every team will park the bus against us and on another night we'll stick some of these chances away. We controlled the game better than we have all season, they just rode their luck and we didn't. We need to start learning from games like these or else every team will actually start playing like this against us. Same story as always though, we just rely too much on individual brilliance for our chances. We needed to exploit the wings far better than we were doing, especially when they were so compact. We need to get a system in place that isn't so individual-reliant to create chances.

Chong was very out of sorts tonight, second half he was really poor. Gomes tried a few things but they didn't come off for him, his quick one-two passes can be very useful but they fell flat today. Thought Bohui was a sensible change and he did well when he came on, we should've brought Barlow on for one of the midfielders as the Saints's danger basically evaporated in the second half. Garner and Levitt were both seriously impressive today, Williams continues his great form this season. Greenwood was still our best attacker and carved out a few chances by himself and was unlucky not to score at the end.
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Punishment
 
Maybe at fault for the only goal last night but I thought Di'Shon Bernard, and Brandon Williams both did well considering it was their first time at this level and they will be better for the experience next time.

Looking forward to seeing how the 18s lineup later on today with Bernard, Williams, Garner, Levitt and Greenwood all stepping up to the 23s, Traore an unused sub last night will probably play, but if Ethan Laird and D'Mani Mellor are still missing it's going to be a very young inexperienced XI.
 
Class of 63 said:
Maybe at fault for the only goal last night but I thought Di'Shon Bernard, and Brandon Williams both did well considering it was their first time at this level and they will be better for the experience next time.

Looking forward to seeing how the 18s lineup later on today with Bernard, Williams, Garner, Levitt and Greenwood all stepping up to the 23s, Traore an unused sub last night will probably play, but if Ethan Laird and D'Mani Mellor are still missing it's going to be a very young inexperienced XI.
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Thompson
Puigmal - Mengi - Bejger - Devine
McGhee - Galbraith - Traore
Ramazani - Elanga - McCann
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Not that inexperienced. We simply have a bit too many players at that level.
 
khoazany said:
Thompson
Puigmal - Mengi - Bejger - Devine
McGhee - Galbraith - Traore
Ramazani - Elanga - McCann
​
Not that inexperienced. We simply have a bit too many players at that level.
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Going to be exciting to get a proper chance to see what Devine and Bejger can do. I like the look of McCann too, he's been impressive every time I've seen him.
 
Drainy said:
Gomes could learn from Greenwood about the power of being more direct. He does slow things down a little too much and given his technical skills he would be frightening if he didn't let the opposition the time to set themselves.

Chong is just very loose with his passing and seems to almost read the game incorrectly at times by relying on intuition.
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I think that's why I view Gomes as a midfielder rather than an attacker. Also probably why he's been MOTM a few times for the u19s while in that deeper role. Gomes is really good at keeping possession.
 
Is O'Connor's injury serious? Is there any chance we send him on loan. I've always been impressed with that kid.
 
Kostov said:
Is O'Connor's injury serious? Is there any chance we send him on loan. I've always been impressed with that kid.
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I don’t think we’ll send him on loan, we’ve only sent the deadwood out in January.
 
AltiUn said:
I don’t think we’ll send him on loan, we’ve only sent the deadwood out in January.
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It seems like it. But what do you think is the plan for Lee? I though we might develop him for CB but he seems short to play there. He's maybe our most talented defender and I have high hopes for him.
 
Kostov said:
It seems like it. But what do you think is the plan for Lee? I though we might develop him for CB but he seems short to play there. He's maybe our most talented defender and I have high hopes for him.
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I have nothing against O'Connor. I sincerely hope he becomes world class. But what's his best position? And is he more talented than Laird, Tuanzebe or even Brandon Williams? Not the first two anyway. For me, O'Connor seems like a good, versatile player but not a great one.
 
Mickson said:
I have nothing against O'Connor. I sincerely hope he becomes world class. But what's his best position? And is he more talented than Laird, Tuanzebe or even Brandon Williams? Not the first two anyway. For me, O'Connor seems like a good, versatile player but not a great one.
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I also fear a bit that his versatility might hurt his chances to make the grade. Similar to how it affects TFM for example, in some ways at least. Is he more talented than Laird, Tuanzebe or B. Williams? I don't know about the last one, since I've seen little of him, Laird was great whenever I've seen him for the U18, but don't forget Lee was very impressive for the U18 as well. And I wasn't even considering Tuanzebe to be fair since he is out on loan, yes I rate him and TFM as well. Maybe the more regular youth team followers can give us a better insight about Lee and Laird and their potential.
 
I think O’Connor is taking a bit of time to adjust to the u23s is all. He was fantastic at u18s and while he’s doing grand now he’s not standing out like he did last season. He’s not as physical as Laird or Williams to some extent yet I’d say. But no reason to think he won’t keep developing. I always thought Tuanzebe was something special though.
 
I love O'Connor's ability. He's been one of the consistent standout performers every time I've watched him.
 
In Rainbows said:
I love O'Connor's ability. He's been one of the consistent standout performers every time I've watched him.
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Obviously a gifted player. Very surprised how this season have turned out for him.

What worried me is that he had a tendency to have a few concentration lapses. He could «outgrow» them, but it could also be an indication of lack of determenation or hunger. He play with a drive that I love when he is bursting forward, but to succeed at Man Utd he will have to apply the same determenation when performing more boring tasks of the game.

I always felt that was something that seperated Fergusons Man Utd from the rest and made us world class. It is also extremely important for a players development.

Most of the players at our acadamy is talented enough. What seperates them is their mentally. The drive to give 100 % every day. Not 90 one day, 50 the next, then 100 etc.
 
I don't think position is the problem for O'Connor, he looks natural enough at both fullback and centre back. But he needs to stand out more on the U23s and he hasn't been able to do it so far, so he wasn't included in the clan that trained and travelled with the 1st team regularly. He hasn't been challenged for his position since Tanner and Warren are nowhere near his level but when we get Laird and Williams up he will face some stiff competitions and whilst moving him centrally might give everyone's game time it might also kill his chance at United since we're not going to play him there in the first team due to height.

The fact that Laird has been name-checked by OGS before him might be concerning for him. Time to level up his game.
 
khoazany said:
I don't think position is the problem for O'Connor, he looks natural enough at both fullback and centre back. But he needs to stand out more on the U23s and he hasn't been able to do it so far, so he wasn't included in the clan that trained and travelled with the 1st team regularly. He hasn't been challenged for his position since Tanner and Warren are nowhere near his level but when we get Laird and Williams up he will face some stiff competitions and whilst moving him centrally might give everyone's game time it might also kill his chance at United since we're not going to play him there in the first team due to height.

The fact that Laird has been name-checked by OGS before him might be concerning for him. Time to level up his game.
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I agree that he's definitely not on a trajectory for the first team at the moment. But I do think the position he played for the u18s did harm his development.

He played far too much football at centre back. He was the only one holding that defence together and was a real leader in defence. But, modern full backs need to have a lot in their locker going forward. He has the talent, great speed and is an excellent dribbler but had years where his attacking game wasn't developing. To push for the first team, he needs to be more of an attacking threat.

With McKenna having a key role with the first team, O'Connor definitely has a shot. He always seemed like he was one of his favourites.
 
He doesn't seem to be in and around the first team like the others. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing him just leave on a permanent in the summer to a club who will play him regularly and give him a chance to develop. He isn't going to get it here.
 
Why was McTominay not playing?
Chong is not good enough imo. Gomes is hard to call.
 
steakpie said:
Why was McTominay not playing?
Chong is not good enough imo. Gomes is hard to call.
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McTominay's probably back with the first team. Chong is a good player, just raw, he has plenty of talent. Gomes has been our best player this season, I don't think he's hard to call, if he doesn't become a first team player it won't be because of his ability.
 
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