U23s Squad Season 2018-2019

kundalini

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Khoazany normally creates these threads around March/April time, so the absence of next season's perhaps says a lot about the current state of affairs. Anyway, here goes:

As far I can see, the main questions are which of the relegated squad deserve another season and who should be sent out on loan to a League One or foreign club, given that it seems unrealistic to expect Championship teams to be interested in players who couldn't win games at U23 level ? Also, which players eligible for the U18s next season, should be playing U23 football from August ?

Too old for the U18s:

Keepers: Kovac, Fojticek

Defenders: O'Connor, Dunne, Ercolani, Tanner

Midfielders:

Attacking midfielders: Barlow, Gomes

Attackers: Chong, Baars, Burkart

The rest are still eligible to play for the U18s, though some of those born in early September (Brandon Williams for instance) might be promoted, as might those viewed as too good for the U18s (Garner ?). Quite a few could move up after Christmas, as happened this season (Laird, Traore, Levitt, Puigmal, Greenwood etc).

Relegated but might be worth another year:

Keeper: O'Hara (perhaps in combination with 3rd keeper role for 1st team)

Defenders: Warren (don't particularly rate him but we do need some bodies)

Midfielders: Sang, Whelan (neither of whom played that much in 2017/8) Buffonge (?) Hamilton (loan might be more sensible)

Creative players: Gribbin (Loan might be more sensible)

Attackers: Boonen, Dearnley, Bohui (surely we can't keep all 3 but getting rid of all 3 might leave us short of players)

On long contracts paying them relatively large salaries so might be stuck with if can't find a club prepared to take them on loan: CBJ, James Wilson

Send out on loan, sell or release: Ro-Shaun Williams, Olosunde, Kehinde, Redmond (release). I'm assuming Willock and Scott are finished at United. No idea about Kenyon but his limited game time in a relegated team suggests to me that either he was injured or United don't rate him.

Already gone (according to reports): Max Johnstone, Moutha-Sebtaoui, Theo Richardson, Joe Riley

My over-riding opinion on the U23s is that we keep far too big a squad for a 22 game season + a few cup games, with the consequence that too many players rarely play, while others get 10-15 games a season. I'd like to see us operate a smaller squad, make sure everyone gets plenty of mins, and when necessary, bring in players from U18s to fill gaps.

So something like:

The 11 players too old for U18s + Warren, Sang, Whelan, Boonen (from relegated squad) + Garner, Brandon Williams (technically U18s) then fill gaps with U18s (Greenwood, Laird, Traore etc).

Update: Redmond, Scott and Kenyon released, as well as the 3 keepers mentioned previously. Joe Riley gone to Bradford. Indy Boonen had an offer from United but chose to go to KV Oostende. Kehinde joined CD Feirense. Dearnley, Whelan and Hamilton signed new deals. Willock loaned to St Mirren, while Borthwick-Jackson loaned to Scunthorpe in League One, James Wilson to Aberdeen and O'Hara to Macclesfield in League Two.

Actual squad (mid Aug 2018):

Kovar, Fojticek

Tanner, Olosunde, O'Connor, Dunne, Poole, R Williams, Ercolani, Warren

Hamilton, Garner, Sang, Buffonge, Whelan

Gomes, Gribbin, Barlow

Dearnley, Baars, Bohui, Chong, Burkart
 
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Think Bohui will stay. He's not a bad player and he's still improving. But I guess it does depend how highly they rate the youngins coming up behind as well.
 
As per the case for every season, we need to be more ruthless and more active on loans, but we won't.

My ideal squad would be:
GKs: Forcijek, Kovar
RBs: Tanner, Laird
CBs: Warren, Ercolani, O'Connor, Dunne
LBs: O'Connor, Kenyon, Laird
CMs: Whelan, Hamilton, Barlow, Traore, Garner
AMs/Wings: Gribbin, Chong, Gomes, Boonen, Buffonge, Barlow, Baars
STs: Dearnley, Burkart, Greenwood

O'Hara, Kehinde, Williams, Olosunde need to get a loan. I don't know what to do with Bohui and Sang.
 
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khoazany said:
As per the case for every season, we need to be more ruthless and more active on loans, but we won't.

My ideal squad would be:
GKs: Forcijek, Kovar
RBs: Tanner, Laird
CBs: Warren, Ercolani, O'Connor, Dunne
LBs: O'Connor, Kenyon, Laird
CMs: Whelan, Hamilton, Barlow, Traore, Garner
AMs/Wings: Gribbin, Chong, Gomes, Boonen, Buffonge, Barlow, Baars
STs: Dearnley, Burkart, Greenwood

O'Hara, Kehinde, Williams, Olosunde need to get a loan. I don't know what to do with Bohui and Sang.
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Sang just signed a new contract didn’t he?
 
Would be great to find Williams and Kehinde good loan moves. Don't think Olosunde has what it takes and I'd rather see the younger lads given chances at the back in his stead.
 
You're acting like getting relegated means every one of the players is shit which obviously isn't true.

People blamed everything on the poor squad makeup or whatever as well so why would we then make a smaller squad.

It'll be the same shit anyway if Sbragia is in charge. Calamity of a defence with no attacking set up at all.

I'd go similar squad to Khoazany but with Brandon Williams added in too.

O'Hara, Demi, RoShaun, Poole, and Tosin out on loan. Hamilton, Gribbin, and Dearnley get loans in January. Gribbin should go abroad.

The like of Redmond, Olosunde, Scott, and Willock should be sold/released.
 
RB7N said:
Sang just signed a new contract didn’t he?
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Exactly why I don't know what to do with him, he's inferior to every other option. If we need a number 6 option other than Whelan just use Garner, he's good enough and the U18s has shit tons of other CMs that will need games next season - Levitt, Puigmal, Galbraith, Vint etc
 
Not sure with who will play in Second division, but we can hardly expect some quality games for our lads. U18 kids that are coming like Gomes and Chong, or O'Connor, can easily lose a season playing against rivals that will not make them improve. Terrible situation. For some of them, if they won't be in first team squad, I guess loan would be the best option, although a risky one. Basicaly, beside U23 second division, they will play U19 Champions league, and that is a few games.

Also, there is a question now who will be in charge not only of U23, but U18 and U19. We are without managers for every age group and that is a problem.

We forgot on Regan Poole, but after a season in League One, I guess he will go on loan once again, maybe to some Championship side, although I don't know how good he was for Northampton.

I would like to see Gribbin going out on loan this year, as well as Chong, Gomes and O'Connor (if they are not included in first team). Not sure where should they go on loan, as the best option would be if we had some club in Netherlands or Spain where they can play together for a year, but competitive matches. Buying some Levante or something like that would be beneficial long term for the kids.
 
KevinJoh said:
Not sure with who will play in Second division, but we can hardly expect some quality games for our lads. U18 kids that are coming like Gomes and Chong, or O'Connor, can easily lose a season playing against rivals that will not make them improve. Terrible situation. For some of them, if they won't be in first team squad, I guess loan would be the best option, although a risky one. Basicaly, beside U23 second division, they will play U19 Champions league, and that is a few games.

Also, there is a question now who will be in charge not only of U23, but U18 and U19. We are without managers for every age group and that is a problem.

We forgot on Regan Poole, but after a season in League One, I guess he will go on loan once again, maybe to some Championship side, although I don't know how good he was for Northampton.

I would like to see Gribbin going out on loan this year, as well as Chong, Gomes and O'Connor (if they are not included in first team). Not sure where should they go on loan, as the best option would be if we had some club in Netherlands or Spain where they can play together for a year, but competitive matches. Buying some Levante or something like that would be beneficial long term for the kids.
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There really is not much difference between the top two divisions at u23s
 
KevinJoh said:
We forgot on Regan Poole, but after a season in League One, I guess he will go on loan once again, maybe to some Championship side, although I don't know how good he was for Northampton.
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I guess a Championship loan was the plan but not sure he did enough for Northampton to convince Championship managers that he is worth the risk. 18 starts in League One, 10 as a defensive midfielder, 7 as a central defender and one as a right back. Started the season on the bench, got a run in the team in the autumn then lost his place in Feb, think he was injured but couldn't get back in the side when fit again. Started one game in April. I seem to recall there was a change of manager. Northampton were relegated. I did read a Northampton forum a few months ago, their comments on Poole were generally positive from what I can recall (it wasn't a busy forum and Regan wasn't a hot topic either).

To be blunt, I think Regan Poole's height may be an issue. He is either a very short central defender or a fairly short defensive midfielder. He is either 5'10 or 5'11 depending on which site you look at.
 
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Yea being in the second division isn't the end of the world, its not like it is suddenly dog shit football. Sure we won't get to play against the likes of Arsenal or Chelsea but we don't get to play them in the u18s either. Division 2 teams still sometimes play first teamers in the reserves which is the best experience possible anyway.

We should also stop being idiots and just play in the EFL trophy.
 
RedMachine03 said:
As mentioned above, we have more than enough players to play. Unless we buy a player for a specific position in which we lack.
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I get that, but they just got relegated after a pretty poor season suggesting that maybe the squad isn’t strong enough. I’m not sure that filling it up with more kids is the answer,’though in fairness they’ll be playing at a lesser level than last season. I’m curious as to the clubs thinking - will they compliment with a few young players who have been playing in different leagues already? Invest in potential if you like
 
golden_blunder said:
I get that, but they just got relegated after a pretty poor season suggesting that maybe the squad isn’t strong enough. I’m not sure that filling it up with more kids is the answer,’though in fairness they’ll be playing at a lesser level than last season. I’m curious as to the clubs thinking - will they compliment with a few young players who have been playing in different leagues already? Invest in potential if you like
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We have got a good bunch of players in the U23s plus players coming up from the U18s. I guess it's about utilising them properly and more importantly, Sbragia has to do better. The quality of the players in the second division shouldn't be a problem, moreover, it should help the younger players adjust to the senior league and perform better the season after in the first division.
 
limerickcitykid said:
Yea go sign for Barca :lol:
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It would be a good move for him, good education for a year or two at another top academy while playing against senior players in Segunda. From there he will have a chance to earn his move in that league which is much better then going from United into some dump in League One or Championship at best.
 
Šjor Bepo said:
It would be a good move for him, good education for a year or two at another top academy while playing against senior players in Segunda. From there he will have a chance to earn his move in that league which is much better then going from United into some dump in League One or Championship at best.
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Well Barcelona B have been relegated to Segunda Division B so that's the equivalent of League One football.

I think this is a good move though as I doubt Tosin would get into a Championship side and maybe not even League One. But this will be a good continuation of education for him.
 
FlawlessThaw said:
Well Barcelona B have been relegated to Segunda Division B so that's the equivalent of League One football.

I think this is a good move though as I doubt Tosin would get into a Championship side and maybe not even League One. But this will be a good continuation of education for him.
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didnt know that but still, in england lower leagues they play football that wont suit Kehinde and i assume in lower leagues of spain they still play a game based around possession so it would still be a good move.
 
If his aim to get involved in first team football as soon as possible, how will a move to Barca B help? He'd find it just as difficult moving to the first team there. I see RB Salzburg are mentioned. He should go there and hopefully, move on RB Leipzig in a couple of seasons if he does well.
 
dr.twinny said:
If his aim to get involved in first team football as soon as possible, how will a move to Barca B help? He'd find it just as difficult moving to the first team there. I see RB Salzburg are mentioned. He should go there and hopefully, move on RB Leipzig in a couple of seasons if he does well.
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Probably even harder, I don't know what's changed with them over the last few seasons but they've lost a lot of very good prospects because of the poor pathway from B team to first team.
 
That may be true, but I still find it bizarre if he's thinking of going there to accelerate his first team chances.
 
dr.twinny said:
Yes he'll be playing against senior opponents but it's still a reserve team.
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He'll be still be playing against professional teams as opposed to here. It makes sense. Although if he's really leaving then it's better to go to a club like Salzburg.
 
Yes I agreed with khoazany with that fact he'll be playing against professional teams, but he won't be in a first team setting. Barca B are still a second team after all. No different to Porto B, Bayern II, Jong Ajax, and other second teams that play in the lower leagues against professional or semi-pro teams.

Anyways, good luck to him wherever he chooses.
 
Hope Kehinde makes the step and we see him in Nigeria’s midfield by the next World Cup. A player of his style is always needed, he’s a very good technician.
 
Olosunde is wanted on loan by League One clubs and is pondering on leaving for MLS.
Willock is wanted back by St. Johnstone on loan.
Tuanzebe wanted back to Villa on loan.
 
oskarutd said:
Olosunde is wanted on loan by League One clubs and is pondering on leaving for MLS.
Willock is wanted back by St. Johnstone on loan.
Tuanzebe wanted back to Villa on loan.
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Tuanzebe should hopefully stay in the PL if he leaves.

The other two should join the best club that will allow them to have a decent career as a pro footballer, and stay there.
 
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