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I Make Pies

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  1. Just watched some of the England U20 match. Tim needs to improve his consistency (as most youngsters do) but some of the things he does are different class. He presents the opposition with a conundrum - press high and risk him turning his marker and driving through midfield. Don't press and he'll sit in and dictate the game.
  2. Rowe was up against Paris Brunner. Don't remember Darvich standing out but I was focused on the Villa lads really. The German team was impressive in general though. They were bigger and more athletic than recent German youth teams I have seen.
  3. Watched England 18s 0-0 Germany U18s while I was waiting for my electrician to turn up. Jimoh and Rowe both started. Jimoh played for a hour and Rowe the whole match. Jimoh struggled to get into the game but worked hard. Rowe had a really good game which was very impressive considering this German team won the U17 World Cup last year and he was up against arguably their best player.
  4. Only became a starter once he signed for a big club
  5. Blackburn's aggressive tactics made it an entertaining game but I'm not sure it was the best strategy as it left them wide open at the back against our four star forwards. In fairness they could have scored more (as could we). Motm - Kellyman. Blackburn kicking him throughout the first half made no difference. He was a class apart and looks too good for this level. Surely a loan is in the pipeline for next season (or even a few games for the first team?) Rowe was excellent once again as were the centre backs. Considering the open nature of the game I can only think of one clear cut chance for Blackburn and that was late on in the second half. Wilson looks like he will score every time he has a chance and Afoka has too much physicality and nous against inexperienced U21 players now.
  6. Seemed to have a lot of joy in the first half playing long balls then winning the second ball from a Stoke clearance. In the second half they stopped us from doing this but we weren't able to adjust. It was a shame we couldn't put the game to bed in the first half as they only had their first shot after half time (and scored from it). Our pressing was better in the first half also, although that may be down to tiredness later on in the game. Ref went from waving play on for fouls in the first half to dishing out yellows for everything in the second. I'll give Motm to Borland. There wasn't an outstanding candidate but he controlled the game well in the first half and scored in the second.
  7. This kid has the lot - size, athleticism, skill, and a picture of what's around him, resulting in three assists in the last two U21 games IIRC to go with two goals. It's still early in his development but I'd say he has a chance.
  8. Missed the first twenty minutes. We shaded the first half, creating a few half chances, but weren't able to take any. Moving Patterson forward and Jimoh into the middle at half time made a big difference and Middlesbrough were unable to cope with them. They seemed to struggle with our physicality in general, and it was noticable how much bigger and more athletic our players were than theirs. Jimoh and Patterson (Motm) were both excellent, as was Triston Rowe and the two lads in centre midfield.
  9. Good win and a decent performance. Everton's threat came mostly from set pieces but otherwise we limited them to few chances. Our build up play looked crisp at times but we could make more of our attacking situations with better decision making in the final third. Motm Jimoh-Aloba - looks a bit like Jacob Ramsey at times with his drives forward from midfield and ability to pick out teammates in the box. Kellyman looks a class act too. His finish after rounding the keeper was great - lifting it out of the reach of the defender rather than trying to roll it in. 12 mins of injury time was weird and Wright may have been lucky not to get a red, although Katsukunya was being fouled in the build up to that.
  10. Borland played centrally in one of the Luiz/Kamara roles. He was tenacious and showed calmness on the ball under pressure.
  11. Pretty good performance in the first half with us pressing well but couldn't get in front. Swansea adapted in the second half and had the better of the chances, so a point was probably fair. The team looked more physically imposing tonight in line with what we have seen with our recent first team transfers, so this appears to be a deliberate strategy from the club. Thought Katsukunya (motm), Kellyman and Borland were the stand outs tonight. Some of the better U18s were subs, presumably to keep them fresh for tomorrow.
  12. I watched the second half. It was a decent performance against a strong and well drilled defence. We didn't panic or abandon our football, but lacked a bit of end product. The equalizer came when Richards, who was playing up front, dropped deeper which opened up space for O'Reilly to run in behind and set up Hart. Prior to that he spent the half standing up against their centre halves and was easy to mark. Broggio was our biggest threat once again, and we needed a bit of luck as Fulham had chances on the break to put the game beyond us. A good point overall.
  13. I was slightly puzzled when Dendoncker was brought on for Kamara with half an hour to go but I'd thought to myself a few minutes earlier that Kamara was losing too many 50:50 tackles against Arsenal's big midfielders. Naturally, Dendoncker spent the rest of the game winning those 50:50s and stopping Arsenal getting in behind our midfield. Emery (and his coaches) have a really impressive knack of noticing these things and acting upon it.
  14. Really good performance. First 20 mins our pressing was reminiscent of the first team and put us in a strong position. There was a passage of play in that period where Brighton tried to play out with accurate one touch passing. They managed about five passes until they gave it back to us as every one of their players was tightly marked, even with the ball being pinged about. After that we managed the game well and picked them off when the opportunities arose. The last time I saw us play was on 3 Nov vs Brighton away and the players look more comfortable in executing our system now. Borland is a really nice footballer - technically sound, calm, makes good decisions. Proctor is cool as a cucumber with the ball at his feet and also made some good saves. Jimoh has the tools to be a player - he's big, athletic and skilful. Barring a silly tackle by Feeney at the end, everyone played well up to that point. Hard to pick a Motm but I would agree with Tony Daley on commentary and give it to Broggio for his influence in the first 20 mins. He was exceptional during that spell and won us the game.
  15. The players look more polished, particularly in defensive areas with the ball at their feet. 12 months ago Marshall would give the ball away in his own half a couple of times each game whereas he now looks comfortable under pressure. Feeney has cut out any mistakes he was making and Smith has improved defensively also, although he still needs to work on when to dribble out of defence and when to pass. Tim's ability to turn his man and play forward should move him ahead of Dendoncker in the pecking order at some point. The team could do with more of a threat in behind as most of our forward players like the ball into feet. The full backs did provide that at times but we could do with someone in the attacking areas to run in behind. Overall, a good controlled performance and the ref was up to his usual antics - booking our players for innocuous fouls and allowing the opposition to stop our counters by pulling our players back with no punishment.
  16. Marschall (GK), Triston Rowe, A. O’Reilly, Feeney, Munroe; Teddy Rowe, Iroegbunam, T. O’Reilly (C); Broggio, Richards, Kellyman. Subs: Wright (GK), Smith, Alcock, Pierre, Moore.
  17. Oh yeah! That's even sneakier than I thought.
  18. Am I right in thinking this ticks off both Europe and South America for FIFA so they can get their Saudi money four years earlier?
  19. He has no knowledge of any team other than Man Utd. Not the best choice of host for a football phone in show.
  20. Here is my take on the top 4 (top 5?) contenders: Man City/Arsenal/Liverpool - a level above everyone else, including us. This will be the top 3 in some order. Brighton - good team but struggled last season and yesterday due to fixture pile up. Their European opponents are tougher than ours and should be a drain on them. Tottenham - been a bit lucky with their results and their playing style will get found out. No Europe will give them a boost in the league, however. Newcastle - strong squad and have experience of getting top 4 last season. Howe holds them back imo and have Champions League distraction. Man Utd - bit of a mess on and off the field but have the players and the money to spend their way there. Likely to improve. West Ham - statistically should be in the bottom half, although that's typical Moyes. Unlikely to sustain their position with Europa League also. Chelsea - call me crazy but I think they are putting a good team together. At some point it will click, but hopefully not until they are out of contention. The Villa - still a work in progress and our away form is not great but if anyone can find a way, it's Emery. I didn't think we would be competing for the Champions League at the start of the season but now it seems possible.
  21. They resembled the first team in the first half hour in terms of style of play and were only missing a proper striker to do the Watkins role. Got a little sloppy defensively towards the end of the half and gave up a couple of chances, and they scored from one. Sunderland pressed higher in the second half and we never adapted to it and were unable to control the game anymore. The comeback seemed inevitable. A yellow would have sufficed instead of a red for Ealing as he wasn't high and did get the ball. I know they are cracking down on players throwing themselves in like that but it didn't seem worthy of the same punishment as a Carlos Bocanegra-style horror tackle. Despite the defeat there were encouraging signs in that first half hour, and I would give Feeney Motm for his goal and a few Torres-style passes between the lines.
  22. Thought we were ok overall, and should have scored long before we did. There seems to be a lack of chemistry in the team with some of the new players, but that should improve as the season goes on. Ramsey will add another dimension when he returns also.
  23. Shame we couldn't hold on but a good performance regardless. Highlight of the game was the Brighton commentator crediting our academy for producing Gareth Barry. We signed him from the Brighton academy aged 16!
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