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U23 Development League 2021/2022


BOF

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19 hours ago, BOF said:

Yeah it's a little annoying. I agree with what they're doing and it's great to have so many talented players, yet our promotion prospects basically hinge on how often we put out a representative u23 side. It'd be great to be promoted. They should just get it done.

I suppose but if those players are better off in and around the first team then no harm. Even if they played to get them promoted, they'd still be playing less games next season and the younger guys would be the ones having to keep them in the division. They may as well be the ones that earn promotion to it too as they'll be the ones playing in it

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It's a difficult balancing act. The purpose of the academy is to produce great young players for the first team, not a great academy team, so looked at that way you want your best players to be spending time in and around the first team and getting on the bench if possible. That would suggest a weaker U23 side. On the other hand, you could make a good case that it would be better for the U23's development if they were playing tougher opposition, which would need a promotion campaign, which would suggest a stronger U23 side.

In the end we'll try to do both and split the difference somewhere. I guess that Carney and JPB will be training with the first team this week? On the other hand, maybe Bogarde can play for the U23s tonight given the first team is back to the full complement of 4 CBs.

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2 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

It's a difficult balancing act. The purpose of the academy is to produce great young players for the first team, not a great academy team, so looked at that way you want your best players to be spending time in and around the first team and getting on the bench if possible. That would suggest a weaker U23 side. On the other hand, you could make a good case that it would be better for the U23's development if they were playing tougher opposition, which would need a promotion campaign, which would suggest a stronger U23 side.

In the end we'll try to do both and split the difference somewhere. I guess that Carney and JPB will be training with the first team this week? On the other hand, maybe Bogarde can play for the U23s tonight given the first team is back to the full complement of 4 CBs.

The trick, really, is getting it to be as much of a conveyor belt of talent as possible but it's really hard to predict progress and there's only so many places in a team - so you don't want to be too stacked with talent to the point that you don't know what to do with it, but at the same time, you don't want to be in the position where one team is lacking players due to too many promoted players, like our U18s at the moment. 

All in all, as you say, it's all about how many we create for the first team, though.

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11 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I thnk there are 500 seats, but they sell around 400 - might be wrong on that - they section off areas for scouts and for the staff and players families.

 

One of the club staff was moaning the other year because I had been sold a seat the club use. Not really sure what he was expecting me to do!

Who stands on the far side? Seemed to be a mix of people last time, not obviously scouts etc, could have been family.

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3 minutes ago, AndyClarke said:

Who stands on the far side? Seemed to be a mix of people last time, not obviously scouts etc, could have been family.

I always wonder that, I'm guessing it's a mixture of staff and family, although none of the players ever go over there at full time, or celebrate with those folks.

They're a bit of a mystery - maybe it's the coach driver, the groundsman and the people who cable up the TV.

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4 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I always wonder that, I'm guessing it's a mixture of staff and family, although none of the players ever go over there at full time, or celebrate with those folks.

They're a bit of a mystery - maybe it's the coach driver, the groundsman and the people who cable up the TV.

I was watching people walking around there and none were challenged. I'll see if I upset another Villa staff member this evening, if so, I'll wander over!

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JPB trying to do a little too much on his own today - needs to share the sugar. 

Wolves are well-organised. No player has stood out for them IMO but they've got a good game plan to combat our style and are limiting us quite well so far. 

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Wolves couldn't keep that press up for too long. We dealt with it well. Wolves are defending well, though - we've managed to get through a few times from good individual skill but they recover well and just get there before we can shoot. 

Iroegbunam's doing very well - action packed display both ends of the pitch. He's got so many good things about him, definitely a huge prospect.

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A few too many sloppy moments for us, either leading to our own attacks breaking down or giving the ball away and presenting them with opportunities, not a bad performance overall though, Wolves just doing well to stop our dangerous players. Iroegbunam playing very well.

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