Jump to content

U23 Development League 2021/2022


BOF

Recommended Posts

Maybe a combination of not playing for over a month and having half a team back on loan. A recipe that could have gone either way but seems to have over egged the pudding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

again, over working it, over complicating it.

Thats as bad as i have seen our u23s play in a long time tbh.

I think the issue is that all our attacking players are more creators than finishers. I'd like to see Caleb on in the 2nd because he's got more of a killer instinct in that respect. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Barry he hasn't been that bad, he's not at his best, probably rusty after not playing for a long time, but he's looked more like making something happen than any of our other players, and the only one that's looked like scoring, Young working hard, and holding the ball up well at times, but hasn't had any real chances, as for Abldeen-Goodridge it's getting to the point where I think he's going to have to show more, this has probably been one of his better halfs, but even then hasn't really caused them any trouble.

I think we've been weak in midfield today, Raikhy doing okay, but Lindley and Thorndike need to get into the game more, especially Thorndike as we're relying on him for creativity in that area, with Ramsey not playing.

I'd be tempted to bring on Caleb Chukwuemeka at half time, maybe put Chrisene in midfield as well.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing we're doing diffrent this season compared to last season that I'm not sure is helping us is that we're playing with two No.6s, it's obviously to accomodate both Lindley and Iroegbunam into the midfied, or today Lindley and Raikhy, but I think we'd be much better playing with one DM and two more attack minded midfielders like we were doing last season with Raikhy, Aaron Ramsey and Chukwuemeka, only problems is without Ramsey and Carney we don't have many choices for those attacking midfield roles.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The better team won, and they were comfortably the better team on the day - which is good, because if the refereeing had had any influence on the result I might well have stepped on and clocked him myself.

Middlesbrough looked fluent and organised, they attacked as a unit and defended as a unit - everything we weren't - and their number nine was dangerous throughout. Our midfield struggled to get any sort of grip on the game and although Raikhy showed some nice touches and Thorndike finished the game strongly, we never had any grip of the middle of the park. 

I thought Chukwuemeka looked lively when he came on, Barry was bright if isolated, Feeney defended well and Marschall continued to show what a good keeper he's developed into this season, he was the pick of ours and made some really good stops, but we never really found a pattern that worked. There was a lot of cramp in the game with players down often in the second half and Thorndike's legs leaving him just as his heart had decided he was going to drive us to a result. Brad Young was forced off with what he succinctly described as "The worst f***ing pain of my life" and I think both teams were struggling at the end.

The standout moment of a thoroughly diabolical performance from Mr Kirk, our referee for the day was the penalty - I haven't seen any replays and there's a chance I guess that I've missed something, but I had a pretty clear view from where I was and there was a huge gap between the defender and the forward when he went down. It looked like he'd stubbed his toe in the turf and fallen forward, but he was so far away from contact that the idea of a penalty didn't occur to anyone but the referee. The gap between the players was of exactly the size that you'd turn sidewards if you were going to walk through it - about a foot and a half - it might be the single worst decision I've ever seen on a football field. This isn't a chap that should be refereeing games on this showing. In the second half, Louie Barry asked him "Are you f***ing blind?" and I'd have to admit, no answer would have surprised me.

But, thankfully he didn't influence the result, the right team won and indeed if we'd snatched a late equaliser it would have been a bit unfair on them - we look like we need games and we need more time to get this group clicking before we can start looking at winning matches again.

It remains a lovely afternoon out for two quid (or free if you're a season ticket holder), I got to sit with Ben Chrisene's parents who appear to be the nicest people in the world, had a portion of chips and watched Delaney and Boateng have their own little crossbar challenge contest pre-game. Football is lovely and while you don't always get the result you wanted, at this level you can still come away with a smile on your face.

Now to ruin my evening.

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The games that survived. Fulham win again. 13 wins from 15 now. 14pts clear of 2nd place. We're still in a good place despite our woeful run and casual approach to team selection. Next up is a trip to 3rd placed West Brom next Monday.

On 04/01/2022 at 10:03, BOF said:

Sunday 09/01
14:00 Southampton(9->10)   POS Wolves(8->9)

Monday 10/01
14:30 Aston Villa(5->5)   0-1 Middlesbrough(13->11)
19:00 Burnley(6->6)       1-1 sha(14->14)
19:00 Newcastle(7->7)     POS West Brom(3->3)
19:00 Notts Forest(12->13) 1-2 Fulham(1->1)
19:00 Stoke City(4->4)    POS Norwich(2->2)
19:00 Sunderland(10->8)   2-0 Reading(11->12)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...
Â