U21 Development League 2022/2023

[Rich192]

It’s now working for me, so refresh lads, maybe they fixed it at half time. 

[MaVilla]

i think its interesting that apart from his physical size, El Ghazi doesnt look out of place, and to be brutally honest not as technically proficient, as easily half of these u21s playing.

[lexicon]

4 minutes ago, Rich192 said:

It’s now working for me, so refresh lads, maybe they fixed it at half time. 

Thanks Rich - just did that and it's working

[bobzy]

33 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

2-0 now. El Ghazi from a free kick. He doesn’t look too happy though. I guess they’re putting him in the shop window.

Unsurprising. 

[Kingman]

9 minutes ago, Rich192 said:

It’s now working for me, so refresh lads, maybe they fixed it at half time. 

Same here... Bug fixed 

[Rich192]

I can only apologise for letting you guys that it’s now working. 

[MaVilla]

3-2 up now (from 3-0).

Villa U21's trying to do their best impression of the senior team.

[MaVilla]

3-3, 3 goals for boro in 23 minutes.

trying hard to replicate the senior team for sure.

[useless]

Not watching the game, but not at all surprised to see they've pulled two goals back, pretty much typical for U23 football for games to be like this. They've equalized now.

[bobzy]

We’ve still got it 

[MaVilla]

Finished 3-3.

[est1874]

What the **** happened

[Kingman]

27 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

Finished 3-3.

**** a duck 

[OutByEaster?]

I think people might see it as a game of two halves, but I don't think that tells the story.

I thought we were very lucky to go in at 3-0 up at half time, Boro had had most of the ball and played a lot of football around our box, they just hadn't made enough clear chances, and when they did Marschall was excellent. We struggled throughout to get any sort of control of the middle of the park - their press dominated - it kept our fullbacks back and meant that we rushed everything - on top of that, our passing was poor at times.

We had some good quality on the pitch though and in moments we were able to build a lead, the first goal was nicely fashioned for Wright by El Ghazi and the second was a decent free kick with a little deflection. Boro were incensed by the third goal as the flag went up, but I thought the referee was right to give it, the last touch came from a Boro player in a scrambled tackle and while the linesman didn't see that, as the ref pointed out they should have been playing to the whistle.

They came out with even more intensity in the second half and had complete control of the game for a good twenty five minutes - we rallied toward the end, but the result I think just about reflects the match. Ultimately they worked harder than we did and they were better organised. The new boss has work to do.

Individually, I thought O'Reilly was poor, he really struggled to get the ball to a player in a Villa shirt at times, but he was tasked with a lot of responsibility in getting us out from the press, Hayden Lindley also didn't do well - even on a bad day you can usually rely on his smart positioning to ensure he makes a decent contribution, but he seemed to be struggling with the system and was getting an earful from the bench. Chrisene also had a poor game by his standards - he never seemed to quite reach the pace of the match and was another who struggled to hold onto the ball.

I thought Raikhy was our best player - and as the game went on he found more and more ways to get time on the ball. El Ghazi was good in the first half, even at half speed and both centre backs did pretty well. Ealing had a decent cameo at the end too.

Beyond that, there was a lot of hard work, particularly from Wright and Frith, but a bit of a lack of composure and control - it was notable that our goals didn't really come from patterned play, they were largely opportunistic and we perhaps need a bit more time in this system or with a more settled side.

I'd note that Marschall looked he'd been in the weight room, he's much bigger than last season - if he wants to sit in the front, he sits in the front.

Kaine Kesler watched from the bench and Lange was there, presumably telling the visiting scouts how good El Ghazi is. 

It was cracking entertainment on a lovely sunny day at Bodymoor and it's a great way to spend an evening, I can't recommend it enough.

Also....

3 hours ago, BOF said:

That Scott bloke is full of crap.

The gaffer said it in his press conference!

(But yeah, fair enough, I am yeah).

 

[sparrow1988]

1 hour ago, est1874 said:

What the **** happened

@Rich192 refreshed his server and it all went to pot.

[I Make Pies]

Thought we did ok in the first half. Middlesbrough had a fair amount of territory and possession but we had that extra bit of quality in the form of El Ghazi. 3-0 did flatter us though. When O'Reilly went off injured it looked like a change of system to a 4-2-3-1 and we lost the midfield until we switched back to 4-3-3 after Hart came on. Unfortunately the score was 3-3 by that point.

O'Reilly has moments of real quality but too much loose play in between. Chrisene struggled initially then improved. Raikhy, Feeney, Marschall and Revan were decent I thought. El Ghazi was too good for them in the first half then stopped trying in the second.

Still no sign of Bogarde. Cannot remember the last time I saw him play.

[MaVilla]

4 hours ago, est1874 said:

What the **** happened

 

3 hours ago, Kingman said:

**** a duck 

 

Answer: We are Villa!

"the end".

[useless]

I don't really get all the ''typical Villa and 'they're trying to be like the first team' reactions, unless my memory is bad i can't remember us throwing away many three goal leads, maybe a few two goal leads but no more so than most other teams.

As I said this kind of result isn't unsual for U21 football, as it isn't like first team football where as soon as they get a decent lead they start thinking tactically about how they can hang on, as there's less emphasis at this level on results, and often subs won't be made with the result of the game in mind, it will be more about what's needed for the individual players' development.

In one of the other matches last night Sunderland were beating Norwich 2-0 but lost 3-2, and Leeds beat Derby 5-2, there's just more goals in general.

Watching these games or following the scoreline I'm never confident of a win unless we're at least winning by two or three goals with not much more than ten minutes to go.

Edited August 6, 2022 by useless

[BOF]

Stats eventually updated. Apologies for delay. There are more matches on elsewhere today.

[OutByEaster?]

Just a note, the games against:

• Newcastle - Friday 9th September - 19:00
• Wet Bromwich Albion - Friday 30th September - 19:00

Are both listed to be at Villa Park rather than Bodymoor,