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nutty nigel

Monday Night Football

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U21s | XI to face : Matthews; Hall-Johnson (c), Crowe, Coker, Efete; Grant, Godfrey; Middleton, Adams, Cantwell; Ashley-Seal.

 

Young team with quite a few of last week''s U18s in there.

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God I thought that was a photo from inmates walking the yard at San Quentin

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[quote user="daly"]God I thought that was a photo from inmates walking the yard at San Quentin[/quote]if that was an attempt at humour about our successful youth set up......Miserable Fail. [:|]

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Good experience for ours though. And I like to see promising youngsters promoted through the age groups. Glen Middleton played for the U21s against Villarreal at just 15.

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Lads are doing ok but this is a really strong Man U side and we have a young side out, not that the commentator is giving our lads any credit for anything.Jones and McNaire two internationals at centre half, Janujaz (or however you spell his name) and Memphis Depay playing wide. Varela, Perrera and Will Keane all playing too.Going to be a tough night but they are sticking to their tasks and keeping their shape well.

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Can anyone tell me how Hall-Johnson is getting on? Only saw him play once against Monchengladbach about a year or so ago but he was the player that stood out for me, did his job well without being flashy, I thought he looked like one of the most likely to be able to go on ti have a good career from the little I saw if him.

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0-6 now.

I''ve seen him a lot Rusty. He''s a whol hearted player who probably will not progress any further by playing a few games for U21s. I read that we wanted to send him on loan at the beginning of this season. But for whatever reason that hasn''t happened. Can''t see what his future can be here. But I hope, as I always do, he makes a pro footballer somewhere.

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the ''yoof'' of today eh?spend too much time listening to their elders, ( first team squad )they kept going to the end, valiant effort but too many United players with 2st team experience.Chins up lads.

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Has to be said, this u21 league is a bit daft - either it is a ''reserve'' league or it''s an u21 one, it is actually trying and failing to be both. Who really gains from tonight''s game? - we put out a load of u18 players, they play several first teamers - as we are both entitled to do. Surely it wasn''t competitive, the result was never in question and everyone has, frankly, pretty much wasted their time.

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Branston, I think the idea of the development squad was for three main things; increase development of youth players, decrease squad sizes and provide a platform for injury comebacks and game time for reserve players. For those purposes it does well, but what we''ve seen with PL teams is an increasing tendency to loan out large quantities of players due to the squad size limits. This also includes us loaning out or selling our best prospects to get first team football. I''m sure if the Murphy''s, Morris, Toffolo etc were playing last night the result might have been different. Instead we played a group of very young players against the likes of Memphis, Jones and Janujaz! Whilst that alone results in one way traffic I''m sure it''s a good experience for those players to have played against that calibre of players

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I don''t disagree with that, AJ, but the game yesterday shows in a nutshell just how daft the current set up is; I guess our youngsters will have gained something by playing, but not as much as they ought.

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I was at the game last night, albeit I missed the first 20 minutes and the first goal...

 

United were definitely a couple leagues above us in terms of class - but then again what can you expect when they play 7 players who have played for the first team?? Some of the touches Will Keane had were out of this world, especially one where he flicked it over our defenders head on the edge of the box - absolutely unreal! Along with his lovely chip I can''t deny I applauded that goal...

 

We perked up a bit at 4 or 5 nil down and made a couple of good chances and our play began to flow a bit more for about 10 minutes. No one really stood out for me except I was impressed with the attacking qualities of LB Michael Efete. Ran tight down the line a few times cutting into the box and producing a couple of hard and low dangerous crosses. Cantwell, whilst not really doing a lot showed some promise with some neat footwork. New signing Godfrey looked like he''s a decent acquisition in years to come, didn''t really do anything to stand out, just went about his business quietly. You could see the way we were trying to play which if we pull it off would be some great football to watch, but unfortunately last night we were just completely outclassed - one United player that particularly impressed me was James Weir, seemed to win every ball and find his man with every pass - reminded me a bit of Paul Scholes...

On the whole, can''t really complain too much due to the class difference, but one positive to take from the game is we didn''t concede from a set piece! (That I can remember anyway?) Maybe the first team should take note

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Thanks Engineer. Me and my grandson really rate Michee. Iv been following his progress since he joined the academy from Palace. He''s played full back, centre back and right midfield. Hes an U21 international with Congo. Here''s hoping :)

As for the experienced and over age players. I''ve noticed clubs mostly do that in home games. We have done this too. And when we beat man utd at home they had a much younger side out.

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No problem! He certainly looked as though he has the makings of a professional footballer and I would definitely consider loaning him out next season to see how he gets on with the physicality of the professional game.

 

Forgive me if I''m wrong but I''m sure there was a team a couple years back who fielded three fully fit first team players when their U21 team was chasing the title? Could of had an impact into Memphis'' selection with United chasing the league - after Van Gaal has said it wasn''t punishment for a poor performance against Chelsea the day before...

 

On another note Will Keane and Januzaj also very strong selections and I''m wondering what they''re doing n the U21 side rather than being loaned out - I''m sure there would have been a host of suitable clubs chasing their signatures over the last month... Same applies to McNair. 

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All good points Engineer. Don''t know why some of those aren''t loaned out. Not sure how badly Man Utd would want to win the U21 league either. But I do think, despite losing 7-0, we got more out of it and them. Good experience for our young team to play against that team. Not sure what their more experienced team got out of beating our kids except the league points.

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[quote user="AJ"]Branston, I think the idea of the development squad was for three main things; increase development of youth players, decrease squad sizes and provide a platform for injury comebacks and game time for reserve players. For those purposes it does well, but what we''ve seen with PL teams is an increasing tendency to loan out large quantities of players due to the squad size limits. This also includes us loaning out or selling our best prospects to get first team football. I''m sure if the Murphy''s, Morris, Toffolo etc were playing last night the result might have been different. Instead we played a group of very young players against the likes of Memphis, Jones and Janujaz! Whilst that alone results in one way traffic I''m sure it''s a good experience for those players to have played against that calibre of players[/quote]

Correct, our best U21 players have been loaned out & the very young players are getting valuable experience.

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