U23s - Manchester United vs Chelsea

Classical Mechanic said:
Good to see Hudson Odoi, Sterling and Chalobah in the squad, hope at least one starts. Three of England's best young players.
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Ampadu is the only kid starting. Sterling, Hudson-Odoi, Chalobah and Kyle Scott are on the bench. Obviously I want to smash Hull anyway but It'd be nice for them to get a few minutes.
 
Tahith Chong really good with his feet
also number 2 is good with his feet
but our GK is awful
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Ampadu looks the business too, shame Wales nabbed him.
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Not 100% yet, he's still not played a competitve game.

Born and raised in England, Welsh mum and English dad. Kinda annoying if he picks Wales (as an England fan, in all honesty he's probably better off away from the neverending shitshow that is the England national side).
 
This United-side is a textbook example of how not to defend.
 
Last few times I dared watch the u23s I've been terrified by how clueless they looked, especially in midfield and defense.

Edit: wow, Kanchelskis is looking old
 
Apart from Chong the Utd players look a couple of levels below Chelsea.
 
It's a joke of a side. The few players with genuine quality - look physically too weak to play at this level.
 
lysglimt said:
It's a joke of a side. The few players with genuine quality - look physically too weak to play at this level.
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Most of this side is the reason we've put so much effort into reshaping our academy over the past couple of years, only 2 in that starting 11 who stand a realistic chance of breaking through to the first team are Gomes and Chong, who only moved up to the U23s a few weeks ago.
 
duffer said:
You can get relegated from this? Youth football is so strange, it should surely just mirror the first team.
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Why would it mirror the first team? The best youth should be playing the best youth and that doesn't mirror the first teams. A number of PL clubs don't have CAT 1 academies while some Championship sides have very strong youth sides.
 
limerickcitykid said:
Why would it mirror the first team? The best youth should be playing the best youth and that doesn't mirror the first teams. A number of PL clubs don't have CAT 1 academies while some Championship sides have very strong youth sides.
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I remember the Chelsea kids didn't get to try and retain their Youth Euro cup a few years ago (becasue the first team didn't qualify).
 
duffer said:
I remember the Chelsea kids didn't get to try and retain their Youth Euro cup a few years ago (becasue the first team didn't qualify).
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That is an entirely different competition. They have also since changed that since its ridiculous for that to happen. The title holders now make it in as well as 32 domestic youth champions so it no longer just mirrors the first teams but also gives spots to the best youth teams. We just beat the Serbian champions who's first team are in the 4th division.
 
AltiUn said:
Most of this side is the reason we've put so much effort into reshaping our academy over the past couple of years, only 2 in that starting 11 who stand a realistic chance of breaking through to the first team are Gomes and Chong, who only moved up to the U23s a few weeks ago.
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I try and ignore the score and focus on performances....but that was very poor. Thank god Chong was on the pitch as his performance was the only positive out of that match.

Really impressed with his ability to ghost into great positions. I think I've seen the future tonight and that makes me happy.
 
Wow, CBJ played footy in a red shirt. Haven’t seen that for a while.
 
lol the Chelsea side isn't that strong either (compared with what they can put out). We really need to sort it out, especially the midfield.
 
Our U23 team is really bad, beside Chong and Gomes, really nothing to see. Williams can be good, and have potential.But at the end it is team game and this bunch of guys just not look like a team.

What really worries me is that Gomes is having trouble to show talent at U23 level. Few games already, and he is not doing great. Hopefully it is still adaptation period, and also, it has something to do with the rest of the team in the midfield, but with Chong you can see potential even on this level, he is doing some things, Gomes on the other hand doesn't do much.
 
Is Sbragia's job under threat. I would hope it is.
 
KevinJoh said:
Our U23 team is really bad, beside Chong and Gomes, really nothing to see. Williams can be good, and have potential.But at the end it is team game and this bunch of guys just not look like a team.

What really worries me is that Gomes is having trouble to show talent at U23 level. Few games already, and he is not doing great. Hopefully it is still adaptation period, and also, it has something to do with the rest of the team in the midfield, but with Chong you can see potential even on this level, he is doing some things, Gomes on the other hand doesn't do much.
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Will do Gomes some good to really fight to prove his talent here. I had thought for a little while that the hype around him was a bit excessive anyway. He’s a very talented kid, but not necessarily the most talented of this English generation. I know he went into the WC with an injury, but by the end of the tournament he was out of the team. With the delay and speculation surrounding his contract, I hope he isn’t getting ahead of himself, because Chong is outshining him at the moment.
 
Rozay said:
Will do Gomes some good to really fight to prove his talent here. I had thought for a little while that the hype around him was a bit excessive anyway. He’s a very talented kid, but not necessarily the most talented of this English generation. I know he went into the WC with an injury, but by the end of the tournament he was out of the team. With the delay and speculation surrounding his contract, I hope he isn’t getting ahead of himself, because Chong is outshining him at the moment.
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I don’t think it is talent levels, more his lack of physicality. He looks a bit lost in the u23s tbh, the game just seem too fast for him and at the World Cup he really seemed to struggle with the conditions and had stamina issues.

It doesn’t help how woefully bad the u23 midfield is as he is often isolated but it’s been a. Steep learning curve so far.

I tend to agree on the other England lads though, at least in a sense. Hudson Odoi is lightinging quick, Sancho is strong and quick enough and Foden has a great engine. These lads are currently better suited to stepping up aged 17 because of this whereas as Gomes will likely be a slower burner.

Chong also has the physical qualities to cope with the step up too.
 
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