U18PL CUP SF: Man Utd vs West Ham

KM

I’m afraid I just blue myself
Joined
Sep 18, 2008
Messages
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Starts in five minutes, live on MUTV
 
We are so slow passing the ball around the back, it's been a trend in the recent weeks, very boring to watch. At least, we woke up after they scored. Need to get the ball forward quicker and sustain pressure higher up. Thwaites also, needs to stop wandering about and get on the ball more. Ajayi not been great either, hopefully a better performance to come in the second half.
 
Fortunately I’ve come into the game and seen two very good finishes. Nice to see the goals shared out and subs having an impact.

A few of the fringe/younger players have really impressed me in the last few weeks and I’m hoping they can kick on and improve into next season too.
 
always_hoping said:
Who do you reckon has the best hope of becoming a established Man United senior player in the years ahead.
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If Gabriel can keep his head down and avoid injuries he has a huge chance. Thwaites as well is the kind of player we could use, but generally midfielders seem to struggle to breakthrough into the first team. There seems to be some hype with Ajayi as well.
 
spenzo said:
My old stomping ground too I might pop down. Think it’ll be tickets on the door?
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I’ll do some investigation. I’m not a club member or anything, I was previously but ditched after a couple of years of glazers.
I presume there will be tickets on the door, not like it’ll be a full house
 
The Purley King said:
I’ll do some investigation. I’m not a club member or anything, I was previously but ditched after a couple of years of glazers.
I presume there will be tickets on the door, not like it’ll be a full house
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Yeah figured as much, I’ll keep an eye out closer to the time.
 
Ali Dia said:
He must have been finding u15/16 way too easy. There's no other way they'd have moved him up as a starter otherwise. I'm fairly sure Greenwood was fast tracked too but it doesn't happen very often
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More than you think...Greenwood, Morrison, Shoretire, McAllister, Fitzgerald, Gomes...and many others others were playing 1-3 years up.

Back in the day, it was also a regular occurence to have 15 year-old juniors play in the old Central League against seasoned professionals.

Whilst Gabriel looks a great talent, no-one should think fast-tracking is anything new, recent or rare.
 
Mr. MUJAC said:
More than you think...Greenwood, Morrison, Shoretire, McAllister, Fitzgerald, Gomes...and many others others were playing 1-3 years up.

Back in the day, it was also a regular occurence to have 15 year-old juniors play in the old Central League against seasoned professionals.

Whilst Gabriel looks a great talent, no-one should think fast-tracking is anything new, recent or rare.
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You're dead right. I really enjoy your posts on the youth setup. Greenwood Ravel and Gomes aren't bad players at all. Greenwood could have been a top player. Gabriel feels like the best prospect sice. With Gabriel I really think it's about keeping his feet on the ground and staying injury free and getting the bits of luck. In my opinion he's going to be at least a fairly well known player like Adnan Gomes Greenwood Pereira Hannibal, that's what his current potential suggests to me and he if keeps improving who knows. He could be a Pogba level player.
 
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Mr. MUJAC said:
More than you think...Greenwood, Morrison, Shoretire, McAllister, Fitzgerald, Gomes...and many others others were playing 1-3 years up.

Back in the day, it was also a regular occurence to have 15 year-old juniors play in the old Central League against seasoned professionals.

Whilst Gabriel looks a great talent, no-one should think fast-tracking is anything new, recent or rare.
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James Wilson too.
 
Ali Dia said:
You're dead right. I really enjoy your posts on the youth setup. Greenwood Ravel and Gomes aren't bad players at all. Greenwood could have been a top player. Gabriel feels like the best prospect sice. With Gabriel I really think it's about keeping his feet on the ground and staying injury free and getting the bits of luck. In my opinion he's going to be at least a fairly well known player like Adnan Gomes Greenwood Pereira Hannibal, that's what his current potential suggests to me and he if keeps improving who knows. He could be a Pogba level player.
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Greenwood is a top player (IMO), and most likely he’ll eventually end up at a top 10 European club.
 
Mr. MUJAC said:
More than you think...Greenwood, Morrison, Shoretire, McAllister, Fitzgerald, Gomes...and many others others were playing 1-3 years up.

Back in the day, it was also a regular occurence to have 15 year-old juniors play in the old Central League against seasoned professionals.

Whilst Gabriel looks a great talent, no-one should think fast-tracking is anything new, recent or rare.
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Darren Fletcher another good example of a player who was ready for first team football, aged 15.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Darren Fletcher another good example of a player who was ready for first team football, aged 15.
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I read up, he was planned to make his debut at 16 yrs and 2months, but was scuppered due to being on a school boy contract! Then it took another 3 years to get the debut due to injuries.

I can't really recall anyone else being legitimately in the conversation for beating the club record though, Gabriel is the first one I can remember where the chatter about him beating the record started when he was just 14. Some of it is probably due to SoMe hype and being compared to the Arsenal lad. But it's still remarkable and at the very least puts him in the conversation of very top-tier talents coming through in our history. I guess we'll see how his key traits (agility, quick turn of pace etc.) develop as he matures physically, but it's translated pretty well so far. His dad is of average height, so it seems unlikely that he'll have an insane growth spurt and become one of those awkward gangly lads.
 
Rainy nights in Stoke said:
I read up, he was planned to make his debut at 16 yrs and 2months, but was scuppered due to being on a school boy contract! Then it took another 3 years to get the debut due to injuries.

I can't really recall anyone else being legitimately in the conversation for beating the club record though, Gabriel is the first one I can remember where the chatter about him beating the record started when he was just 14. Some of it is probably due to SoMe hype and being compared to the Arsenal lad. But it's still remarkable and at the very least puts him in the conversation of very top-tier talents coming through in our history. I guess we'll see how his key traits (agility, quick turn of pace etc.) develop as he matures physically, but it's translated pretty well so far. His dad is of average height, so it seems unlikely that he'll have an insane growth spurt and become one of those awkward gangly lads.
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Gabriel turns 16 on the 10th October, so he has until the end of October 2026 to become the youngest player in our history.

If he continues to progress and doesn't get injured then perhaps in the early rounds of the League Cup could be a possibility. If we reach European positions this year which seems likely, we will miss out on the Second Round in August and enter in the Third Round in late September. The Fourth Round is late October when he will already be 16.

So it's a small window for him...even so I would expect him to be involved at some point next season and join the six other players who made their debuts at 16 years-old.
 
Mr. MUJAC said:
Gabriel turns 16 on the 10th October, so he has until the end of October 2026 to become the youngest player in our history.

If he continues to progress and doesn't get injured then perhaps in the early rounds of the League Cup could be a possibility. If we reach European positions this year which seems likely, we will miss out on the Second Round in August and enter in the Third Round in late September. The Fourth Round is late October when he will already be 16.

So it's a small window for him...even so I would expect him to be involved at some point next season and join the six other players who made their debuts at 16 years-old.
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Yeah, for him it seems like it's about timing more than anything if he doesn't get it. His birthday is on a little awkward date to get pre-16 debut, and even if he wasn't prevented by the "being under 15 when the season starts" thingy we're out of all cups early this year making it hard to find a good opportunity. We'll see if he get it. Feels like the club are really committed to keeping him long-term and if getting the debut early is so important to him and his dad I reckon we might bend quite a bit for it.
 
Only club I’ve seen still do paper tickets is Fulham for their u21s. Think I’ve been to every other London away and home matches and all digital these days.
 
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