U23s - Middlesbrough vs Manchester United

AltiUn

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What a ball by Mejbri and brilliant work from Chong, that's a great finish too :drool: 3-1 United with 10 minutes left to play.

Apparently it was on OG actually.
 

NWRed

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What a ball by Mejbri and brilliant work from Chong, that's a great finish too :drool: 3-1 United with 10 minutes left to play.

Apparently it was on OG actually.
Hard to believe he's only 16, genuine quality.
 

AltiUn

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That finish was definitely Chong, 4-1!
 

AltiUn

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Goal number 3:
Goal number 4:
 

AltiUn

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Hard to believe he's only 16, genuine quality.
Yeah, he's showing his quality very early on. I can see why he was so highly rated in France.
 

AltiUn

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What on earth has Mejbri done do deserve being fouled 4 times in 2 minutes.
 

Lash

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They all are nice footballers - of our entire squad today, there are not many players who will not have a good career.

And we should add that 6 more or less regulars are missing. Greenwood, Williams, Gomes, Garner, Ercolani and Galbraith - could all be in this side.
Yeah, hopefully there will be a good few who contribute to our squad in the near future. Would be one hell of a job by butt and the youth recruitment team if so.
 

Lash

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Mejbiri will definitely get some minutes this season. I'm talking like 2-3 like garner got, but boy he looks special.
 

Yagami

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Was disappointed to see Puigmal subbed as not only was he on a hattrick, I wanted to see him alongside Mejbri :drool:

Actually not that great apart from the result. We were lucky (or Kovar was good) not to be behind after 15-20 minutes. After Puigmals 1-0 goal we gradually took more and more control of the game, and we took advantage of a poor pass to score again after 47 minutes
So a bit fortunate to be 2-0 up
Thanks for the reply :)
Mejbri must have the best fouled per 90 mins stat in the world. It's about every two minutes here.
I was going to say he must have been the most fouled player of the game despite playing about 15 or so mins :lol:

It's a good sign of his quality. They just couldn't get the ball off him.
 

AltiUn

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Another great win, the U23s are so enjoyable to watch, a nice breath of fresh air from the first team. Might have been a season too late but thank God we finally got rid of Sbragia, now we can see what the lads are capable without him stifling them, and that's with a lot of our best players now with the senior squad. First half was gritty but we just about did the job, mainly thanks to Puigmal and especially Kovar, who's doing the unthinkable and actually making goalkeeping look fun. Second half, bar 10 minutes or so, we were the much stronger team and it showed, thought Chong in particular stepped up as he has been doing so often.

Can't remember the last time we were so filled with talent in the academy, we've done so well to get rid of the deadwood players who never stood a chance here and replace them with hungry, high quality players. I feel like we must be averaging 3 goals a game the rate we're scoring.
 

DomesticTadpole

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Another great win, the U23s are so enjoyable to watch, a nice breath of fresh air from the first team. Might have been a season too late but thank God we finally got rid of Sbragia, now we can see what the lads are capable without him stifling them, and that's with a lot of our best players now with the senior squad. First half was gritty but we just about did the job, mainly thanks to Puigmal and especially Kovar, who's doing the unthinkable and actually making goalkeeping look fun. Second half, bar 10 minutes or so, we were the much stronger team and it showed, thought Chong in particular stepped up as he has been doing so often.

Can't remember the last time we were so filled with talent in the academy, we've done so well to get rid of the deadwood players who never stood a chance here and replace them with hungry, high quality players. I feel like we must be averaging 3 goals a game the rate we're scoring.
If we have a team made up of U-23's and the women we might actually get somewhere.
 

Fosu-Mens

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Nobody really mentioned chong after his first goal ...
In a counter attacking setup Chong can function, but as of now, he is too dependent on space. He is not strong enough, nor got that low centre of gravity or that insane burst of speed needed to get past players in tight spaces. He is also very one footed, making it easier for defenders to "lead" him one way making him a one-dimensional player. Given his age, he will definitively improve, but currently only productive on the counter and in space. Some muscle and improving his weaker foot would do wonders for his overall play.
 

roonster09

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Anyone know why Mellor didn't play as striker but Ramazani played as 9 till he was subbed out? Even last game in EFL cup, Mellor played deeper role.
 

Crashoutcassius

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In a counter attacking setup Chong can function, but as of now, he is too dependent on space. He is not strong enough, nor got that low centre of gravity or that insane burst of speed needed to get past players in tight spaces. He is also very one footed, making it easier for defenders to "lead" him one way making him a one-dimensional player. Given his age, he will definitively improve, but currently only productive on the counter and in space. Some muscle and improving his weaker foot would do wonders for his overall play.
Fair points. Bit like our whole squad in terms of effectiveness on the break...
 

AltiUn

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People keep saying Chong is one dimensional but I can’t understand why, he’s got deceptively good balance and he’s very difficult to catch from a standing start not to mention when he’s generally just running at full pelt. It’s not like he’s not got quick feet or no end product, he may be many things but I disagree that one dimensional is one of them.
 

lysglimt

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I actually rate this crop of youngster as the second best I have seen in my time as a United-fan - just edge it ahead of the 2011-team that won the FA Youth Cup. But that Group had 6-7 players you knew would go far - and some players you knew weren't going to make it a high level. Sadly, many of the players from the 2011-team never achieved what they could have (Morrison, Thorpe, W.Keane and Tunnicliffe especially) and only Lingard, Pogba and Michael Keane took the step up to international level.

But when I look at the 16-19 year olds we have now - there are so many who can make it. Most of them of course won't - but I am convinced that the majority of the U18s and U23s players will go on to play at a high level in football.
We have maybe 20 players with the ability to go on and play regularly for United, and it's actually easier to pick the ones you don't believe are good enough. Kovar, Devine, Mengi, Laird, Williams, Gomes, Chong, Greenwood, Ramazani, Garner, Galbraith, Levitt, Puigmal, Traore, Elanga, McCann, Mejbri, Shoretire, Wellens etc - there are so many with extreme qualities. And that is one of the main reasons why I can't share the negativity around United. I truly Believe that this crop of youngsters will make United a top-side again….but it will take a few years. I just don't Believe that so many excellent footballers all will fail - 3-4-5 of these players WILL be United-greats.
 

In Rainbows

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Anyone know why Mellor didn't play as striker but Ramazani played as 9 till he was subbed out? Even last game in EFL cup, Mellor played deeper role.
Probably due to pace. Mellor plays like a poor man's Januzaj (2013) in that role where he holds up play, brings others into play and tries to finish. I see Ramazani playing the more energetic Lingard role. Of course, slightly different.
 

Utdstar01

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I really like the look of Wellens, really impressed me this year.
 

roonster09

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Probably due to pace. Mellor plays like a poor man's Januzaj (2013) in that role where he holds up play, brings others into play and tries to finish. I see Ramazani playing the more energetic Lingard role. Of course, slightly different.
Thanks. Mellor looked much better when he was leading the line, clumsy but good work rate and his presence created space.

Anyways it's good to play players in different positions, they should learn different aspects of the game.