United - Real Madrid U21

lysglimt

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Jun 1, 2008
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Can our youngster perform on a tuesday night....against Madrid ?

United: Will Murdock - Louis Jackson, Sonny Aljofree, Tyler Fredricson, Godwill Kukonki - Rafe McCormack, Tyler Fletcher, Jack Fletcher - Shea Lacey, Chido Obi, Jack Moorhouse

Subs: Cameron Byrne-Hughes, Daniel Armer, James Overy, Jacob Watson, Finlay McAllister, Samuel Lusale, Noah Ajayi
 
Great goal Moorhouse 1-0
 
Penalty United. Keeper with a shocking 1st touch and clattered Chido.

2-0 Lacey
 
Was a really nice finish from Moorhouse.

Lacey scores a penalty 2-0.
 
I'm surprised the stadium is so empty. Aren't these matches usually free/nominal fee to get in?
 
HJ12 said:
I'm surprised the stadium is so empty. Aren't these matches usually free/nominal fee to get in?
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Tickets were sold for the south stand where the TV cameras are, decent turn out to be honest.
 
klayton88 said:
Tickets were sold for the south stand where the TV cameras are, decent turn out to be honest.
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They did the same thing for the women's game, seems a strange decision when trying to market it as a product.
 
Is it possible to watch this without subscription? Answers on a postcard please.
 
We deserve the lead - but the goal we gave away was really stupid. McCormack and Moorhouse been really good, but Lacey's (lack of) defensive work has been a problem for us. He let's the left back attack time and time again - and it will probably pay off for Madrid sooner or later unless we do something.
 
Not a huge fan of playing Jackson as a RB, doesn't offer much going forward and that leaves Lacey very isolated. Would much prefer Overy at RB in the 2nd half.
 
Who is the player who made that brave header to set up Moorhouse?
 
Moorhouse definitely has something about him.
 
SubutaiScipio said:
Lacey has been a serious defensive liability all game.
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Unless he improves the physical side of his game I think he'll end up a 10. It's not a lack of effort, he just hasn't got the engine to get back in time.
 
Bastian said:
Moorhouse definitely has something about him.
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Remember watching playing for u15s, he looked like the next great thing, all action midfielder - injuries derailed him a bit. hopefully he gets a chance.
 
dutchred said:
Should be in the first team group, good player
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The thing is hes a bit older and hasnt had much end product consistency. I cant see him being too different from Mather who left and Ennis who I'm assuming will leave in the summer after his loan

I dont disagree though he has good feet and can beat a player. I think he could be a good player at a decent level, but in general our players are league 2, league 1 or championship bound or a foreign equivalent

I think by 18/19 a youngster needs to have made a breakthrough and gone into the first team if they're going to be considered for it based on whats happened in recent seasons
 
we got a huge chance 30 seconds earlier - didn't take it. And now we pay for it
 
The Madrid attacking players are able to keep the ball in crowded areas with their technique but our players panic and lose the ball if they are not running with the ball.

There is a gap in terms of touch, balance, awareness.
 
You can see how playing senior football on the third level in Spain helps the development of the Spanish players.
 
Our midfield has been bad. I understand that Madrid have been good in the press but would it kill for somebody just to take it on the half turn and have a bit of composure? Something that Thwaites is good at.
 
SubutaiScipio said:
The Madrid attacking players are able to keep the ball in crowded areas with their technique but our players panic and lose the ball if they are not running with the ball.

There is a gap in terms of touch, balance, awareness.
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There’s also a gap in age which is definitely a factor. Real we’re a year or two older on average.

Was really impressed with McCormack tonight, think he’s such a good footballer. If he manages to take that leap forward athletically, even slightly, I think he has a real chance of a career.
 
Gungerz said:
There’s also a gap in age which is definitely a factor. Real we’re a year or two older on average.

Was really impressed with McCormack tonight, think he’s such a good footballer. If he manages to take that leap forward athletically, even slightly, I think he has a real chance of a career.
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Yes. McCormack was really good. Our midfield collapsed after he went off. Like you said, he just needs that extra bit of acceleration. His positioning, awareness, game intelligence are all good.

I didn't know that they were older. We have a number of 20yr old players in our team.

I think the coach should have moved Lacey behind Obi with Lusale on the right and Ajayi on the left. Playing Ajayi behind Obi was a waste.
 
SubutaiScipio said:
Yes. McCormack was really good. Our midfield collapsed after he went off. Like you said, he just needs that extra bit of acceleration. His positioning, awareness, game intelligence are all good.

I didn't know that they were older. We have a number of 20yr old players in our team.

I think the coach should have moved Lacey behind Obi with Lusale on the right and Ajayi on the left. Playing Ajayi behind Obi was a waste.
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They had 4 22-year-olds, a 23-year-old & a 20-year-old in their starting XI.

In total they played 4 players who would be eligible for our U18s, we played 8. So while we didn’t play particularly well the age gap definitely played a factor, especially when you take into account that they’re also playing against men every week.
 
With a defence of Will Murdock, Louis Jackson, Sonny Aljofree and Tyler Fredricson, and being Real Madrid, we did well to only let four goals in.
 
SubutaiScipio said:
The Madrid attacking players are able to keep the ball in crowded areas with their technique but our players panic and lose the ball if they are not running with the ball.

There is a gap in terms of touch, balance, awareness.
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It also helps if you focus on technique, skill, etc in training rather than physicality
 
Went last night their number 6, Cherif Fofana. Holding midfielder, 16 years of age.

Never seen a player so young with an understanding of a position so good. Within ten minutes I said to my dad watch this kid, he would make himself available for every pass, Literally dropped into pockets or holes, whenever he received the ball he was meters away from anyone because of his ability to create himself space. One of the best kids I've ever seen live.

Also their number 10, 7 and the big centre back 5. All three of them were light years ahead of anything we had on the field.
 
Gungerz said:
They had 4 22-year-olds, a 23-year-old & a 20-year-old in their starting XI.
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By the way on this, it looks like Real potentially broke the rules? From the PL website’s page on the competition:

“This is an Under-21 competition with clubs permitted to name three overage outfield players and one overage goalkeeper on their team sheet”.

https://www.premierleague.com/en/youth-competitions/u21/premier-league-international-cup-explained


One of the 22-year-olds was a keeper, so that’s fine, but then that leaves them with 4 overage outfield players rather than the permitted 3.
 
Devil81 said:
Went last night their number 6, Cherif Fofana. Holding midfielder, 16 years of age.

Never seen a player so young with an understanding of a position so good. Within ten minutes I said to my dad watch this kid, he would make himself available for every pass, Literally dropped into pockets or holes, whenever he received the ball he was meters away from anyone because of his ability to create himself space. One of the best kids I've ever seen live.

Also their number 10, 7 and the big centre back 5. All three of them were light years ahead of anything we had on the field.
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Yeah he instantly stood out.
 
I went last night and came away really shocked how good they were. Some of the passing was incredible. There was a rumour we were scouting their B side not long ago and I can see why, full of talent.
As the poster above said 10, 7, 6 and 5 were quality. I nearly shouted Darren Fletcher to ask him to get a scout on Fati the number 5 he was that good. The number 16 that came on impressed me the most, he was incredible in tight areas and never gave the ball away. I've not been able to figure out the name of the 16.

On the United side I was really unimpressed with Obi, I thought his work rate and hold up play were poor. He's a mile off the first team. Lacey also didn't impress me, the left back never let him past once and Fati stepped in on him every time he came inside, he never went to the byline until the second half.

Mccormack did really impress me, he was one of few who had technical quality to match Real's but he's also got good size about him too.

The defenders all played really well and endured a lot of pressure.

Lusale was extremely bright and so was Ajayi but we had no control of the game to really give them a chance to operate higher up.

It made me think a lot last night, I have a son in 2 pre-academies. The higher level academy are training kids to be like United players and the lower level academy are training the kids to be like Real Madrid players. I came away with a resounding answer as to what I want for him.
 
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