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Under 21's

Good to see that 21m on Baba was well spent, the U21 have got a decent LB now.

 
We've absolutely destroying teams lately at U21 and U18 level. DaSilva and Abraham in particular have been class from what Ive seen.

 
A good dilemma to have. Id go with Abraham purely because he has the physical stuff you cant teach.

 
Abraham looks like a real machine, let's just keep him and upgrade him properly.

 
 
Another Under-21 away win (1-3) against Reading last night, but the undoubted stars of this particular game just happen to be two 18yr-olds who have been playing regularly in the FA Youth Cup team. The formations adopted by both the U-21 and U-18 sides have varied this season, yet these two youngsters have played their respective roles impressively, regardless of system change. This not only highlights their versatility, but, in my humble opinion, also earmarks them as the standout talents within the current crop [still young enough to compete at FA Youth Cup level] and therefore good enough to be fast-tracked in atypical, true blue Ruben Loftus-Cheek fashion.
 
Specifically, the players I’m referring to are Tammy Abraham and Kyle Scott and, even though on another thread I’ve previously advocated that these lads take the Vitesse development route, I’m now having second thoughts - maybe Abraham should be given the opportunity to follow the same direct path as Marcus Rashford at ManU and, if Dele Alli can get into the Spurs [and England] squad at 19yrs of age, why not have a similarly talented midfielder like Scott vie for a first team place at Chelsea, right there alongside RLC? Indeed, I’d go so far as to say that, despite being a year younger and smaller (who isn’t?) than both RLC and Ali, this boy passes the ball better and dictates the flow of a game better than either of them, precocious skills that render his size an irrelevance in a modern game that now places much greater emphasis on speed of transition through the middle of the park.
 
Likewise in terms of abilty, Abraham scores goals for fun, as a lone striker or in partnership with Ike Ugbo, and he would not look out of place if, in a crisis and as the fourth choice striker, he got his chance to play in the first team next season, much in the same way as Rashford has over the last few weeks. Admittedly, this would see him as the last in line in a strike force of Costa, Traore and one other [out of Pato, Remy, Falcao and Bamford] which, in the event of any long term injury to Diego, would appear fragile, but the bracketed quartet may not survive any new managerial cull and, if that were the case, a major signing would be odds on, thereby making the picture that much brighter. In any event, looked on from the point of view of youth development and providing opportunity to play, any more than one expensive forward acquisition has to be regarded as being counterproductive, especially with Solanke also waiting in the wings at Vitesse.               
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Dorset said:
 
Another Under-21 away win (1-3) against Reading last night, but the undoubted stars of this particular game just happen to be two 18yr-olds who have been playing regularly in the FA Youth Cup team. The formations adopted by both the U-21 and U-18 sides have varied this season, yet these two youngsters have played their respective roles impressively, regardless of system change. This not only highlights their versatility, but, in my humble opinion, also earmarks them as the standout talents within the current crop [still young enough to compete at FA Youth Cup level] and therefore good enough to be fast-tracked in atypical, true blue Ruben Loftus-Cheek fashion.
 
Specifically, the players I’m referring to are Tammy Abraham and Kyle Scott and, even though on another thread I’ve previously advocated that these lads take the Vitesse development route, I’m now having second thoughts - maybe Abraham should be given the opportunity to follow the same direct path as Marcus Rashford at ManU and, if Dele Alli can get into the Spurs [and England] squad at 19yrs of age, why not have a similarly talented midfielder like Scott vie for a first team place at Chelsea, right there alongside RLC? Indeed, I’d go so far as to say that, despite being a year younger and smaller (who isn’t?) than both RLC and Ali, this boy passes the ball better and dictates the flow of a game better than either of them, precocious skills that render his size an irrelevance in a modern game that now places much greater emphasis on speed of transition through the middle of the park.
 
Likewise in terms of abilty, Abraham scores goals for fun, as a lone striker or in partnership with Ike Ugbo, and he would not look out of place if, in a crisis and as the fourth choice striker, he got his chance to play in the first team next season, much in the same way as Rashford has over the last few weeks. Admittedly, this would see him as the last in line in a strike force of Costa, Traore and one other [out of Pato, Remy, Falcao and Bamford] which, in the event of any long term injury to Diego, would appear fragile, but the bracketed quartet may not survive any new managerial cull and, if that were the case, a major signing would be odds on, thereby making the picture that much brighter. In any event, looked on from the point of view of youth development and providing opportunity to play, any more than one expensive forward acquisition has to be regarded as being counterproductive, especially with Solanke also waiting in the wings at Vitesse.               
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You're clearly a man after my own heart and I do enjoy reading your posts. Just can't see it happening unfortunately. 

 
jamie#8 said:
Can anyone shed any light on how Matt Miazga looked last night?
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A first sighting of the American, in a 2-1 win against Leicester, and one that turned out to be eye-catching in many ways. The lad has a real physical presence, is exceptionally good in the air and passed the ball out of defence with unerring accuracy throughout the evening. However, perhaps of greater interest was not so much his no nonsense, uncompromising style, but his adaptation to the position he was asked to play in - on the right side of a back three, alongside Dion Conroy and Jake Clarke-Salter, in a 3-5-2 formation that finally followed in the footsteps of an Under-18s Youth Cup team that’s been pioneering it all season. It was also telling to hear Adi Viveash’s reflections on the game afterwards, saying that the development of the group was in evidence here and it was a match that his side would probably not have won six months ago.  
 
To recap, six long months ago this side were playing a back four and had just suffered three consecutive defeats, against Benfica, Man City and Spurs, whereas this victory was their sixth unbeaten and third league win in the last four, thus begging the question - why change a formation that had seemingly been ‘developed’ into a winning one? Well, I would like to think a compromise was being made, not merely to accommodate Miazga and the rising star that is Clarke-Salter, but also to test them out together in a three in anticipation of a new season during which we will see the 3-5-2 formation used regularly by the first team under a new manager. If so, this first trial run at this level can be said to have been a success going forward, and we need look no further than the opening goal for confirmation - headed in by Clarke-Salter, who got on the end of a Miazga cross. 
 
Admittedly, it was a goal that only brought us level, after Miazga was left isolated too deep and one-on-one with a talented striker, Joe Dodoo, who duly scored - there is a joke in there somewhere, but this was no laughing matter. Nor was it a system failure, merely a long ball and somewhat fortuitous flick on, although it could be argued that it is the unoccupied space available in these wide areas that can be said to be the spanner in any 3-5-2 works. However, measured against this must be the possession and domination we achieved in midfield and I was particularly impressed with the way Clarke-Salter and Miazga made no concession when it came to keeping out a little wider, as opposed to being too narrow, thereby closing the space that is so often the system’s downfall against good quality wingers. 
 
We have a quality youth set up and very few decent loanees out at the moment. Out 1st team needs a complete overhaul to allow some of these players in

 
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