Gray is undoubtedly the more naturally gifted player, but Gómez Rodríguez has been in excellent form for England, and his numbers more than justify a starting spot. I’d personally put Gorman into the number 10 role ahead of Dowman, however, Gorman’s recent performances as an 8 for City have been very good, so it would be fascinating to see if they work together and develop a good partnership - potentially one that caries into the senior side with the talent these two have. I'd go with: Ngumoha - Rodriguez / (Gray) - Williams-Barnett Dowman Gorman - Nwosu This side needs to work well as a team, something it has sometimes struggled with in the past, so I’m hopeful that players like Dowman will look to release the ball when he needs to and be more intelligent in his play rather than squandering chances.
This team is really overloaded with players who play their best football behind the striker and/or in the halfspaces. It's one of the most talented teams we've had but it's definitely not the most balanced. I'd like to see McAidoo get a good bit of gametime personally. He's impressed me a tonne this season and I think he's slightly underrated compared to some of the others in this group.
We all know they'll get rotated so everyone is involved. Injuries permitting, both 11s will be very strong.
It’ll be interesting to see if Mfuni gets drafted back down into this squad. We already have such great options in the centre of defence, but he could really take it to another level.
1918298328447504563 is not a valid tweet id Not legally able to play in the PL until next season when he's an u16. I think that question has been asked a few times, not sure if it was ever answered conclusively.
I will be very surprised if he’s not making his senior debut when he turns 16. You have to hope that it’s managed sensibly though and not overly used even if he hits the ground running.
The criticism of him just a few weeks ago was his finishing, since then 1918644766637506694 is not a valid tweet id A number of wonder goals in there too dribbling from inside his own half or from the half way line.
Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the day before the first game. Think it’s usually something like that with our FA.
Ryan McAidoo not involved in the FAYC final and is apparently on the sidelines wearing a protective boot. Obviously we've got a number of options in that position but for me he's our best in that role. Would be a real shame if he missed the Euros, hopefully just precautionary.
Oh, I must´ve somehow missed that as I was thinking what a weird decision to sub in Henderson-Hall instead of him when they were down. Thought the game was a great watch overall but the flaws of City´s strict possession-based approach that Horris keeps mentioning were exposed in the final, especially when they were behind yet kept on trying to pass the ball into Villa´s net.
They weren't great today but I actually think this City side is an improvement under Oliver Reiss compared to previous years/coaches. It's still extremely structured (arguably a bit too much) but they're a lot more direct and there's a lot more rotations in certain areas of the pitch than there was under the previous coach (who still manages the U21s and the U19s in the UYL). It wasn't that long ago that Thomas Krucken took over the academy after Jason Wilcox left, and I was reading an interview with him where he specifically states he wants players to play with freedom and individuality, which is quite different to how Wilcox saw things as far as I can see. Reiss is Krucken's first major appointment from outside of the club so it makes sense that we've seen a bit of a change.
Yeah, that was really refreshing to see Villa neutralising City's robotic passing game with direct, powerful, counter-attacking football. Let's hope other youth set-ups are taking note, because the sooner we move on from this obsession with keeping the ball at all costs the better.
I´ve just checked the u21 play-off between Soton and Fulham and Seth Ridgeon was substituted after 13 minutes. Don´t tell me he´s injured too...!
Bendito Mantato, the youngster who's been dubbed the 'new Bukayo Saka', has signed his first professional contract with Manchester United. (Daily Mirror)
Reggie Walsh starts for Chelsea, but I'm a bit confused about the position he is supposed to play. Google has him as one of the wingers which would be odd.
Louis Page has been subbed off after 34 mins of Leicester's U18 game tonight. Not sure if its an injury though because they also made a second change at the same time.
Some of the positions seem a bit funny but: GK Lanre Awesu Freddy Bernal Jack Porter DF Kaden Braithwaite Brad Burrowes Jun'ai Byfield Malachi Hardy Bendito Mantato Freddie Simmonds MF Max Dowman Landon Emenalo Finlay Gorman Louis Page Seth Ridgeon Luca Williams-Barnett AT Harry Gray Reigan Heskey Harry Howell Ryan McAidoo Rio Nguhoma Alejandro Rodriguez