Our boys are developing all the time and we simply have to trust Bielsa in what he's doing for the club as a whole
Jenkins, Mullen and Gray were excellent. We lost a bit in midfield when Kenneh went off at half time but we always looked the better side. Liverpool's 5, 6, 8 and 11 looked good. They had chances but we had more and better. Great result
It was a great match. I switched from the West Stand when I found out that the ESL was open too. The Stand Manager I spoke to said these was 12000 of a crowd, and tbh, it looked it, even though they announced that it was only ~8600. The crowd was mostly dads & little kids, which makes me wonder if the ko time was set to 7pm to accommodate this. Had to laugh driving in (at the last minute, as ever). There was the usual miles long queue on the inside lane of the motorway leading up to the exit. I sped past it as I knew there were 2 lanes at the exit. Not only that, but the second lane was empty all the way down to the lights. Doddle. Pays to be a regular, eh? This was my first good look at the u23s since C19, I think. The first thing that caught my attention was young Gray with a 10 on his back. I thought he was a LB! I get it that they play the kids in various positions, but I thought it was always in related positions - e.g. a striker playing in MF to find out for himself how difficult it is to pass the ball the way he insists it should be passed to a striker - that sort of thing. But I fail to see the relationship between a 3 & 10. Glad to see Cresswell back & lording it. What a presence. My biggest disappointment was Summerville. Always a danger, but should have scored 3 more goals. Twice he was absolutely clear through & fell at the last minute - with no-one around him! The 3rd opportunity we did get a pen. Wrong end of the ground for me to pass comment on the red card situation, but I can tell you that we should not have got a pen - it should have been a goal, but Summerville carried the ball too long. In actual fact, I didn't realise it was a pen until the red card came out. I kept a fairly close eye on Dean, to compare him against our 1st team candidates. Let me just say that whilst he's got a long way to go, he's a better option for the 1st team than any other of the Bamford replacements. TBF, it's at a different level, but he's a proper #9 imo, whereas our Bamettes aren't. It shows. Bit disappointed in Liverpool, tbh. Didn't see anyone on the brink of breaking through for them. Not what I expected.
I thought Gray had a great game. He was all over the pitch. Liverpool's passing was very sloppy so we got a few breaks but the most dangerous ball was the one over the top for Summerville to run onto. Our LB was a new name for me but he did well. We only got to see about a minute of Mateo Joseph but he looks a unit. Max didn't get much out of the Pool CB, especially no.5. I thought he was good but their FB were poor. In the first half Jenkins and Kenneh had the MF sewn up. I was very impressed. Quite a few of the Pool lads have started for the first team according to the guy next to me. I think the future is bright. I'll be interested to hear what those who see them more think of Mullen. I thought him and Gray were our stand outs
Re. the first pen, I think I'd be angry if it was awarded against us in these circumstances. I think Summerville over-ran the ball & his balance. No way did the #3 foul him. Thoughts?
Not sure if this is the right thread for this. Just read that Bogusz has done his cruciate ... http://sportwitness.co.uk/will-not-play-season-blow-leeds-united-youngster-set-campaign/
GK - Van den Heuvel RB - Sutcliffe CB - Littlewood CB - Moore LB - McCarron DM - Jenkins CM - Allen CM - Snowdon RW - McKinstry LW - Miller CF Dean
More of the same then. None of our so called better U23's get any game time and so they'll be bench warming again on Thursday without having played any football for what, in most cases, seems like an eternity. Train and never play must get to these youngsters eventually. 1-0 Mansfield
