Curiously, no. For all our abundance of talent in the u21s in certain positions, we have no outstanding RM. We played Courtney Harris there most games last season who was a Fulham reject. He did a good job but not good enough to be worth an on-going contract. I think we have also played Jordan Cousins there and Azeez but it is not the best position for either of them. As we have three top strikers (Pigott, Azeez and Sho-Silva) and three top CMs (Jordan, Cousins and Poyet, plus Muldoon and Gerard) to be fitted in, they avoid the problem by playing 4-3-3. And that's what we must do in the first team too (though not because of an abundance of talent in that case). Speaking of the u21s, what happened about the away friendly at Havant and Waterlooville that was scheduled for last Saturday? No mention anywhere, not even on Twitter. Was it cancelled to save on travel expenses? Oops, no. We paid for the travel and are economising on updating our OS instead. Pathetic that there is a report on the Havant & W site but not on ours: http://www.havantandwaterloovillefc.co.uk/archive/live-updates---charlton-athletic.html
I see Jack Munns is still with us, but i have seen nothing of him signing for us. Note in that line up that Harry Osborne is playing twice. I agree with you Eddie it is very poor that nothing is on the OS. But they have lost another long serving member of staff in Matt Wright who left the Club without another job to go to, funny that.
Maybe if the Youth team are playing 4-3-3 then thats the formation all should be playing? I know we're not even close to Barcelona but isnt one of their strengths that the 1st Team, B Team etc... all play the same formation so that when youngsters progress its easier for them to slot in
Although I wrote that, the team against Havant looks like 4-4-2 with four CMs across the midfield. We have a cartload of good CMs (add Gerard and for the moment Munns to the list) but no natural u21 wide-players.
Seems to be a trend developing. First we had the Harriotts, then the community Church who scored with "their" left-foot then "their" right-foot". Now we have cloned Osborne. One of him can continue to fill in at RB while the other reverts to his best position at CB.
I don't know if the U-21's will play 4-3-3 any more under Jason Euell. I think Nathan Jones played this system specifically to suit the personel at his disposal.
NJ did it to fit in Smith, Pigott and Azeez up front, while Jordan, Cousins and Poyet were good enough to match four opponents in midfield. Ewell has the same situation but for Sho-Silva replacing Smith, while the midfielders should be a year stronger and more experienced. But as you say, being new to the job he will play it by the book for a bit. And even NJ used Courtney Harris a lot at wide right. Munns is a puzzle. He would need to really shine to oust any of our current MF and it's the last position we need to sign a "squad padder". But he has been used mainly on the bench. I would have thought as he is on trial the normal course would be to see how he performs over 90 mins for three games, then sign him up or let him go. At the moment we are nursing him as if he were younger than the rest, not older, which he is.
