I went to see the Under 18s yesterday. Millwall were the better team throughout and were a bit unlucky not to score. We hardly had a shot all game but we worked hard and defended well. Star of the show was Joe Gomez who won every tackle and header. He also made a number of surging runs forward.This boy is going to be a great player, let us hope we can hold onto him. Also impressive alongside him was Terrell Thomas who was very solid. Also a couple of good saves from Doherty. Team Charlton: Doherty; Barnes, Gomez, Thomas, Edwards; Cook (Kelly), Stewart, Lapslie (Pyke), Kennedy (Hanlan); Adeloye, Ahearne-Grant. It finished 0-0.
I was a bit disappointed with the performance Dick, Joe was very solid but his passing was a bit sloppy at times, Terrell won most of his headers but had a habit of forgetting he was playing centre back and got sucked into midfield too often which left us exposed at the back. Archie Edwards tried to provide support to the forwards but the Millwall winger made good use of the space this gave him to counter attack. The ref tried to let the game flow but in my opinion missed a lot and the game became a free for all in the second half! The Wall centre half (and Captain?) must have shouted to the ref to '#uck off' at LEAST four or five times without a booking even AFTER the ref warned him about it. We lost control of the game in midfield where we were out fought for most of the game, especially by the giant that Millwall had in there (Richie?) who was my MoM.
I thought we were poor as an attacking force, we were outmuscled in midfield by a bigger Millwall side. Joe Gomez did misplace a couple of balls but the amount of covering he did, especially for Barnes at right back, was impressive. He has a lot of pace and he is very strong for his age. A lot of pressure was put on the defence and they did well to cope with it.
Thanks for reporting back, guys. I am presuming our u18s include a number of u17s and even u16s. A year makes a big difference at that age. Do you have any information to confirm that, or otherwise?
Yes a lot of players on the pitch were 16 or just 17, as you say Eddie a year makes a lot of difference. The Millwall boys look a lot older.
Yes a lot of players on the pitch were 16 or just 17, as you say Eddie a year makes a lot of difference. The Millwall boys look a lot older.
The under-21's also drew 0-0 with Millwall earlier this season, so that's 3 games we've drawn a blank against them so far. How long is it now until Gomez is 17, therefore able to sign a pro contract?
If it's true that Edwardes has turned down the chance to join Manure there's no need to worry about him. Any way I was standing next to his Dad at one under-18 game and he sounded a very decent sort of bloke, not one of these pushy types.
Billy and All Hell Who have we got in the Under 18's who you can see playing for our first team ? I will keep a look out.
Gomez, Holmes-Dennis and Edwards plus perhaps Doherty? Which is probably our average from the youth set-up, having seven or eight players promoted to the full time squad is very unusual.
I haven't seen the Under-18's much in the last year or so. Ahearne-Grant made a brief appearance as sub for the under-21's, which means he must be highly thought of, since he's pretty young, about 16, maybe?
