I was thinking this, but my opinion has been slightly tarnished by a couple of things I saw from their bench. There was the un-necessary abuse and hand signals towards the referee from their assistant (so much for teaching the boys RESPECT) and as early as the first half, I lip read their manager shouting "Just get it in the box" .... typical English Disease mentality. I wouldn't have minded if it was last five minutes, but there was a man teaching the future of our game to lump it and generally, that is how they played apart from one brief spell in the first half. Well done Saints on trying to develop players in the right way.
There was also the first leg of the U18 FA Cup final last night between City and Chelsea.... no mention on their Football home page on this either.
I was about to comment on this too - BBC Sport lack of coverage of this final is appalling imo. I dont agree that Henderson is a 'donkey' though, he isnt to blame for the BBC's lack of coverage of the U18 and U21 Finals !
Agreed - i thought that the Blackburn team played well and they passed the ball about quite well imo. They made it tight. The better side won thankfully but both teams contributed to a decent final.
You'd think with the recent 3-2 win for the national side over Germany, and the upcoming Euro's might create a bit of interest for that age level. I was expecting it to be headline news. It's not anywhere but the Saints page. Disappointing,
I was sat right behind their dugout, and this assistant never stopped moaning all game. Was really winding me up actually.
Hesketh, reed, Gallagher, McCarthy, gape and seager absolutely shone for me. I like the look of McQueen too, anyone else think he could do with a loan spell in the championship? Credit to our academy, hope these boys can keep progressing. If seager can turn into Harry Kane and bang in 30 goals for us next season that would be acceptable
The RB, Mugabi, impressed me greatly, he defended well, looked comfortable on the ball and his distribution of the ball was top notch.
Defence: Targett: Another good game. He seems to be maturing in his tackling with every game. Add that to how good his crossing and dead ball plays are, I can see a good future. Wood: played like his 4th different position of the season (lb,lm,cb,cm) and still looked great. McCarthy: So much better as a cb. Mugabi: Reminds me of Martins Indi. The way he plays and moves. Big muscley guy who has pace and isn't afraid to go past people. Yet also has a touch of skill. All four stood out for me big time. Midfield: Gape: Another good solid game. He broke up so many plays. Reed: He was a little over excited, not his best game last night. But most of us know how good Reed is anyway. Hesketh: Good skill on the ball and never gives up. He ran everywhere last night. McQueen: For me he trys too much skill with out ever beating the guy. He didn't seem to have much pace last night either. Sims: when he came on. Even tho he didn't have many chances to score he worked hard tracking back and tackling. When he did have the ball you could tell he is going to be class. He also linked up with Mugabi very well. Forwards: Gallagher: Did hardly anything first half when he was out wide. But that totally changed when he switched to up front. He showed some great touches and scored a very good goal. So pleased for him after what he has been through. Seager: Speed, strength and knows how to score a goal. The guy is a very promising goal poacher despite being about 4ft tall. Sinclair: For me he didn't do much at all. He tracked back well but hardly ever put a tackle in. You can see why Saints haven't offered him a new contract just yet. He needs to prove himself more. GAZZANIGA: Scared the **** out of me when ever the ball came near him. But fair play to him he had a good game. He came out to catch crosses and saved the few shots he had. His punch outs seemed a little weak tho. Did any one else see that he always poses and makes sure he looks good before he does a goal kick? (Even before he was wasting time)
Their best player by a mile, in my opinion. Apparently the only one with first team experience, or so I was told. As a team (at all levels) we've got to start taking our chances (I'm sure there are comments about that on here), so I was glad that they finally brought Sam into the middle, where he was comfortable (before that he was invisible) and he scored a class goal. Was particularly impressed with Hesketh who moved into Harry Reed's position after the ref was conned (twice) into booking him. He (Hesketh) held the midfield together and stopped them overrunning us with their extra man. Great win - super potential (I wonder how many PL scouts were there?) and I really hope many of these can push on and make the 1st team regularly!!
http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/21/who-a...-from-the-famous-southampton-academy-5159184/ Blog from the Metro about how super duper our Academy is....Ok, I know it's written by a Saints fan, but you can't be schmoozed too much.
What's amazing is how many of those names we could recognise. When are we going to see some of these lads in the first team?
It's also worth noting that I haven't seen Pellè beat a man all season with anywhere near the ease and skill Gallagher showed for that goal. His hold up play from long balls was excellent too. I really don't think it will be to many more average pelle performances before I would think about trying out Gallagher, if we insist on playing with a target man
Yes, he said last night that the club was in safe hands. Whatever our own opinion of Nicola, he wouldn't have been so glowing in his praise had this happened back then!
The transition from U21 to PL is more mental than anything, according to a pundit/ex-player of Arsenal who I've chatted to a few times!
