Anyone going,anyone care about this? No idea what sort of side we’ll put out or what the score is likely to be! I know there are competition rules regarding team strength and including first team regulars so it will be interesting to see who Lambert uses and who gets rested.Although lack of a game on Saturday makes that a bit unnecessary.
Gotta start with Huws, Nolan, Dozzell in midfield. Geirgiou and El Mizouni the wide men, with Roberts up top Kenlock, Donacien Wilson with an academy CB in defence. Dont care about the result, just stay injury free and get some match fitness
I'm struggling with this one. Ordinarily I would be saying we should go out to win every game, but I think the inclusion of U21 sides has made a farce of the tournament. So instead use it to give the squad some minutes as far as possible.
A couple of Spurs fans are dragging me to this one - and with a lift there and back I can't really complain, for an otherwise troublesome mid-week evening match! I imagine it'll be a much-changed side, even without the league fixture on the weekend. Paul Lambert has come out and said he thinks the game, and the tournament, is pointless. Personally, I don't think we should be snobbish about tournaments, particularly when the finalists play at Wembley - we're one of a small handful of sides that have not played at the 'new' Wembley. Silverware is silverware, and we've had few trophies to celebrate over the past few decades. We've got a lot of options in midfield for rotation, and we're a club that constantly talks up its academy products, so I'd like to think we can field a relatively strong side. .
I think it is pointless but that's because they allow youth teams to compete. Yet another rule where the PL devalues the lower leagues
Disappointing that we think we're too big for this and taking it seriously instead why don't we prove it and go out to win it. As it stands we're losing to a youth team...
Dobra creates another goal for Roberts! Really positive play from the young lad, he looks good enough for the first team to me.
Nice, we got the win. It wasn't a great game but some good performances from Huws, Nolan and especially Dobra made it enjoyable enough.
Feels odd to win a cup game. I'm pleased, keeps the momentum going as we go into our self imposed international break
A weird vibe to the game - almost like the half-way point between a pre-season friendly and a League Cup first round. To echo San Diego, I think Dobra was the stand-out player, incisive and threatening whenever he got on the ball. Nolan had a brilliant game in the middle of the pitch. El Mizouni also gave a good account of himself, woeful set pieces aside. We were defensively solid after going behind early, Wolfenden had a good game and I also thought Kenlock adapted to a centre back role surprisingly well. Interesting we went for three at the back and wing-backs, maybe a sign of how Lambert wants to set the team up when he has players back to full fitness? Either way, a good win and result in a tournament where hopefully we'll get a first trip to the 'new' Wembley and have some silverware to lift before the end of the season.
I don't think giving those players some game time and keeping the momentum going with another win will have done us any harm at all. We should use the competition as a competition for the reserves. What did you make of Spurs U21s? Always think that these top U21 sides should have more talent and be better organised than an average League One team. But perhaps the better prospects are out on loan already and it's damning to be 20 or 21 and still be at the club.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the better players being sent out on loan, Hampy. A Spurs fan who went with us to the match admitted that many of the better young players are already out on loan (five or six of them I believe, including Georgiou). You've also got young players like Skipp and Foyth already blooded into the first team and regularly making first team squads. They looked pretty quick on the break and were comfortable on the ball. They should have scored more than once, including a really good opportunity in the last minute when the lad only needed to slot it into the far bottom hand corner. However, they are kids, they require further physical development, and defensively the team were a little all over the place. My personal opinion on the Spurs team was that they played rather cautiously, which was surprising considering how they started the game.
Interesting view about the setup because when I saw we went with three at the back I wondered why Lambert changed the system as it would make more sense to get all players on the same page.He’s entitled to experiment though!
Maybe that's the value of including the U21s in the competition, giving those players good enough to be at the club, but not promising enough to be sent on loan some exposure in the lower leagues and into the proverbial shop window.
I think with the players we have 532 is a good option to play. It's one of only two formations I've ever seen Ipswich do well under.