Looking like a bunch of strangers , teams all over the place , Fulham way too good so far, could have been 3 or 4 up at half time'
I know results don't look great for the u21s but i'm not too sure what the club can do. We're playing teams who have multiple players who would be in and around our first team picture, Fulham tonight have 3 who I would have in our first team squad. If we fielded our best u21 team we'd win most weeks. As long as 2/3 of these lads are in the first team picture in the next few years it's a success despite the results.
Rigg would probably still be playing u21 football if he was at a PL club, he's one of our first names on the first team team sheet!
I think it's safe to say that whatever we're doing with our kids it's working, regardless of results. There's a steady drip of young talent knocking on the door of the first team squad and that's the whole point.
Sunderland AFC Under-21s suffered a 5-1 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League 2. Despite an outstanding free-kick from Caden Kelly, a brace from Josh King and further strikes from Jon Esenga, Kristian Sekularac and Callum Osmand secured the three points for the hosts at Mostspur Park. The Lads started the contest strong with Kelly firing a curling effort off the bar with less than a minute on the clock. Fulham had their opener just five minutes later as a scramble in the area allowed King to slot home his first of the evening. The second came with a third of the game played as King volleyed home from the edge of the area to grab his brace. The Black Cats pulled one back moments after the restart with some individual brilliance from Kelly. A pin-point free kick finding the top corner from 20 yards out. The Whites looked poised to add a third when the referee pointed to the penalty spot following Tom Lavery's challenge but Kelechi Chibueze stood tall and palmed away the spot kick. Esenga took matters into his own hands to double the deficit with an in-swinging corner looping over everyone and nestling in the far corner. A breakaway two minutes later allowed Sekularac to go one-on-one with Chibueze before dinking in the fourth. Osmand wrapped up the victory and added the fifth with a deflected strike finding the net ten minutes from time. Ogunsuyi put away his second of the season with a late consolation finish but Hayden Mullins' side took home the three points. Sunderland AFC: Chibueze, Lavery, Kindon, Bell, Jenson Jones, Burke (Mitchell 65), Middlemas, Lenz, Walsh, Kelly, Ogunsuyi Unused subs: Cameron, Parker, Hester, Scott My thoughts on the game, I agree with the comments previous regarding it all being about development and bringing players through quickly , but it must be a bit dispiriting for the players themselves to be in a team outplayed so regularly. There is no getting away from the fact that some poor displays from individuals in defence and midfield contributed to the latest defeat. My over ridding concern is that strangely enough , we don,t look to be well prepared or set up as a team, just what shape this squad will be in later in the season we don't know , but at the moment its painful watching tbh.
It's a tough balancing act - producing players for the first team and putting out a competitive U21 side. Last night's team suffered because of how well Rigg, Watson, Johnson and Bainbridge have done. The first three are involved with the first team and the fourth earned himself a loan move to Kilmarnock. Then there's Mayenda as well. The academy set up is doing well even though the U21 results and performances have been disappointing. Some of the U18s look very good and I hope they will step up in the not too distant future.
