benfica played well mind, some good bits of football from the lads but our lads kept them at bay, even blondy saved the pen...we really cannot complain about the young lads now, especially looking back a few years.
Great game. Poveda was best in first half then Aleksic in the second half. Aleksic's goal was tremendous, all about his standout ability. Lots of other positives - Harrison Jones, Jenson Jones, Abdullahai. Very good.
Blondy was MOTM for me, unlucky he didn't push the penna away. Poveda looks like he's a lot fitter. Feel like it was a tough chance for Trey, given the speed of the cross. Lovely to see Seelt back. Big fan of Ben Middlemass. Gotta be playing league football.
Forgot to say, I said in the match thread I'd drop Rigg for something different, Aleksic is the type of different you would want I think, he's a lot more explosive than Rigg, but I get that Rigg is a hell of a lot more reliable. We are inundated with immense talent.
A few need league club loans. I felt Middlemass really struggled tonight and kept giving the ball away. He's got ability but at 20 the likes of him and Harrison Jones need league loans to prove themselves or time woll run out.
Good to hear that Poveda showed what he can do, he's been unlucky with injuries but we signed him for a reason. Definitely in better shape than when he joined, I noticed that last game I went to, tiny but slim. Could be a key player in the run in who knows.
We have some talent, at the club, that would've been definite first team starters a couple of years back.
I was looking at the comments from that match and kept thinking that it's not really just an U21 match because we have senior players in there... Then I realised that I was thinking of Aleksic and Seelt who are 19 and 21! I've gotten so used to having a young squad that you sometimes forget.
I think Aleksic is this year's Romain Mundle. He's a first choice midfielder next season when someone inevitably leaves, but he'll be ready to hit the ground running and we'll barely notice the difference.
I was thinking yesterday, if we were in League one i think Harrison Jones would be a fixture in the team.
He needs a good loan move this month, he's a good technical player but he needs to play senior football as I worry about his physicality
We have a lot of talent in the U21/18 squads, however we have a very talented young first team squad as well. There in lies a test for the model. Two years ago you could see a good few of the current crop of kids getting minutes in the first team, but that is more difficult now, who do you drop or take off the bench today? One of the strengths we have had is the ability to offer a clear pathway to first team football while keeping the players in house so they learn the culture of the club and develop the skills to fit into our style of play. We are going to have to tweak that model now and especially if/when we go up. A lot of this group will need loans to League 1 or Championship clubs to get games. The question then is which clubs would we trust to develop the right skills and attitude? Interesting but nice problem to have.
Definitely needs a loan, I think he’ll adapt to the physical nature of men’s football and be a really good player - in the FA Cup match he struggled with that side of the game but still played some nice passes and stuff. Watson was the same at first but started to adapt to it before he got injured - Jones will too, I think. It just won’t be here cos we are staked with CMs.
He's a good player, I think he will end up as a good L1 player - not sure i see him as a championship player He should have a cracking career tho
I've not seen enough of him to judge to be honest. But certainly not expecting him to become someone who can go up to the Prem with us, where as Watson certainly can.
