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U23 game @ AG, 1pm Tuesday


CTRed

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3 minutes ago, Pugofwar said:

Can we take a moment to appreciate the name of the Barnsley 'keeper. Greatorex is not one I'd heard before but it seems to have a rather distinguished history... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatorex

In the course of my work I once had professional dealings locally with someone of that name. I even remember commenting on it at the time, but can't I'm afraid, recall the response now. Long time ago, but I can certainly say that there was a family of that name residing in Clevedon in the eighties or nineties. Can't be too many of them around. Maybe one of them might be a City fan and read this.

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1 hour ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Great interplay between NE , AS , SS ends with AS just wide for what would have been a great counterattacking goal

 

56 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

3-1

Great edge of box interplay from HA , SS and finished by NE

 

35 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

4-1

Great defensive header by AB , great touch in by SS for AS to nearly rip the roof of net off with a 14 yd strike 

 

18 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Harrison and Rees replace PP & AW

 

45 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

:laughcont:

*The initial... interplay was great  

(*you can say that again BBSB …. WH)

Looking forward to your overall 'initial' impressions of our U23's at full time BBSB.  ?

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54 minutes ago, Pugofwar said:

Can we take a moment to appreciate the name of the Barnsley 'keeper. Greatorex is not one I'd heard before but it seems to have a rather distinguished history... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatorex

I have vague recollections of a Roy Greatorex playing full back for Blackpool about fifty/sixty years ago.

More useless information

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2 hours ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Great Goal City

Walsh to Semenyo who dissects Barnsley defence for SS to nip in and finish sublimely

#Feelingsupersonicgivemesammieszmodics 

1 hour ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

3-1

Great edge of box interplay from HA , SS and finished by NE

#Feelingsupersonicgivemesammieszmodics 

1 hour ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

4-1

Great defensive header by AB , great touch in by SS for AS to nearly rip the roof of net off with a 14 yd strike 

#Feelingsupersonicgivemesammieszmodics 

1 hour ago, Desso said:

Semenyo 4 . 1

@Shtanley last seen disappearing to the toilets ???

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56 minutes ago, CliftonCliff said:

In the course of my work I once had professional dealings locally with someone of that name. I even remember commenting on it at the time, but can't I'm afraid, recall the response now. Long time ago, but I can certainly say that there was a family of that name residing in Clevedon in the eighties or nineties. Can't be too many of them around. Maybe one of them might be a City fan and read this.

There's a Greatorex family in Keynsham. I used to know two of the boys in 1980s but I can't remember their names! :facepalm:

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2 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

This line-up proves the squad is bloated at the moment. Should not have that many senior players starting an under 23s game. 

Last season we were fielding more like an under 20s team.

I agree with your comments here, but do you think that at this period in time its has a little to do with the staggered Transfer Windows dates? I mean, if it weren't for injuries, we may expect 2, 3 or 4 of these players to be out on loan in L1/L2 next week.

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I understand the predicament for LJ about playing Academy players when progression is the main aim for City; an inexperienced player could cost them/him dearly. My gripe is why bring in someone like Sammie Smozdics from L2 just to sit on the bench and displace an Academy player. If SS is one for the future then shouldn't we trim the Academy player of the same position because obviously a player from L2 is better than the current Academy player.

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Just back after an entertaining couple of hours.  Semenyo’s hold up play and Szmodics’s movement were outstanding.  Both should have had hat-tricks.  Williams looked rusty at first but got better as the game went on.  Only lost the ball a couple times, and on both occasions won it straight back.  I liked the look of Bakinson and Pereira also looked classy.  On the other hand, Walsh was something and nothing for me: his usual good passes but didn’t really control the middle.  Adelukan?  Hard to know where to start.  Some lovely touches in the first half, but a shambles in the second, losing the ball and failing to track back, shooting erratically from all angles, crossing to no-one in particular.  I simply cannot see him as a Championship footballer.

Of the rest, Maenpaa and Eliasson looked classy of course, Baldwin had a few dodgy moments but generally acquitted himself well, while the young Welsh fullback (forgotten his name!) looked very promising.  Oh, and Johnny Smith came on as a sub and looked poor, even against a very average and tiring defence.  The new Gareth Bale?  Sadly, I don’t think so.

We might have scored ten on another day.

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16 minutes ago, Im_over_ere said:

I understand the predicament for LJ about playing Academy players when progression is the main aim for City; an inexperienced player could cost them/him dearly. My gripe is why bring in someone like Sammie Smozdics from L2 just to sit on the bench and displace an Academy player. If SS is one for the future then shouldn't we trim the Academy player of the same position because obviously a player from L2 is better than the current Academy player.

Yeah you make a good point there. Perhaps he'll get more minutes when he learns the system. Or will he be inexplicably under-used like Elliasson?!

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2 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Just back after an entertaining couple of hours.  Semenyo’s hold up play and Szmodics’s movement were outstanding.  Both should have had hat-tricks.  Williams looked rusty at first but got better as the game went on.  Only lost the ball a couple times, and on both occasions won it straight back.  I liked the look of Bakenson, and Pereira also looked classy.  On the other hand, Walsh was something and nothing for me: his usual good passes but didn’t really control the middle.  Adelukan?  Hard to know where to start.  Some lovely touches in the first half, but a shambles in the second, losing the ball and failing to track back, shooting erratically from all angles, crossing to no-one in particular.  I simply cannot see him as a Championship footballer.

Of the rest, Maenpaa and Eliasson looked classy of course, Baldwin had a few dodgy moments but generally acquitted himself well, while the young Welsh fullback (forgotten his name!) looked very promising.  Oh, and Johnny Smith came on as a sub and looked poor, even against a very average and tiring defence.  The new Gareth Bale?  Sadly, I don’t think so.

We might have scored ten on another day.

Pretty decent assessment. I think you can see why the players are where they are in the pecking order.

Semenyo look pretty strong and it will be good to see him put that kind of performance against Championship opposition. Scored with the more difficult chance of course.

Szmodics just lacked a finish a couple of times when one on one. One for the bench Saturday.

Walsh was obviously trying hard but he doesn't look out of place playing U23 football.

Adelukan seemed to both be trying hard and not bothering in equal measures - on balance he seems a bit put out to be playing U23 football. Not sure any scouts would have seen enough to take him on that performance alone.

Overall a pretty entertaining (if somehwat one sided game) and an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

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Firstly thanks to @CTRed for starting the thread and alerting us to the game :thumbsup:

Took the opportunity to go down and see it as most of those on show I’d seen little or nothing of

Have to say what an enjoyable relaxing experience sat in the comfy West Stand in the sun , with some excellent skills on show

 

As many wont have had that opportunity , and as promised @Davefevs , will try and give a brief personal thought on what I saw today 

(Please remember It’s a personal snapshot thought  , on my first viewing but I tried to look at each player rather than any team performance aspects

 

Without researching Barnsley’s line up I’d suggest they had a young and inexperienced side out and that has to be taken into account

It was the first time I’ve seen all our side live, save Maenpaa, Walsh, Williams And Elliasson , And previously I’ve seen Adelukan once and Semenyo only in brief first team action so it was interesting

Maenpaa 

What you’d expect , Good shouting / organisation , caught once with ball at feet and made one excellent save , had no chance with their goal , and other than that did what he was required to with assurance 

Perreria

Some touches where he showed his ability and footballing brain but overall he didn’t wow me , or stand out ,have to be honest 

Soady

Of all the players I hadn’t seen or seen much off , along with Semenyo the lad who impressed me the most

Small in frame but nimble , good technically ,and brave 

I watched a lot of him first half in front of me and was impressed by his concentration on his positioning and ,at his ‘match awareness’ 

Very good on the ball , didn’t try and produce individual tricks but passed and moved and broke forward, and was brave in the tackle when he needed to be 

Plenty of headers for a smallish lad and made lots of good decisions

Really liked his play , attitude , and his performance 

Reminded me of Luke Shaw a bit (Not as ‘solid’ framewise as Shaw) 

Baldwin

Got the frame to be a Centre half , Won nearly all of his aerial duels against a slight Barnsley front line ,  strode out with the ball with confidence and looked pretty decent on the ball. Playing alongside Williams I’m sure helped him but he made 3 individual errors during the game ,one of which led to the goal and one which ended in a good save by Maenpaa..    Potential

Williams

Cruised through the game in all honesty as you might expect from an International. Decent on the ball , and I don’t recall him losing a challenge.

Numerous little examples of showing his nous and experience and not his toughest test but looked to be in 2nd gear. Looked lean and fit. And what struck me was two early balls played into his man , first of which the lad just got a toe to but half spun straight into a brick wall that was Williams with a loud solid thud and a similar one a few mins later where Williams won the ball and agin their lad simply bounced off Williams as he did so - Solid I Think is the word !

Not exposed for pace in this game and will of course have much tougher tests but his class stood out a mile

Talked to others throughout 

Looked lean and fit ,  and a Class Act

Championship, football something a whole lot different but wouldn’t be sweating if he had to play Saturday

 

Walsh

‘ok’ / decent - some nice odd touches and a few balls excellently sprayed around , especially on ‘the switch’ but also lost or gave the ball away on occasions

Bakinson

Not greatly impressive tbh, looked ‘ok’ first half , relaxed on ball but had little part in our better stuff and thought he was either blowing or lazy off the ball on a few occasions as the game went on - disappointed tbh

Elliasson

Very much what you expect from NE , busy and some class touches and dribbling skills but didn’t stand out quite as much as I thought he might. impressed by his workrate and attitude

Adelukan

Mixed bag really , a couple of excellent passes / switches of play & glimpses  of some real ability on the ball , and ability to go past players around the box second half,  but first half , Particularly , would pass the responsibility to another when in a good position himself . Disappointed by his lack of intensity at times for a player wanting to break through

You can see why Elliasson is ahead of him IMHO

Szmodics 

A right box of tricks and a great busy / ‘want it’ attitude 

Some great little back heels and interactions with others

Needs it to feet , he’s not lightening quick and with his frame needs it to feet.

Thought his movement needs work for Championship Football and not sure he’s up,to starting in the 10 role in Championship atm . Can see why he’s been on the bench though as his flicks and touches in around the box are a bit of a wild card option.Had a handful of chances , took one beautifully with a delicate touch , But missed a couple of decent ones too 

Semenyo

Remarkable for a lad with his background , his quality when the ball was played into him , and his skills on the ball and ability to ghost past players with the ball at his feet was truly truly impressive.

Involved in some lovely interplay with others around the opp penalty box and nearly broke the net with a spectacular finish from just inside the box. 

Antoine doesn’t expend much energy off the ball or making runs and this afternoon certainly I’d say his movement was not great.

However his ability on the ball overshadowed that and if we can get him making runs off the ball and better movement ......Clearly wants the ball to feet rather than making too many runs but extreme skill and strength on the ball screams an exciting talent

Also as we have had glimpses of , showed his strength when balls were played into him , and accepting the young opposition , on the ball looked a class above anyone on the pitch this afternoon

As I’d posted earlier , on the ball , he was simply too good for a young Barnsley side and looked like the kid in the playground who was so much better than the rest

Subs

Rees 

Young right back who did everything asked of him when he came on , defended well and got forward on a few occasions - decent Tbf

Harrison

Left sided Centre half , decent build and again prepared to bring the ball out 

Did nothing wrong and looked on a very brief glimpse similar to Baldwin

Smith

Tbf came on , hungry for the ball and had a mixed time on the ball but made a couple of excellent runs to the bye line against a tiring defence.

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13 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Subs

Harrison 

Young right back who did everything asked of him when he came on , defended well and got forward on a few occasions - decent Tbf

Rees

Left sided Centre half , decent build and again prepared to bring the ball out 

Did nothing wrong and looked on a very brief glimpse similar to Baldwin

Smith

Tbf came on , hungry for the ball and had a mixed time on the ball but made a couple of excellent runs to the bye line against a tiring defence.

I thought Rees was the right back and Harrison the centre half?  Agree with most of your assessment, though I think you’ve been kind to Adelakun and Smith!

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1 minute ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

I thought Rees was the right back and Harrison the centre half?  Agree with most of your assessment, though I think you’ve been kind to Adelakun and Smith!

WoW !! Smith was on 12 minutes and Adelukan should have scored from run down the right and pass to him .... Fair observation then.....??

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8 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

I thought Rees was the right back and Harrison the centre half?  Agree with most of your assessment, though I think you’ve been kind to Adelakun and Smith!

Apologies then  - may have mixed up Harrison / Rees 

(Edit - checked the pics and you are correct , apologies , Ricardo Rees the right back , Harrison the Centre Half - I’ll Edit my post)

Possibly kind in comments to Adelakun and Smith but Adelakun did show some flashes of ability , albeit I wasn’t overly impressed in terms of desire to shine and Tbf Smith came on into a dying game and at least try and effect it 

Along with a couple of  others, Neither anywhere near first team for me though 

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14 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

I've seen Adelukan a few times now and he doesn't look like a player wanting to break through!

I'd agree with this whole heartedly, someone who desperately needs to go out for game time and show some kind of desire.  Clearly talented but lacking application.

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33 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Firstly thanks to @CTRed for starting the thread and alerting us to the game :thumbsup:

Took the opportunity to go down and see it as most of those on show I’d seen little or nothing of

Have to say what an enjoyable relaxing experience sat in the comfy West Stand in the sun , with some excellent skills on show

 

As many wont have had that opportunity , and as promised @Davefevs , will try and give a brief personal thought on what I saw today 

(Please remember It’s a personal snapshot thought  , on my first viewing but I tried to look at each player rather than any team performance aspects

 

Without researching Barnsley’s line up I’d suggest they had a young and inexperienced side out and that has to be taken into account

It was the first time I’ve seen all our side live, save Maenpaa, Walsh, Williams And Elliasson , And previously I’ve seen Adelukan once and Semenyo only in brief first team action so it was interesting

Maenpaa 

What you’d expect , Good shouting / organisation , caught once with ball at feet and made one excellent save , had no chance with their goal , and other than that did what he was required to with assurance 

Perreria

Some touches where he showed his ability and footballing brain but overall he didn’t wow me , or stand out ,have to be honest 

Soady

Of all the players I hadn’t seen or seen much off , along with Semenyo the lad who impressed me the most

Small in frame but nimble , good technically ,and brave 

I watched a lot of him first half in front of me and was impressed by his concentration on his positioning and ,at his ‘match awareness’ 

Very good on the ball , didn’t try and produce individual tricks but passed and moved and broke forward, and was brave in the tackle when he needed to be 

Plenty of headers for a smallish lad and made lots of good decisions

Really liked his play , attitude , and his performance 

Reminded me of Luke Shaw a bit (Not as ‘solid’ framewise as Shaw) 

Baldwin

Got the frame to be a Centre half , Won nearly all of his aerial duels against a slight Barnsley front line ,  strode out with the ball with confidence and looked pretty decent on the ball. Playing alongside Williams I’m sure helped him but he made 3 individual errors during the game ,one of which led to the goal and one which ended in a good save by Maenpaa..    Potential

Williams

Cruised through the game in all honesty as you might expect from an International. Decent on the ball , and I don’t recall him losing a challenge.

Numerous little examples of showing his nous and experience and not his toughest test but looked to be in 2nd gear. Looked lean and fit. And what struck me was two early balls played into his man , first of which the lad just got a toe to but half spun straight into a brick wall that was Williams with a loud solid thud and a similar one a few mins later where Williams won the ball and agin their lad simply bounced off Williams as he did so - Solid I Think is the word !

Not exposed for pace in this game and will of course have much tougher tests but his class stood out a mile

Talked to others throughout 

Class Act

 

Walsh

‘ok’ / decent - some nice odd touches and a few balls excellently sprayed around , especially on ‘the switch’ but also lost or gave the ball away on occasions

Bakinson

Not greatly impressive tbh, looked ‘ok’ first half , relaxed on ball but had little part in our better stuff and thought he was either blowing or lazy off the ball on a few occasions as the game went on - disappointed tbh

Elliasson

Very much what you expect from NE , busy and some class touches and dribbling skills but didn’t stand out quite as much as I thought he might. impressed by his workrate and attitude

Adelukan

Mixed bag really , a couple of excellent passes / switches of play & glimpses  of some real ability on the ball , and ability to go past players around the box second half,  but first half , Particularly , would pass the responsibility to another when in a good position himself . Disappointed by his lack of intensity at times for a player wanting to break through

You can see why Elliasson is ahead of him IMHO

Szmodics 

A right box of tricks and a great busy / ‘want it’ attitude 

Some great little back heels and interactions with others

Needs it to feet , he’s not lightening quick and with his frame needs it to feet.

Thought his movement needs work for Championship Football and not sure he’s up,to starting in the 10 role in Championship atm . Can see why he’s been on the bench though as his flicks and touches in around the box are a bit of a wild card option.Had a handful of chances , took one beautifully with a delicate touch , But missed a couple of decent ones too 

Semenyo

Remarkable for a lad with his background his quality when the ball was played into him , and his skills on the ball and ability to ghost past players with the ball at his feet was truly truly impressive. Involved in some lovely interplay with others around the opp penalty box and nearly broke the net with a spectacular finish from just inside the box. 

Antoine doesn’t expend much energy off the ball or making runs and this afternoon certainly I’d say his movement was not great.

However his ability on the ball overshadowed that and if we can get him making runs off the ball and better movement ......Clearly wants the ball to feet rather than making too many runs but extreme skill and strength on the ball screams an exciting talent

Also as we have had glimpses of , showed his strength when balls were played into him , and accepting the young opposition , on the ball looked a class above anyone on the pitch this afternoon

As I’d posted earlier , on the ball , he was simply too good for a young Barnsley side and looked like the kid in the playground who was so much better than the rest

Subs

Rees 

Young right back who did everything asked of him when he came on , defended well and got forward on a few occasions - decent Tbf

Harrison

Left sided Centre half , decent build and again prepared to bring the ball out 

Did nothing wrong and looked on a very brief glimpse similar to Baldwin

Smith

Tbf came on , hungry for the ball and had a mixed time on the ball but made a couple of excellent runs to the bye line against a tiring defence.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough review. 

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As an aside (And Apologies - not the greatest photo) 

Anyone able put a name to this lad ? 

Saw him facially and he’s a player / ex-player and it’s driving me mad who he is

Was with an agent type and left in second half

Not very tall , very fit/ muscular 

I may be way off , but had in my mind  ‘free agents’ 

 

AADF6B72-FA81-4E56-93CC-3272D4672011.jpeg

1DEC8BA0-0209-4B74-A4C6-B3A93243E966.jpeg

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10 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

As an aside (And Apologies - not the greatest photo) 

Anyone able put a name to this lad ? 

Saw him facially and he’s a player / ex-player and it’s driving me mad who he is

Was with an agent type and left in second half

Not very tall , very fit/ muscular 

I may be way off , but had in my mind  ‘free agents’ 

 

AADF6B72-FA81-4E56-93CC-3272D4672011.jpeg

1DEC8BA0-0209-4B74-A4C6-B3A93243E966.jpeg

Rod Stewart? 

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11 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

As an aside (And Apologies - not the greatest photo) 

Anyone able put a name to this lad ? 

Saw him facially and he’s a player / ex-player and it’s driving me mad who he is

Was with an agent type and left in second half

Not very tall , very fit/ muscular 

I may be way off , but had in my mind  ‘free agents’ 

 

AADF6B72-FA81-4E56-93CC-3272D4672011.jpeg

1DEC8BA0-0209-4B74-A4C6-B3A93243E966.jpeg

Andy Cole?

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1 hour ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Just back after an entertaining couple of hours.  Semenyo’s hold up play and Szmodics’s movement were outstanding.  Both should have had hat-tricks.  Williams looked rusty at first but got better as the game went on.  Only lost the ball a couple times, and on both occasions won it straight back.  I liked the look of Bakinson and Pereira also looked classy.  On the other hand, Walsh was something and nothing for me: his usual good passes but didn’t really control the middle.  Adelukan?  Hard to know where to start.  Some lovely touches in the first half, but a shambles in the second, losing the ball and failing to track back, shooting erratically from all angles, crossing to no-one in particular.  I simply cannot see him as a Championship footballer.

Of the rest, Maenpaa and Eliasson looked classy of course, Baldwin had a few dodgy moments but generally acquitted himself well, while the young Welsh fullback (forgotten his name!) looked very promising.  Oh, and Johnny Smith came on as a sub and looked poor, even against a very average and tiring defence.  The new Gareth Bale?  Sadly, I don’t think so.

We might have scored ten on another day.

Soady the left back. Academy player of the year.

Excellent write up of what you just seen. Very promising to hear about Semenyo and Szmodics. Especially Semenyo's hold up play. Will he overtake Fam by the end of this season? Would not surprise me.

Does Soady look quick? Good on the ball?

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2 hours ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Firstly thanks to @CTRed for starting the thread and alerting us to the game :thumbsup:

Took the opportunity to go down and see it as most of those on show I’d seen little or nothing of

Have to say what an enjoyable relaxing experience sat in the comfy West Stand in the sun , with some excellent skills on show

 

As many wont have had that opportunity , and as promised @Davefevs , will try and give a brief personal thought on what I saw today 

(Please remember It’s a personal snapshot thought  , on my first viewing but I tried to look at each player rather than any team performance aspects

 

Without researching Barnsley’s line up I’d suggest they had a young and inexperienced side out and that has to be taken into account

It was the first time I’ve seen all our side live, save Maenpaa, Walsh, Williams And Elliasson , And previously I’ve seen Adelukan once and Semenyo only in brief first team action so it was interesting

Maenpaa 

What you’d expect , Good shouting / organisation , caught once with ball at feet and made one excellent save , had no chance with their goal , and other than that did what he was required to with assurance 

Perreria

Some touches where he showed his ability and footballing brain but overall he didn’t wow me , or stand out ,have to be honest 

Soady

Of all the players I hadn’t seen or seen much off , along with Semenyo the lad who impressed me the most

Small in frame but nimble , good technically ,and brave 

I watched a lot of him first half in front of me and was impressed by his concentration on his positioning and ,at his ‘match awareness’ 

Very good on the ball , didn’t try and produce individual tricks but passed and moved and broke forward, and was brave in the tackle when he needed to be 

Plenty of headers for a smallish lad and made lots of good decisions

Really liked his play , attitude , and his performance 

Reminded me of Luke Shaw a bit (Not as ‘solid’ framewise as Shaw) 

Baldwin

Got the frame to be a Centre half , Won nearly all of his aerial duels against a slight Barnsley front line ,  strode out with the ball with confidence and looked pretty decent on the ball. Playing alongside Williams I’m sure helped him but he made 3 individual errors during the game ,one of which led to the goal and one which ended in a good save by Maenpaa..    Potential

Williams

Cruised through the game in all honesty as you might expect from an International. Decent on the ball , and I don’t recall him losing a challenge.

Numerous little examples of showing his nous and experience and not his toughest test but looked to be in 2nd gear. Looked lean and fit. And what struck me was two early balls played into his man , first of which the lad just got a toe to but half spun straight into a brick wall that was Williams with a loud solid thud and a similar one a few mins later where Williams won the ball and agin their lad simply bounced off Williams as he did so - Solid I Think is the word !

Not exposed for pace in this game and will of course have much tougher tests but his class stood out a mile

Talked to others throughout 

Looked lean and fit ,  and a Class Act

Championship, football something a whole lot different but wouldn’t be sweating if he had to play Saturday

 

Walsh

‘ok’ / decent - some nice odd touches and a few balls excellently sprayed around , especially on ‘the switch’ but also lost or gave the ball away on occasions

Bakinson

Not greatly impressive tbh, looked ‘ok’ first half , relaxed on ball but had little part in our better stuff and thought he was either blowing or lazy off the ball on a few occasions as the game went on - disappointed tbh

Elliasson

Very much what you expect from NE , busy and some class touches and dribbling skills but didn’t stand out quite as much as I thought he might. impressed by his workrate and attitude

Adelukan

Mixed bag really , a couple of excellent passes / switches of play & glimpses  of some real ability on the ball , and ability to go past players around the box second half,  but first half , Particularly , would pass the responsibility to another when in a good position himself . Disappointed by his lack of intensity at times for a player wanting to break through

You can see why Elliasson is ahead of him IMHO

Szmodics 

A right box of tricks and a great busy / ‘want it’ attitude 

Some great little back heels and interactions with others

Needs it to feet , he’s not lightening quick and with his frame needs it to feet.

Thought his movement needs work for Championship Football and not sure he’s up,to starting in the 10 role in Championship atm . Can see why he’s been on the bench though as his flicks and touches in around the box are a bit of a wild card option.Had a handful of chances , took one beautifully with a delicate touch , But missed a couple of decent ones too 

Semenyo

Remarkable for a lad with his background , his quality when the ball was played into him , and his skills on the ball and ability to ghost past players with the ball at his feet was truly truly impressive.

Involved in some lovely interplay with others around the opp penalty box and nearly broke the net with a spectacular finish from just inside the box. 

Antoine doesn’t expend much energy off the ball or making runs and this afternoon certainly I’d say his movement was not great.

However his ability on the ball overshadowed that and if we can get him making runs off the ball and better movement ......Clearly wants the ball to feet rather than making too many runs but extreme skill and strength on the ball screams an exciting talent

Also as we have had glimpses of , showed his strength when balls were played into him , and accepting the young opposition , on the ball looked a class above anyone on the pitch this afternoon

As I’d posted earlier , on the ball , he was simply too good for a young Barnsley side and looked like the kid in the playground who was so much better than the rest

Subs

Rees 

Young right back who did everything asked of him when he came on , defended well and got forward on a few occasions - decent Tbf

Harrison

Left sided Centre half , decent build and again prepared to bring the ball out 

Did nothing wrong and looked on a very brief glimpse similar to Baldwin

Smith

Tbf came on , hungry for the ball and had a mixed time on the ball but made a couple of excellent runs to the bye line against a tiring defence.

2 hours ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Firstly thanks to @CTRed for starting the thread and alerting us to the game :thumbsup:

Took the opportunity to go down and see it as most of those on show I’d seen little or nothing of

Have to say what an enjoyable relaxing experience sat in the comfy West Stand in the sun , with some excellent skills on show

 

As many wont have had that opportunity , and as promised @Davefevs , will try and give a brief personal thought on what I saw today 

(Please remember It’s a personal snapshot thought  , on my first viewing but I tried to look at each player rather than any team performance aspects

 

Without researching Barnsley’s line up I’d suggest they had a young and inexperienced side out and that has to be taken into account

It was the first time I’ve seen all our side live, save Maenpaa, Walsh, Williams And Elliasson , And previously I’ve seen Adelukan once and Semenyo only in brief first team action so it was interesting

Maenpaa 

What you’d expect , Good shouting / organisation , caught once with ball at feet and made one excellent save , had no chance with their goal , and other than that did what he was required to with assurance 

Perreria

Some touches where he showed his ability and footballing brain but overall he didn’t wow me , or stand out ,have to be honest 

Soady

Of all the players I hadn’t seen or seen much off , along with Semenyo the lad who impressed me the most

Small in frame but nimble , good technically ,and brave 

I watched a lot of him first half in front of me and was impressed by his concentration on his positioning and ,at his ‘match awareness’ 

Very good on the ball , didn’t try and produce individual tricks but passed and moved and broke forward, and was brave in the tackle when he needed to be 

Plenty of headers for a smallish lad and made lots of good decisions

Really liked his play , attitude , and his performance 

Reminded me of Luke Shaw a bit (Not as ‘solid’ framewise as Shaw) 

Baldwin

Got the frame to be a Centre half , Won nearly all of his aerial duels against a slight Barnsley front line ,  strode out with the ball with confidence and looked pretty decent on the ball. Playing alongside Williams I’m sure helped him but he made 3 individual errors during the game ,one of which led to the goal and one which ended in a good save by Maenpaa..    Potential

Williams

Cruised through the game in all honesty as you might expect from an International. Decent on the ball , and I don’t recall him losing a challenge.

Numerous little examples of showing his nous and experience and not his toughest test but looked to be in 2nd gear. Looked lean and fit. And what struck me was two early balls played into his man , first of which the lad just got a toe to but half spun straight into a brick wall that was Williams with a loud solid thud and a similar one a few mins later where Williams won the ball and agin their lad simply bounced off Williams as he did so - Solid I Think is the word !

Not exposed for pace in this game and will of course have much tougher tests but his class stood out a mile

Talked to others throughout 

Looked lean and fit ,  and a Class Act

Championship, football something a whole lot different but wouldn’t be sweating if he had to play Saturday

 

Walsh

‘ok’ / decent - some nice odd touches and a few balls excellently sprayed around , especially on ‘the switch’ but also lost or gave the ball away on occasions

Bakinson

Not greatly impressive tbh, looked ‘ok’ first half , relaxed on ball but had little part in our better stuff and thought he was either blowing or lazy off the ball on a few occasions as the game went on - disappointed tbh

Elliasson

Very much what you expect from NE , busy and some class touches and dribbling skills but didn’t stand out quite as much as I thought he might. impressed by his workrate and attitude

Adelukan

Mixed bag really , a couple of excellent passes / switches of play & glimpses  of some real ability on the ball , and ability to go past players around the box second half,  but first half , Particularly , would pass the responsibility to another when in a good position himself . Disappointed by his lack of intensity at times for a player wanting to break through

You can see why Elliasson is ahead of him IMHO

Szmodics 

A right box of tricks and a great busy / ‘want it’ attitude 

Some great little back heels and interactions with others

Needs it to feet , he’s not lightening quick and with his frame needs it to feet.

Thought his movement needs work for Championship Football and not sure he’s up,to starting in the 10 role in Championship atm . Can see why he’s been on the bench though as his flicks and touches in around the box are a bit of a wild card option.Had a handful of chances , took one beautifully with a delicate touch , But missed a couple of decent ones too 

Semenyo

Remarkable for a lad with his background , his quality when the ball was played into him , and his skills on the ball and ability to ghost past players with the ball at his feet was truly truly impressive.

Involved in some lovely interplay with others around the opp penalty box and nearly broke the net with a spectacular finish from just inside the box. 

Antoine doesn’t expend much energy off the ball or making runs and this afternoon certainly I’d say his movement was not great.

However his ability on the ball overshadowed that and if we can get him making runs off the ball and better movement ......Clearly wants the ball to feet rather than making too many runs but extreme skill and strength on the ball screams an exciting talent

Also as we have had glimpses of , showed his strength when balls were played into him , and accepting the young opposition , on the ball looked a class above anyone on the pitch this afternoon

As I’d posted earlier , on the ball , he was simply too good for a young Barnsley side and looked like the kid in the playground who was so much better than the rest

Subs

Rees 

Young right back who did everything asked of him when he came on , defended well and got forward on a few occasions - decent Tbf

Harrison

Left sided Centre half , decent build and again prepared to bring the ball out 

Did nothing wrong and looked on a very brief glimpse similar to Baldwin

Smith

Tbf came on , hungry for the ball and had a mixed time on the ball but made a couple of excellent runs to the bye line against a tiring defence.

Hard to disagree with most of this.

Maybe, like others have said, Bob has given Adelakun the benefit of any doubt, but I’ve seen him twice this month and he’s been very poor both times. On this evidence, he isn’t going to make the grade....the same goes for Jonny Smith.

Thought Soady was excellent. Really good distribution, comfortable on the ball, solid in the tackle, brave and really good positionally. Was coached through the game by Williams every step who had his cigar out for most of the game. But then the guy has 80+ caps, so reserving judgement until he plays against someone who’s not just out of school. But he looks fit.

Baldwin again looked decent, but as Bob has said, will need to learn from these individual mistakes before making the step up. He can clearly play.

Can only echo the comments about Semenyo. Was a little wasteful of chances and could have scored 5 or 6. But on the ball, he looked powerful, strong and waltzed past Barnsley’s kids. 

Exciting times.

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48 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

Soady the left back. Academy player of the year.

Excellent write up of what you just seen. Very promising to hear about Semenyo and Szmodics. Especially Semenyo's hold up play. Will he overtake Fam by the end of this season? Would not surprise me.

Does Soady look quick? Good on the ball?

He needs to put on a few pounds, but he looked a real prospect.

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6 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

He needs to put on a few pounds, but he looked a real prospect.

I thought he was clever and used intelligence , constant re-positioning , his agility ,and nimbleness , and good decisions to not get involved in a trial in strength 

A few pounds maybe but IMHO he doesn’t want to baulk or he will lose his assets 

Good technically too - no fancy tricks but quick feet, decent touch ,  and accurate in his passing 

 

 

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