chipdawg Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 I went to the England U21 vs Israel U21 match last night in Barnsley and thought i'd pass on my in-depth analysis for the benefit of 'The Gaffer' and others because i'm not convinced Wiggles was paying attention Firstly, there was a centre-half called 'Caker' or 'Caulker' or something who I've heard is quite good, though he didn't really get a chance to show it last night. In terms players we might encounter this season, Joe Bennett (Boro Left back) was excellent, not surprised they didn't try too hard to keep Andrew Taylor. Watford's Marvin Sordell was pretty awful until he scored a frankly breath-taking goal; flicked the ball up and spun round, hitting a half volley pretty much into the top corner. Henri Lansbury came on in the 2nd half and looked a good player too. A bit of a temper though, so perhaps we can wind him up so he gets sent off?! Martyn Waghorn also looked half decent on the left hand side; maybe getting him in exchange for Maynard wouldn't have been all bad.... I don't think there were any players we could hope to covet on a loan any time soon. Craig Dawson and Nathan Baker in the heart of defence looked ok but nothing special. Both missed a couple of headers in the first half and neither showed particularly brilliant distribution. Dawson probably shaded it, but I'm not sure either would be an improvement on Wilson or Nyatanga on that showing. Adam Smith looked good at right back, though i think he's at MK for the forseeable future and we've already got 72 right backs on the books The real star-turns were Ross Barkley, who'd be amazing on loan but destined for far greater things than Bristol City and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who was frankly head and shoulders above anyone else on the park when he came on. "Theo Walcott with an end product" is how my mate described him. Maybe its worth a cheeky email to Mr Wenger eh Milley?! So, slim pickings IMO on the England side, but what of Israel? Most of their players are based at home and while technically pretty good were tactically and physically much poorer than our boys. However, if we wanted to add a little guile and movement to the midfield (which we really should do), we could do worse than ask for Man City's Gai Assulin on loan; great movement and good eye for a pass, if a little physically weak. Have we ever had an ex-Barca player on the books?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
II Wurzel II Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Nice report Wiggles, wasn't Nathan Baker the one we wanted on loan but got sent off in a reserve match ?? Do you think he could cope with the Championship from what you saw ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipdawg Posted September 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Not sure Baker was ever linked more firmly than on here, but he and Dawson struggled at times in the first half. He's a big unit, but not great with the ball on the floor and he got injured just before half time. Its the first and only time i've seen him play and my Villa-supporting mate was dissapointed with him as he expected a little more, so perhaps he's one to keep an eye on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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