twosips wrote:Just seen that. I'll have to get home for the actual game at 3 o'clock but i might watch the first half.
"U18 v Boro:Tickets issued first come first serve basis & can be collected from the West Gate pedestrian access, located off Alan Turing Way."
Where's that? Is that basically next to the minihad or the etihad?
twosips wrote:I am indeed.
Gonna be a regular thing now i think for me - due to constantly and forever being skint i think it's likely i'll attend pretty much every academy game and just watch the first team games at home and occasionally treat myself to both if i can. Getting to Hyde wasn't really possible for me so the CFA has actually made life easier as i spend 90% of my time in the City centre so i can finally go to these games, which i've wanted to do for ages.
It's looking likely i'll be heading to the Schalke game before the Barca match on my own so if i don't catch you tomorrow it'd be nice to say hello at that game sir!
twosips wrote:In general your thoughts were very similar to mine, Doug. Typed a load on bluemoan so can't be arsed typing it all again here as you summed up how i feel about most of our players very well.
One thing that did strike me though is that sometimes this playing people out of position to further their development thing will sometimes lead to some serious confusion and embarrassment. Bryan for example looked lost at CB imo and Boadu clearly isn't a striker. He tries but definitely hasn't got that instinct. I get why theyre doing it but i do think as a 'team' we'll continue to see some indifferent performances every now and then.
In general i thought Maffeo was brilliant when he came on and Angelino just liked like sheer potential class as he always does. Barker was quiet i thought. The team definitely misses a focal point. Is it just me or are we not really blessed with natural striking talent coming through? I'm not counting Ambrose as he's stationed out wide these days, and Pozo (who i think will get his form back) isn't a striker either really. We've got a lot of 'attackers' but not necessarily proper finishers.
Oh and i was sat right near half way near the posh people seats and Txiki, Soriano, Marwood, Kidd, Summerbee were all sat right behind me nattering away the whole game. Soriano has a proper presence about him. Saw Wilcox doing his research too, and Kries/Reyna from the NYCFC set up scribbling away as well.
twosips wrote:Ha I meant i simply don't want to just literally repeat posts on different forums, especially considering Doug said more or less the same as me anyway :)
One thing i have noticed, and i've only been to three youth team games in the flesh now, but i've found that the opinions of others who watch the academy games always seem to tally together whereas opinions on the first team just tend to vary wildly. Wonder why that is?
Maybe people are just a little more forgiving/attentive and less emotionally erratic or something. It's nice though either way.
Douglas Higginbottom wrote:I am surprised you thought Ntcham had a good game Ted as I thought he was quite a bit below his standards this season. Maybe I was being a little influenced by the classic non stop Ntcham hater behind me who seemed to blame him if he was withing 50 yards of anything that went wrong.
Re Angelino I often feel that he can be really good and bad almost at the same time.He is an all action type of player and clearly loves the attacking part of the game. He looks exciting doing it as it's always at pace and he does have a great left foot and the one thing guaranteed is maximum effort. He is clearly still learning and I feel his final ball does need to be better in the attacking third and defensively he needs to beware of diving in too often but overall he is a talent that should be given a chance with the first team sooner rather than later.
A midfield player? I am not sure about that based on the times I have seen him play in the wide left "midfield " role but you never know and I am sure Patrick will play him there again in the future to see how he has developed and whether indeed it will become his best position.
Maffeo though is a full back and a very good one.
Ted Hughes wrote:Douglas Higginbottom wrote:I am surprised you thought Ntcham had a good game Ted as I thought he was quite a bit below his standards this season. Maybe I was being a little influenced by the classic non stop Ntcham hater behind me who seemed to blame him if he was withing 50 yards of anything that went wrong.
Re Angelino I often feel that he can be really good and bad almost at the same time.He is an all action type of player and clearly loves the attacking part of the game. He looks exciting doing it as it's always at pace and he does have a great left foot and the one thing guaranteed is maximum effort. He is clearly still learning and I feel his final ball does need to be better in the attacking third and defensively he needs to beware of diving in too often but overall he is a talent that should be given a chance with the first team sooner rather than later.
A midfield player? I am not sure about that based on the times I have seen him play in the wide left "midfield " role but you never know and I am sure Patrick will play him there again in the future to see how he has developed and whether indeed it will become his best position.
Maffeo though is a full back and a very good one.
I thought Ntcham had a very difficult job due to the way the teams were set up & without him, City would really have struggled to get forward. Maffeo looks a really promising player, allround. Had he been able to stay at fullback, I think we would have won. Him moving to fill in for Bryan, killed us.
I am not writing off Angelino as a fullback, (although he seemed to be trying to win the ball by going for Liverpool player's ankles with his face on Saturday) but I can just imagine him being a real pain closing down in midfield, & his left foot should be a weapon not just at crossing, but passing & shooting. I don't think we see enough of it.
I thought Lahm was one of the best midfield players on the pitch when Pep played him there, & I could see Angelino doing that kind of job, in a Barca style team with a quick energetic midfield, as opposed to purely a fullback or winger type job.
We have to evolve once Yaya goes, & having several players like that , who are full of energy without the ball, but also footballers, could be the way to go.
Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Ted Hughes wrote:Douglas Higginbottom wrote:I am surprised you thought Ntcham had a good game Ted as I thought he was quite a bit below his standards this season. Maybe I was being a little influenced by the classic non stop Ntcham hater behind me who seemed to blame him if he was withing 50 yards of anything that went wrong.
Re Angelino I often feel that he can be really good and bad almost at the same time.He is an all action type of player and clearly loves the attacking part of the game. He looks exciting doing it as it's always at pace and he does have a great left foot and the one thing guaranteed is maximum effort. He is clearly still learning and I feel his final ball does need to be better in the attacking third and defensively he needs to beware of diving in too often but overall he is a talent that should be given a chance with the first team sooner rather than later.
A midfield player? I am not sure about that based on the times I have seen him play in the wide left "midfield " role but you never know and I am sure Patrick will play him there again in the future to see how he has developed and whether indeed it will become his best position.
Maffeo though is a full back and a very good one.
I thought Ntcham had a very difficult job due to the way the teams were set up & without him, City would really have struggled to get forward. Maffeo looks a really promising player, allround. Had he been able to stay at fullback, I think we would have won. Him moving to fill in for Bryan, killed us.
I am not writing off Angelino as a fullback, (although he seemed to be trying to win the ball by going for Liverpool player's ankles with his face on Saturday) but I can just imagine him being a real pain closing down in midfield, & his left foot should be a weapon not just at crossing, but passing & shooting. I don't think we see enough of it.
I thought Lahm was one of the best midfield players on the pitch when Pep played him there, & I could see Angelino doing that kind of job, in a Barca style team with a quick energetic midfield, as opposed to purely a fullback or winger type job.
We have to evolve once Yaya goes, & having several players like that , who are full of energy without the ball, but also footballers, could be the way to go.
Amen to having players who are full of energy. Not sure about the comparison with Lahm though as I don't think Angelino has anything like enough composure for that type of role.As a wide player maybe but even there I fear he would be a little like Kolarov.Yes a great left foot and attacking well in all aspects but not the quality and touch needed.
But hell he is only 17 isn't he so let him keep developing in both roles to see which he is best suited to.
Isn't it weird to think how massively Maffeo affected the game. First we were in all sorts of trouble with Bossaerts at full back and he came on to totally change that and help us take over the game.Then when he switched to center back we seemed to lose something again down the right side.He is such an intelligent player but it's still unusual for a full back to change a game like that.And again only 17 isn't he?
twosips wrote:Denayer looks like he could be a brilliant midfielder. If he's not in our squad next season we've fucked up.
blues2win wrote:It looks like a choice between Boyata and Denayer next season because MDM is getting year I believe. Denayer ought to get the nod but in that case he's got to be given a chance to play especially in the domestic cups.
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