I didn't see all the match as obviously I was switching between it and the Pool game, but from what I saw live and of the highlights Blu-Lo Everton appeared to be our outfield player with an extra touch of class, he seemed quite similar in style to James Maddison. I agree with oxhey that Adebiyi was another bright spot - he appears to have a very good engine on him as demonstrated by his Doucoure-esque lung-busting run to set up the winning goal deep in to extra time. The other stand-out performer was the goalkeeper, Baptiste, who supposedly only joined us mid last year. He really has "cat-like" reflexes. However, he is currently very short for a goalkeeper which could be a significant problem for dealing with crosses. He's still only 17 though so perhaps might have another growth spurt. Horsewood also looked sharp in attack when he come on as a late sub. Seems to still be about 15, so a few years younger than many of the others, but is def another one to pay attention to in future. Hudson and Tricker looked decent as a CB unit, but Hudson will need to work on his concentration and Tricker hopefully his (lack of) pace, as each got caught out on occasion.
I watched the YouTube video of the game that was posted on here, I'll tell you what Dante Baptiste looks a fantastic prospect, great shot stopper and produced some wonderful saves.
I guess we were away and Leicester had most of the games but were we that big a underdogs - Leicester Cat A I presume? Lad in goal must have learnt well from Gomes and Foster! Nice tidy finish by Cassidy for the winner - would our first team strikers scored that?
So many saves - looks like we should have lost by 6 if it wasn't for him. He does look a little short though - need to get him on the rack. Great finish for the winner and fabulous play by the guy who carried the ball and then played him in with a perfectly weighted, directed and timed pass.
Great finish for the winner and what a pass too. The aforementioned Arlott-John looks very good for Leicester. Keeper made some excellent saves but height maybe an issue for a career in goalkeeping. Is the next round home or away and is it at The Vic as would be tempted to pop along for that
Away. As would be the final if we got through. Used to be two legged but seems to have been ditched, which is a tad unfair.
Oh I don't know - Leicester had at least three Herman Munster body doubles in their side and he coped with them. He's only 16 so still has a bit of growing to do - could easily achieve the heights of a Rene Higuita, or even a Bert Slater...
Sidnei Tavares also seemed very good for them; supposedly Everton are trying to poach him (quelle surprise): https://readleicester.com/2019/02/06/everton-interested-in-leicesters-sidnei-tavares/
Is he really named Arlott-John? Is there a Laker-Jim and a Benaud-Richie out there too?! RC looked very sprightly and Dante was divine!
So confusing. I thought he’d be out of contention because he needed to trust his knee/body again and might shirk the physical stuff for a while. A two-footed challenge questions that a bit...
Sounds like the actions of a guy who’s just absolutely frustrated with the entire situation, whether that’s his physical condition (lack of), or the fact that he’s currently a long way off where he was pre-injury. Or he was trying so hard to prove to himself that he’s over it and thrown himself into a tackle. Said without seeing the tackle of course. Never had him down as a malicious guy, or even a guy that would lose his head. He’ll be given plenty of time, but it’s so disappointing the way things are going for him right now.
Ok, not long back from the U23 game so I'll try and put some context to what went on. Firstly, it was always going to be a disjointed performance due to having played 48 hours earlier and so it proved for a number of other reasons too. 3 1st teamers, 2 trialists, a very young centre forward plus a couple who played the other night. It was a team thrown together because of the Leicester game and also with one eye on the fixture the U23s have on Monday at Vicarage Road. There was also a change of system with Prodl, Mukena and Alkeo Bani playing as a back 3 in front of Dahlberg. Leighton & Suckling were wing-backs. Chalobah & Trialist #1 sat deep in midfield. Bennetts & Trialist #2 played in front of those two with Jayden going wide and often being a second forward while T#2 was more central. JJ McKiernan played as an out and out forward. Initially WFC looked to keep possession and were comfortably in control without really offering a threat going forward. Millwall for their part were a big strong team with pace but lacking in any real quality. And so it went on. Prodl marshalled the defence and looked like a grown up playing with his kids so comfortable he looked. Mukena in the main looked just as good bar a few indecisive moments and Bani, who must've signed a deal of some sort after only being named as a Trialist until very recently, did well in a number of positions throughout the game. Dahlberg, meanwhile, rolled up a Rizla for a cheeky ciggie as his only real contribution was to look awkward when clearing long occasionally. #T1 huffed & puffed without showing anything to crow about while T#2 grew into the game with some deft touches and nice passing very much in the mould of Sonny Blu Lo Everton. He even looked like him physically! JJ is a tall #9 but today wasn't able to cope with a big physical centre back and fed on scraps. Sadly he came off after an awkward tackle when he chased back in the 1st-half and only reappeared later with his leg in a brace and crutches helping him walk. Jayden Bennetts. Jesus wept! This bloke is tireless after playing the full 90 minutes today and the whole game against Leicester. Hopefully he'll have his feet up in front of a coal fire on Monday as he smokes half an ounce of shag and looks forward to his first pro deal being offered at some point. 3 others who played against Leicester came on as subs; Sankoh, Hudson & Tricker and all of them looked as fresh as daisies. Sankoh looks better and better each time I see him, very impressive. The red card. It's actually quite difficult to get booked in these games, especially early on, as the ref's seem quite lenient at this level so that shows how bad the actual tackle was - and it was bad. A couple of nice touches deep on the left but the ball got away from him and he lunged like an Olympic fencer going for some kind of knockout blow. Horrible. He actually looked sharp early on, both physically and with his passing, but while he continued to look good in the way he was moving - much more so than when he played against Ipswich for the U23s earlier in the season - his touch was beginning to let him down. This, combined with a game that had no rhythm and misplaced passes becoming the norm, I think contributed to Chalobah getting frustrated and hence the lunge after not being able to keep the ball in a tight situation. It was still a horrible tackle though. On another note, Dante Baptiste got plenty of praise the other night but a few here mentioned his size & he appeared quite small. I stood behind him today for a moment and you'll be surprised to know he must be a little over 6' easily, maybe 6' 2" or 3".
A very hotch-potch side for the U23s today with 4 trialists for their third game in a week. Trialist#1 was a decent ball playing centre back. Big enough, average speed and very comfortable on the ball. He had two excellent headed chances from set-pieces to score but on both occasions the ball went just wide. Looked promising if he's 20 or under though. T#2 was the same player in midfield from the Millwall game who I called T#2. I'm now confident his first name is Henry! Again, if he's only 17 or 18 then he could be worth persevering with. T#3 was a very young looking wide right attacking midfield/forward type player. Very lightweight but quick feet. Struggled in the 1st-half (as did the whole team to be fair) but showed something in the first 20 minutes or so in the 2nd-half. T#4 was a more robust version of T#3 and played on the opposite wing. He struggled throughout sadly. Jayden Bennetts played again - his third game in a week - and as hard as he tried, he & the two trialists either side of him just didn't gel. Mostly Watford couldn't get to grips with Leeds' formation. They seemed to have a spare man everywhere and at one point I actually counted how many players they had on the pitch, so effective was their set-up. They looked the most organised side I've seen WFC U23s play this season and they also had a tremendous physicality about them. Before posting I went on-line to find the ages of their line up because I was convinced they must have been mostly 20-23 year olds but only three were in that range. Only an occasional sloppy pass meant they didn't rip WFC apart more often. Very impressive without being outstanding. One final observation - today and for Friday's game Dennis Wise has been in attendance. Does anybody know if he's connected to a club?
A player who came on yesterday was Louis Yamfam. Not a name I remember seeing before and a quick search has his age as either 18 or 20. At Stevenage Borough before Charlton paid a fee for him in 2016. Premiership & Championship clubs were supposedly looking at him at the time. He then had a loan move to Dulwich Hamlet before being released by the Addicks in 2018. His last club appears to have been Royston Town in the Southern Football League.
Ahem, Stevenage have not been Stevenage Borough since 2010 although their nickname is still "The Borough".....
A rumour from Scouts In Attendance saying David Pleat was at the Leeds game watching Ryan Cassidy. SIA are usually pretty good with this sort of thing I've found. Pleat was fairly regular at the U23 games earlier in the season so it wouldn't surprise me in the least and there were lots of official looking bodies/scouts and media present when we played on Monday too. More so than usual but maybe that was because it was at the Vic. I did listen in on a conversation at a recent game (while Sarll was under investigation) where the person I was lurking near repeatedly told the other "..he won't sign a new contract. He just won't sign it.." Hopefully that player isn't Ryan!