U23s vs Arsenal (a)

[ossieram]

2-2 now, looked like an OG.

[OohMartWright]

2-2,Shot hit the post, bounced out and back in off Liam Thompson 

[OohMartWright]

Full time 2-2. A repeat of the scoreline  from the home game. Feels like a defeat after being 2 up with fifteen minutes to go. Never mind, still top of the league!

[SaffyRam]

What a shame, just seemed to run out of steam in the last ten minutes.

 

[ossieram]

Arsenal finished the stronger, but you could see how disapointed the Derby players were when the final whistle went. It shows how far our academy has come when the team are gutted at not beating the likes of Arsenal.

[rustylee]

Jipped by the ref should have been playing against ten men after the penalty.

[Rammed79]

1 hour ago, U.M. said:

Where do you think he will end up playing?

I've seen him play well at both full-back positions, but have been more impressed when he has moved into central midfield (albeit on a limited sample size)- good aggressive play with a decent shot on him.  

Apparently his favoured position is left back but who knows maybe he'll end up one of these play anywhere utility players 

[Philmycock]

Actually a really good sign that all our best academy players are either knocking on the first team door or established in the first team, brilliant stuff, Mel has done us proud

[TigerTedd]

34 minutes ago, philmycocu said:

Actually a really good sign that all our best academy players are either knocking on the first team door or established in the first team, brilliant stuff, Mel has done us proud

Yep, the sign of a really good academy is not winning the under 23 league, it’s getting the best players into the first team. 

the fact we’re top doesn’t necessarily mean we’re the best academy. We could be 10th because we’re forced to play all our worst players cos all the best are in the first team. 

I’d love to see us win the league, but in reality I expect us to drop off the pace a little now the real star players are in the first team squad. 

Great to see us still more than competing against Arsenal away though. Maybe I’m wrong and the u23s will be able to keep it going. 

[Rev]

2 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

Yep, the sign of a really good academy is not winning the under 23 league, it’s getting the best players into the first team. 

the fact we’re top doesn’t necessarily mean we’re the best academy. We could be 10th because we’re forced to play all our worst players cos all the best are in the first team. 

I’d love to see us win the league, but in reality I expect us to drop off the pace a little now the real star players are in the first team squad. 

Great to see us still more than competing against Arsenal away though. Maybe I’m wrong and the u23s will be able to keep it going. 

It's very hard to compare sides at this level. 

One team may be made up of younger age players because the talent has moved up to first team, another weakened because they've got multiple players out on loan.

We've a few in the under 23's I'd wager will never pull on the first team jersey for us, but if they can make a career at a lower level it's not been a total waste of time.