Academy Game v Stoke

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Saw a good game this morning with City winning 2 nil against the team 2nd in the league ( City are top) Big side Stoke (now there's a surprise) but City moved the ball around well and dominated the game.Sadly the finishing wasnt great and Hiwula who has scored plenty this season already missed 2 or 3 one on ones.

No score at half time but a very clever quick free kick from Paul Clowes split the Stoke defence for Drury to finish well. City did get a bit sloppy as time went on but another good break ended in a penalty and Hiwula,despite his misses,was big enough to step up and score.The sloppiness continued but the keeper Halsall stepped up with two excellent vital saves. Really good win.

No Suarez today.Henshall shone at times with some great breaks but he couldnt find the right final ball. Meppen Walter strong at the back,Drury and Rusnak always threatening in attack,Coulson good at right back and overlapping really well and a very young Ashley Smith-Brown doing well at left back against a much bigger opponent.Huws and Clowes mostly had the midfield sewn up in what was (till close to the end) a very good performance.

Same at the Etihad and all's well in the world.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Thanks for the report Doug, it's appreciated.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

Interesting report Mr H; many thanks for that.

From the wording in your write-up, I'm surmising that Ashley Smith-Brown did OK defensively but did he get much chance to push forward and, if so, how did he look on the attack ??

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Interesting report Mr H; many thanks for that.

From the wording in your write-up, I'm surmising that Ashley Smith-Brown did OK defensively but did he get much chance to push forward and, if so, how did he look on the attack ??

Can't remember him getting forward that much and with Henshall in front of him that isn't a great surprise.Henshall is a flying winger and doesnt get back covering that much so ASB was probably under orders not to go forward too much anyway.

It's my first viewing of him and I was told he is an under 16 England international. Given that their big winger ,who looked quick as well, didn't get much out of him he can be pleased with his game

[dbinod]

academy side should play the brand of football that the first team play.
doug
do the academy side play like our first team?
are they taught to hold the ball more in the midfield and play the ball around,patiently so we can create oppertunities.a attacking style.may be like barcilona.
if not.are they trying to emulate it?
do mancini or any his staff works with the academy kids saperately?
(not including some of them in the first team practices.but with the whole group)

[Douglas Higginbottom]

academy side should play the brand of football that the first team play.
doug
do the academy side play like our first team?
are they taught to hold the ball more in the midfield and play the ball around,patiently so we can create oppertunities.a attacking style.may be like barcilona.
if not.are they trying to emulate it?
do mancini or any his staff works with the academy kids saperately?
(not including some of them in the first team practices.but with the whole group)

I wouldnt say they play exactly ike the 1st team because they just don't enough similar calibre players but to a degree I would say yes as they are definitely encouraged to pass the ball around rather than just get it forward early.The "best" group of attacking players would include Suarez,Henshall,Drury,Ruznak and Hiwula and you can add the more holding players like Huws and Clowes. None of them lump the ball forward so to that extent they are trying to emulate it and there are times when they are working across the box probing for a hole.

Plus there isn't a big guy in there to lump it to anyway.The only consistent long pass would be the diagonal from Meppen Walter if he is playing left back and that's very Kolarov.Hits it very well too! Suarez would a key player in this with the academy team but he doesnt actually play that often with them.When he played at the swamp a few weeks back he was superb and deserved some of the comparisons to Silva.

Mancini doesnt regularly work fully with the academy or EDS group but he has done it.A session was shown on the OS where he did just that.Plus Andy Welsh (EDS) is invloved with the first team at matches and in training sessions when time permits so he sees and is fully aware of what they do.

[dbinod]

thanks doug.
i have seen time and again that barcelona youngsters play the same style that of first team.it seems as if they have many many xavi and iniesta at their academy at present.we may not be that yet but i think in 9 years we will have most of the first team, our academy graduates and we will be slowly removing bought players ,like barca did to eto ,yaya,ronaldinho(they shifted them out when they have busquets(for yaya) iniesta(for ronaldinho)were coming through their academy.
do you dream this way doug?
barca took about 7/8 years to complete this project,they started it since 2002.it was a massive success.i think city are trying to emulate it.
city, i think will also do it in that period

[Douglas Higginbottom]

thanks doug.
i have seen time and again that barcelona youngsters play the same style that of first team.it seems as if they have many many xavi and iniesta at their academy at present.we may not be that yet but i think in 9 years we will have most of the first team, our academy graduates and we will be slowly removing bought players ,like barca did to eto ,yaya,ronaldinho(they shifted them out when they have busquets(for yaya) iniesta(for ronaldinho)were coming through their academy.
do you dream this way doug?
barca took about 7/8 years to complete this project,they started it since 2002.it was a massive success.i think city are trying to emulate it.
city, i think will also do it in that period

I have been living in a dream now for quite a while and I don't want to wake up.The project as you mention is well underway at City and quite possibly is ahead of target.It certainly will be imo if we win the prem this year.We have step by step improved the quality of players and level of play and what we are seeing at times now is exceptional football and I believe with plenty more to come.

[ronk]

It's very easy to get ahead of ourselves here. We have a young team with no space for academy graduates.

Micah Richards had 16 appearances way back in 2005/2006 season. There's no one else in the squad who broke through later. Even guys like Sturridge, Ireland and Johnson were very much products of old guard.

For all the investment, we've seen exactly no return so far. I can see what we're trying to do, and it's a hugely exciting and ambitious project but there are no guarantees of success.

Chelsea spent far more than us and have failed to bring through a single player. We are not Arsenal. Maybe that will change in a few years, but at the moment it looks like it could be 2 years before we're bringing anyone through to the first team. Maybe if Boyata or Guidetti return well from their loan spells, but that really looks a way off, especially with them both on season long loans.

These young players have to start making the bench before they can start playing. But at the moment they're not even going to be getting 5 minutes when we're 4 up.

[ronk]

Oh and Savic is younger than Boyata. The odds favour young signings at the moment.