EDS/Academy Games

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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby Bluemoon4610 » Sat Aug 14, 2021 5:15 pm

patrickblue wrote:U18's have done the rags 3-0 earlier today. Beating those bastards at any level always cheers me up.

A result tarnished by the rags winning the league today, if the hype in the media is to be believed. :roll:
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Mon Sep 06, 2021 1:00 pm

good article from The Athletic today
City academy: Kayky’s impending arrival, dazzling McAtee and why Doyle joined Hamburg
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James McAtee, Manchester City
By Sam Lee Sept 5, 2021 36
Manchester City’s academy teams have started their respective seasons in impressive form, and beyond some fine individual performances — most notably from James McAtee — there have been plenty of talking points already.

In this round-up of youth team news, The Athletic will cover:

Why Tommy Doyle joined second division Hamburg
Kayky’s impending arrival
City’s patience with McAtee
Carlos Vicens’ new coaching duties
Training with Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne
Brazilian prospect Kayky is joining City ahead of schedule after seeing his game time at Fluminense dip since his move was agreed earlier this year.

He was due to arrive in January but is expected in Manchester soon, and could play in the under-23s to help his adaptation. The 18-year-old will train with Guardiola’s first team, though, and if he impresses it is possible that he would skip academy matches altogether. That depends entirely on how he settles in his new surroundings and how many first-team opportunities arise.

City’s Carabao Cup game against Wycombe in September could be a double-edged sword for the academy in terms of opportunities, as the game takes place at the same time as a Papa John’s game against Doncaster for a City under-21 team.

If Pep Guardiola decides to give opportunities to McAtee, Luke Mbete or Romeo Lavia, who was added to City’s Champions League squad on Friday (the others are classified as homegrown and can be included automatically), then they would not play at Doncaster and opportunities would open up for under-18s players.

Rico Lewis, a right-back who’s been at City since the age of eight, is one who could benefit. He was on the bench for the under-23s before the international break having scored in the under-18s’ 1-1 draw with Everton and the 3-0 win against Manchester United in August, and he captained England’s under-18s on Friday against Wales.

Centre-back Jadel Katongo, 16, has been earning rave reviews for City in that age group, as has Mahamadou Susoho, also 16, a deep-lying midfielder who’s been on international duty with Spain this week, though he is also eligible for England.

Shea Charles, a 17-year-old defender from Northern Ireland, has caught the eye in the under-23 age group but McAtee, the left-footed attacking midfielder, has been the undoubted star of the show in academy matches so far this season, scoring in the Papa John’s win at Scunthorpe as well as hat-tricks against both Blackburn and United.

Each of those six goals had a certain amount of guile about them, with a low, curling free kick and a tidy last-gasp finish against Blackburn, another near one-on-one finish, a powerful half volley and a powerful, curling effort into the top corner against United.

City showed patience with McAtee, who joined from United at the age of 10, when he endured a dip in his development at the age of 15. He was small for his age and not performing to the best of his abilities as he grew and matured, but City believed in his ability and waited for him to catch up.

He was earmarked by Guardiola at the start of the summer as one of five players who will feature around the first team this season — City rejected several loan approaches — and after showing flashes of his ability in pre-season he has started the Premier League 2 campaign brilliantly and will be hoping for an opportunity against Wycombe.

His debut will come sooner or later, and interestingly City insiders talk about other benefits of being around the squad at that age.

Last season, for example, City only decided to let Taylor Harwood-Bellis go on loan late in the January window, and kept hold of Tommy Doyle, because they may have been needed in case of a COVID-19 outbreak similar to the one they experienced over Christmas.

Kayky-city
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Kayky will arrive at Manchester City soon (Photo: Santiago Arcos – Pool/Getty Images)
One other upside, which may go unnoticed, is that on the days after senior matches the only squad members in training are those that didn’t play, and without talented and hungry youngsters around those sessions could be sparse. The thinking, then, is that the youngsters training with the first team push up the level of the senior players that didn’t get off the bench, while also developing their own game.

The flip side of that coin is that in the past City’s youngsters, who train with the first team but have played with the under-23s, have not always had the dedicated analysis of their performances that they would have had they trained with their age-group peers.

While there are obvious benefits to training with the first team, the focus is understandably on first-team matters and the likes of Doyle, Harwood-Bellis and even Phil Foden in recent years have not had too much time to work on what they did well or otherwise in the under-23s. This season, with Carlos Vicens promoted to Guardiola’s staff, last season’s under-18s coach will work closely with the young players to go over their youth-team performances.

Doyle, though, will continue his development in the German second division.

The 19-year-old had plenty of offers from Championship clubs, including Huddersfield and Swansea, but for various reasons they did not materialise and Hamburg’s long-standing interest paid off.

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Doyle has joined Hamburg on loan this season (Photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Although not a Bundesliga club, they are one of Germany’s bigger sides and City believe that their stature will suit Doyle, who has stood out as a big-game player in his academy career. It’s also hoped that he will have a better chance of playing regularly.

Since being relegated from the Bundesliga in 2018 they have been expected to fight for promotion every season since, and after finishing fourth last season City hope that the pressure will be good for their midfielder.

Doyle, unlike many of his younger team-mates who go out on loan, already has experience of playing in front of crowds via his City first-team appearances and more of that is needed, so it is hoped that Hamburg’s average attendance of more than 17,000 will also help his development.

City staff also believe it is a show of faith in his ability that a German club has moved for an English central midfielder. While many British youngsters have flocked to the Bundesliga in recent years, they have generally been wingers, with Jude Bellingham a notable example of the type of midfielder that is expected to make the grade in new surroundings.

This is Doyle’s first loan, although it is essentially being treated as his second. Having experienced everything currently available at City — from playing in the under-23 division at the age of 18 and 19 to senior cup games with Pep Guardiola’s squad — he now needs a real challenge to push him on further.

Sometimes, loans are set up differently. Morgan Rogers, for example, is now at Bournemouth on his second loan away from City. He thrived at Lincoln last year as City hoped and believed he would do; for that loan, they placed him somewhere where they thought he could show his ability fully and, therefore, increase his chances of another loan in a bigger club with loftier goals, which is where Bournemouth come in.

It’s similar for Harwood-Bellis, who was at Blackburn and is now doing well with Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht, and Callum Doyle, the 17-year-old centre-back who has settled in very well at Sunderland.

This is his first loan but it has shades of Tommy Doyle’s loan to Hamburg: Sunderland are a big club expected to be at the top end of the table, who will have plenty of possession and play in front of big crowds. Rather than go to a Championship club and possibly not play, Doyle will — hopefully from City’s point of view — have more chance of playing every game in a great environment for a 17-year-old.

His second loan is expected to be more of a challenge still, although he has settled in so well as a ball-playing defender (he used to be a midfielder in his younger days) which means Sunderland may try to buy him if this season goes well, or loan him again to have another look.

Elsewhere, 19-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu saved a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty for the Republic of Ireland in midweek but City have also been impressed by his performances on loan at Portsmouth, including three clean sheets. Fellow keeper James Trafford is also thought to be doing well at Accrington Stanley, while Ben Knight, 19, scored the first goal of his loan spell at Crewe on Tuesday in a 1-0 win over Shrewsbury in the EFL Trophy, although his new side have suffered three defeats from three in the league when he has appeared.

Those still at City during the international break were afforded a mini first-team experience.

Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne needed to train due to their own absences from international duty, and while working with the under-18s and under-23s they helped out with some advice and words of encouragement, which provided a boost to those who stayed back in Manchester this week.

Finally, City sold midfielder Harvey Griffiths, 17, to Wolves for a fee that could rise to £500,000 on deadline day. Griffiths was in the same age group as Charlie McNeill, who left for United last summer for an initial fee of £750,000 and has continued to stand out as a top goalscorer, but with Lavia, Mbete, Callum Doyle, Darko Gyabi, Micah Hamilton and Juan Larios still at the club, insiders believe sales are a sign of strength in depth.

They also help to make the academy profitable, a key aim for the club alongside producing talent for the first team.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Tue Sep 07, 2021 7:50 pm

Great goal from Cole Palmer in his U21 debut against Kosovo, also first starts at this level for Harwood Bellis & Tommy Doyle. England win 2-0.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:57 pm

Callum Doyle getting rave reviews after his performances on loan at Sunderland, left footed CB only 17 !!
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Tue Oct 26, 2021 6:57 pm

Thumped 5-0 v Rotherham away, live on City+. Very disappointing everywhere. Delap, Endozie, Wilson Ebrand, McAtee & Lavia all playing so won't feature tomorrow night and on this showing are nowhere near anyway. Palmer not in the squad so almost certainly in the team to play West Ham.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby nottsblue » Wed Nov 03, 2021 3:05 pm

Beaten 4-3 in the UEFA youth league after being 3-1 up after 65 minutes with a McAtee hat trick
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby Mase » Thu Nov 04, 2021 8:14 pm

nottsblue wrote:Beaten 4-3 in the UEFA youth league after being 3-1 up after 65 minutes with a McAtee hat trick


Speaking of McAtee, rumours the Rags and Barca are chasing him.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Thu Nov 04, 2021 9:07 pm

Mase wrote:
nottsblue wrote:Beaten 4-3 in the UEFA youth league after being 3-1 up after 65 minutes with a McAtee hat trick


Speaking of McAtee, rumours the Rags and Barca are chasing him.

Neil Ashton and his Rag PR/Social Media machine in top gear - bankrupt cartel clubs the natural choice for our EDS stars - sit on their bench with Sancho & Garcia while they slide into trophyless oblivion :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby Mase » Thu Nov 04, 2021 9:53 pm

johnny crossan wrote:
Mase wrote:
nottsblue wrote:Beaten 4-3 in the UEFA youth league after being 3-1 up after 65 minutes with a McAtee hat trick


Speaking of McAtee, rumours the Rags and Barca are chasing him.

Neil Ashton and his Rag PR/Social Media machine in top gear - bankrupt cartel clubs the natural choice for our EDS stars - sit on their bench with Sancho & Garcia while they slide into trophyless oblivion :lol: :lol: :lol:


Garcia has been starting for Barca. Weirdly, as every time I’ve seen him he’s been either sent off or at fault for 1-2 goals per match.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:00 pm

Mase wrote:
johnny crossan wrote:
Mase wrote:
nottsblue wrote:Beaten 4-3 in the UEFA youth league after being 3-1 up after 65 minutes with a McAtee hat trick


Speaking of McAtee, rumours the Rags and Barca are chasing him.

Neil Ashton and his Rag PR/Social Media machine in top gear - bankrupt cartel clubs the natural choice for our EDS stars - sit on their bench with Sancho & Garcia while they slide into trophyless oblivion :lol: :lol: :lol:


Garcia has been starting for Barca. Weirdly, as every time I’ve seen him he’s been either sent off or at fault for 1-2 goals per match.

Barca currently 9th - could be related :D
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:49 pm

Currently getting thumped 1-3 by PSG - better in the second half but suckered on the counter and slow build up. No Palmer or McAtee who are presumably with the senior squad, no Delap, Edozie, Hamilton, Gyabi, Larias, Ndala, Borges or Sodge either - all injured - still some starlets out there though like Lavia (our best player), Wilson-Esbrand, Kayke (poor),Burns & Mebete etc. BT commentator sneering at us throughout and with Bruges winning we can't go through to the play off stages now. Disappointing.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby blues2win » Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:02 pm

https://twitter.com/city_chief/status/1 ... 74828?s=21

Kayky scores his second goal for City. A good one at that.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Wed Dec 01, 2021 2:32 pm

State of the art camerawork on City+ coverage of our home game v Forest currently - everything viewed between the linos knees. Pathetic.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby johnny crossan » Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:31 pm

The Nmecha brothers: Why they both left Man City, choosing Germany over England and the impact of Kompany
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Stuart James Jan 4, 2022 4


“It’s crazy,” Felix Nmecha says, shaking his head. “A lot of parents do this sort of stuff and their kids don’t make it – so we thank God that we did.”

Felix and Lukas Nmecha have been talking at Wolfsburg’s training ground for the best part of an hour, covering everything from Stefan Kuntz’s love of scrambled eggs to Pep Guardiola’s lessons in the art of movement, when the conversation turns to the No 43 bus and the sacrifices that their mother and father made to enable them to be part of Manchester City’s academy – a relationship that lasted more than a decade.

“It wasn’t easy getting to training,” Lukas says. “When you’re about 12, you have training three times a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday – and it’s always at night time, around 7pm. At that time my dad used to have to do night shifts – he worked for (security company) G4S.

“So we used to have to get the Piccadilly bus and then get off and walk to the training ground, in the dark, past this park. It was maybe a 20-minute walk.

“The bad part was when we came back, at 9pm, the bus from Piccadilly going back towards the airport was always packed. Sometimes it would just drive by (as it was full). It would be freezing and it was me, my brother, my mum, and my sister in the pram. We were doing that all the time.”

Lukas pauses for a moment to reflect. “For my parents now, it’s nice that we made it in a way.”

The reason the Nmecha brothers are recalling that journey is because it’s one of the first things that comes to mind for the two of them when they are asked about October’s landmark game against Union Berlin, when Lukas was playing up front for Wolfsburg and Felix appeared as a late substitute.

Having both swapped Manchester City for Wolfsburg in the summer, that Union Berlin game was the first time the Nmechas had played alongside one another at senior level and, understandably, it was a proud moment for the family after all the hard work that had gone on behind the scenes over the years.

Lukas, who at 23 is two years older than Felix, felt particularly pleased for his brother. “I just liked seeing him come on,” he says. “I know he’s had injuries (Felix was out for nine months at City with tendonitis in the knee), so to see him on the pitch was nice.

“I think slowly he’s starting to show everybody here how good he is. If he can reach his peak, and I can reach mine, that (playing together for Wolfsburg) will happen more often whilst we’re here. And, depending on what he chooses with his nationality, hopefully at international level too.”

Born in Hamburg but raised in Manchester, Lukas and Felix have represented both Germany and England. Lukas switched allegiances permanently in 2019, when he declared for Germany, and he has never looked back. He helped win the European Under-21 Championship last summer, when he also finished as the top goalscorer in the tournament, and made his full debut for Germany in November after an impressive start to the season with Wolfsburg.

His City career never really got going.

Lukas was limited to only three substitute appearances, two in the Premier League and one in the Carabao Cup in December 2017, when he made his debut against Leicester City. Guardiola’s team triumphed on penalties that night and Lukas, aged 19, surprised a few by stepping forward to take one. “I was the penalty taker for a lot of the age groups that I played in at City, so when the manager said, ‘Who’s taking a pen?’ I put my hand up straight away,” he recalls, smiling. “Everyone sort of looked at me in a strange way!”

He converted from the spot but that was the first and the last goal he scored for City’s first team.

By his own admission, the loan spells that followed at Preston North End, Wolfsburg and Middlesbrough were difficult and it was not until he spent last season with Belgium’s Anderlecht, under the management of Manchester City royalty Vincent Kompany, that everything fell into place. Lukas scored 18 times for the Brussels side and then followed that up by winning the golden boot for Germany Under-21s in June. He was full of confidence, but also knew returning to City was a non-starter.

“After the European Championship, I spoke to Txiki (Begiristain, City’s director of football) – I think we were on the same page,” Lukas explains. “I’d had two what I’d say were unsuccessful loans – on paper, they were unsuccessful but I learned a lot during those times – and I’d had a really good season at Anderlecht, and I think they (City) thought I was on a bit of a hype train and that they would be able to get some money. I was also told that they were going to sign a striker.

“It wasn’t that I disliked the club but I didn’t really feel part of the club anymore. There had been three years where I’d been away from the club anyway. When I came back I’d have either internationals, or in the case of Anderlecht, they started the season early and the same in Championship (with Preston), so I never really had a lot of time with the team. I had a pre-season in Asia and a pre-season in America, where I played well, but I just had that feeling where I had that stigma of being an academy player.

“There are always exceptions, like Phil Foden. But when you are at such a big club and you buy a player that has cost £50 million, if you are a player from the academy who they’ve not invested so much money in, they’ve got to explain why they’ve paid that £50 million for that player, so there’s no chance in a sense, unless you are a lot better than the other guys, which I wasn’t. So I just felt that I had to leave.”

Although Lukas had been frustrated during his six-month loan spell with Wolfsburg for the first half of 2019-20, that was largely down to the coach at the time and the lack of opportunities. His relationship with Marcel Schafer, Wolfsburg’s sporting director, remained close, and Lukas did not need to think twice about returning to the Bundesliga club permanently in the summer, after City accepted a €13 million bid.

Felix joined Wolfsburg on a free transfer five days later, with both brothers keen to stress they were totally separate deals. In fact, the two are not even living under the same roof in the northern German city midway between Berlin and Hamburg – they’re next door to one another.

“He’s my brother and I do like him, but I think it’s good to have a bit of space sometimes as well,” Lukas says, smiling.


Felix, left, and elder brother Lukas (Photo: Lukas Nmecha)
Felix’s contract at City expired in the summer. The midfielder only featured twice for City last season, as an 85th-minute substitute in a 3-0 Champions League home win over Olympiakos and replacing Kevin De Bruyne for the second half of an FA Cup defeat of Birmingham City by the same score — although he admits even that was more than he expected, bearing in mind it was clear to all parties he was going to move on. His only other appearance for the club was as a sub in the second leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final against third division Burton Albion in January 2019, after City had won the first leg 9-0.

Not that there is any regret on his part.

Felix looks back on his City years with a lot of fondness – he put together a video that he posted on Instagram when he left – and was grateful to have the opportunity to train with the first team every day during that final season and to be coached by Guardiola. “Tactically, he was just so good in terms of showing us how to move and which spaces open up,” Felix adds.

A question about the thinking behind his decision to sign for Wolfsburg opens up a whole new conversation.

“After my contract finished at City there were two teams that were really interested, and Wolfsburg were obviously one of them,” he says. “How it happened was basically that I prayed to God for a sign that I should go to whichever team. And then he gave me the sign and that’s why I’m here.”

Asked whether he would be comfortable talking more about his faith, Felix replies, “I’m definitely very comfortable talking about it. I don’t see myself as a religious person. I see it as I have a relationship with God. I feel like God has revealed the truth to me and I just try to share it with people.

“It’s just like if someone had a cure for COVID-19, they would want to share it. So, in that same sense, I believe in Jesus and what he did for us on the cross, so that we can be saved, so that we can go to heaven. I just try to share that.”

The answer that Lukas gives to a question about why Anderlecht was so much more enjoyable — and more productive than his previous loan experiences — gives an insight into just how challenging it can be for a hugely talented youngster to adapt to life in the helter-skelter world of the Championship.

“I think (at Anderlecht) it was a little bit of a step back from the Bundesliga and the Championship, where it was just fighting,” Lukas says. “Especially the Championship. It wasn’t something that I grew up with, playing that way. I’m sure it improved me physically and mentally, but I’ve been brought up in the City academy, where it was always about ball possession. I remember my first game for Preston — Swansea away. I’d never received so many long balls before in my life. It was pouring it down with rain, it was a horrible game, and it was like a shock.

“Anderlecht was more of what I’d known: possession football. I think it was the first time since I was in the 23s or 21s, where I had a leader role, I came to a club where I wasn’t just one of the young players. I felt really comfortable and I was happy there, and when that’s the case, you play your best football. Most of all, I had the trust of the manager, and maybe if I didn’t play well in one game I knew that the next game I’d have a chance to go again.”



Lukas’s thoughts on Kompany as a manager are interesting, not least because he knew him previously as a player at City and always valued his advice. “He was a lot more objective than I thought he would be,” Lukas says. “He showed his emotions a lot less than what he did as a player, and there was an understanding that young players have phases and are not always consistent. I think he’s a good manager.”

Although Lukas credits Anderlecht and Kompany for “reviving my career”, senior figures within the Germany national team set-up never lost faith in him during those testing loan spells. Kuntz, the former Germany Under-21 manager, has always been a big fan and it was his visit to Manchester a few years ago that led to Lukas changing his allegiances.

Could England not have done more to keep him? “England have a lot of talent,” Lukas replies. “It wasn’t always easy to get in the England (Under-21) team – I managed it most of the time. But I think through that visit (from Kuntz) and just being born in Germany, I felt more of a connection to the team and to the country. It just felt like the right decision. I can really see a pathway, I’ve already made my debut.”

Kuntz, who left his post with Germany to take over as the Turkey national team manager in September after their poor European Championship, is clearly highly regarded by the Nmechas as a person as well as a coach.

“I don’t know what it is about him,” Lukas says. “He just has a lot of passion and…”

“… a good heart,” interjects Felix.

“Yeah, a good heart,” Lukas adds, nodding. “You feel like he’s an honest person. When I did join and I played the first European Championship, I wasn’t a starter, I was coming on. But there was just something about the teams that he coached and him personally… there are coaches that you can be on the bench for and you still feel a sense of value. I didn’t feel like I wasn’t rated. And when I came the second year, I had his full trust and I managed to perform.”

Maybe the scrambled eggs that Kalu, Lukas and Felix’s father, served Kuntz at the family home in Manchester helped their relationship. “It wasn’t planned for him,” Lukas says, laughing at that story. “My dad was making some and he said, ‘Do you want some?’ Apparently, he loved it!”

The one unknown in all of this still is Felix, who has yet to commit one way or another at international level – although his brother’s remarks earlier in this interview point to him playing for Germany, too. “I have something in my mind. But we’re going to have to wait and see,” Felix says, with a glint in his eye. “I just want what God wants me to do.”

As much as it has been a turbulent and disappointing season for Wolfsburg, who are lying 13th in the 18-team Bundesliga, out of the Champions League after finishing bottom of their group and went into the current winter break on a run of seven successive defeats, the Nmecha brothers can take personal encouragement from their own stories.

Felix has made 10 first-team appearances so far, while the form of Lukas, with eight goals to his name as well as that Germany call-up, has provided a rare bright spot for the club.


It is a testament to their character and upbringing that neither of them comes across as though he’s taking anything for granted now. Felix talks about wanting to become a regular starter for Wolfsburg over the second half of the season, and Lukas admits that being in contention for a place in the Germany squad in a World Cup year is firmly in his mind.

“It doesn’t mean I’ll get called up every time, but I’ve had a smell of it now and I want to keep going, to be in and amongst the names,” he says. “I think definitely the European Championship in Germany (in 2024), that will be something where I will be thinking I’ll be at a good age, hopefully at my peak. That’s the time when I really want to smash it.”
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby mr_nool » Tue Jan 04, 2022 6:31 pm

Thanks for sharing JC. Good read!
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby blues2win » Sun Jan 09, 2022 2:14 pm

Under 23s three up at half time against Blackburn. Kayky has already scored two.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby Mase » Sun Jan 09, 2022 3:17 pm

blues2win wrote:Under 23s three up at half time against Blackburn. Kayky has already scored two.


Won 5-3 Kayky two and McAtee also got one.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby Mase » Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:47 pm

Beat the Rags 3-1. McAtee on the scoresheet again.
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby nottsblue » Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:33 pm

Mase wrote:Beat the Rags 3-1. McAtee on the scoresheet again.

Kayky as well
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Re: EDS/Academy Games

Postby Mase » Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:07 am

nottsblue wrote:
Mase wrote:Beat the Rags 3-1. McAtee on the scoresheet again.

Kayky as well


He seems to be settling in well.
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