by twosips » Wed Jul 29, 2015 6:43 am
Went to Rhyl last night to see the u18s in a preseason friendly against Rhyl's first team.
It was an incredibly young City team. Most literally just 15/16 with a couple of exceptions up against actual men, and some giants too. Not kidding - their centre forward was basically a tree. About 6'5, at least, and probably pushing 20 stone. Probably late twenties too. Massive. He wasn't the only one either. Just a hugely strong team, and very organised too. I'll give em credit where it's due.
Hugely enjoyable game though. We pipped it 1-0 and you could tell the kids were really pleased with the result. Wilcox was great the whole game - was stood right infront of me so I could hear him barking out orders throughout and it's fascinating. He's a really good coach. Balances the line between tough but fair and highly motivating really well...
We had Albinson in goal, two incredibly young fullbacks in Duhaney and Blackshaw and a centre half pairing of Josh Murray and Ask Kigbu. As ever, there was three in midfield with Patching and Diallo the ones breaking forward and a tiny little number 6, davenport, holding. Isaac Buckley was on the right wing, Spanish wonderkid Brahim on the left with that Swedish lad Faour through the middle.
I may as well get to the point - Brahim is a real talent. He was relatively quiet in the first half as he stuck to his left wing role. Hard-working and diligent, yes, but also only on the periphery of the game. Second half he started to drift infield and he came alive. Numerous delightful runs and I was purring at some of them. His feet are magnificent - one drop of the shoulder on the edge of the area that left a defender about a foot taller than him on his arse was just wonderful. His resulting shot with his weaker right foot wasn't bad either, heading into the top corner before the keeper turned it round the post. He claimed the assist for the winning goal, driving the middle, skipping past a challenge and perfectly weighting a through ball to Buckley who slotted past the keeper well. Most encouragingly, he seems to have a bloody brilliant attitude. He's tiny, but he was just bouncing off challenges, closing everyone down and he looked delighted at the final whistle despite it being a friendly. Don't wanna get carried away, but technically he reminds me of Kinkladze, but with fight. Scarily good potential. Can't wait to see him this year for the u18s regularly. Don't be surprised if we fast forward 12 months and he's doing what Garcia is doing on tour with the first team.
He wasn't the only one who played well. Patching was good, stronger than I've see him before but elegant, technical and purposeful too. Radar for the final ball was a tad off, but it was a good shift. Diallo is another hugely talented player. Strong in the challenge and measured on the ball and i thought the tiny but tenacious davenport had a good game sweeping everything up infront of the defence. Really like the look of Kigbu at CB - big lad, and a proper leader. Strong as an ox, often out-jumping their absolutely massive forward who made Kigbu look small, despite probably standing at around 6'2 himself. He was rapid as well, and seemed to enjoy stepping into midfield with the ball. Highly promising. Defensively the team was good all considering - they battled well. Murray holding firm in the middle with the fullbacks both really strong in the tackle, getting forward with energy too. Albinson had a really good game in goal too.
Faour was decent - been critical of him before but he really worked his arse off, running the line and holding up play a lot better than I've seen him do it in the past. Nearly scored a Ronaldo like free kick from about 40 yards too. Buckley was a handful as ever. Such an industrious little player - never stops running and possesses a decent amount of skill and a lot of pace. Took his goal well too. Overall it was a really enjoyable game. Rhyl were a good test, despite obviously being nowhere near as technically efficient as our prospects they put up a good fight and the u18s can rightfully enjoy that victory in a game that was literally men against boys. Can't wait for the new season now.
Also, shout out to our new third choice keeper, Mr Doug Higginbotham. Should have seen the save he made as the ball rocketed towards his face during the second half right behind the dugout. Joe hart would have been proud ha.
