Under 21's v Leicester

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Interesting game! Looked like it might be an easy night as we went into a 2 nil lead quite early with both goals coming from perfect low crosses from Adam Drury and knocked in by Pozo and Ntcham. At that stage we were winning plenty of the ball and using Drury's pace especially to cause problems against what seemed a big ,experienced but not very clever Leicester side.

Having said that we knew Leicester were a decent side as they had beaten both Benfica and Schalke in this group but more importantly battered us earlier in the season>Their first goal was as soft as they come. An average corner swung to the edge of the box and knocked forward.The trouble was our defenders were running out and past the ball which left 2 or 3 of theirs in front of the keeper and one of them flicked it in.

From that point the game changed and though we did have some good situations Leicester did look threatening when they got forward and especially when they crossed the ball. We didn't get our head on many of the crosses so it was always a problem. The 2nd goal was a routine free header and their 3rd just ended up in a mad scramble which somehow ended in them poking it home. It did seem to highlight a particular weakness in our central defence which was Plummer and Maffeo. Maffeo again preferred there to Bossaerts who was right back. All bout giving them experience in different positions I guess.

After we fell behind we had loads of the ball but seemed to lack ideas. Pozo was taken off quite early in the 2nd half and we brought on Celina and later Boadu but really our only likely threat was still Drury crossing from the right but apart from one very late on he never quite got the crosses right.The threat from the left wasn't there as Barker I believe was missing through illness and Hiwula just isnt a winger. Leicester just sat back to see what we had and the answer was not much. Good possession but not too many ideas on how to break through.

The one cross Drury got right was in injury time when the full back tried to take him out but he stayed on his feet and the ref played advantage.I think it through the defenders as the cross found Hiwula unmarked but he headed wide. A good learning experience I am sure for Vieira but it showed to me that this is not our best age group with a number of the players struggling against an experienced opposition.

Best part of my night was meeting John68 at half time. We looked around for Ted but decided he doesn't really exist :)

[Ted Hughes]

Ted had already decided this would be a strange night, with bizarre team selection vs an experienced team, & stayed at home.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Ted had already decided this would be a strange night, with bizarre team selection vs an experienced team, & stayed at home.

Ted was right.

[twosips]

Was an odd one wasn't it Doug?

Expected it when i saw the line up though to be fair. Thought Drury did pretty well considering he's not a right winger and though he was far from perfect i think he should reach championship level and with a bit of luck maybe even a promotion chasing team. He's got an engine but he'll never make it for us.

Angelino had quite a weird habit at times - he kept cutting in field to pick up passes directly in front of plummer and basically receiving the ball in a Lahm-in-midfield-esque position - not something ive seen from a fullback much before but it was interesting as he kept ending up in a deep lying playmaker position. He's a very good footballer that one and his confidence is admirable.

Was sat with my girlfriend and the first thing she said (and she knows nowt about football really) was 'the leicester players all look much bigger and older' and i definitely got that impression too. Noticeably more physical than us and after our early goals we definitely started to look a little lost without the usual threat of Ambrose and Barker on the wings. Bossaerts offers very little going forward as well so our wide play was severely weakened with Maffeo inside.

All in all Ted made the right call. It was bloody freezing.

Reckon it'll be business as usual selection wise on Saturday morning though - the advertising boards around the side of the pitch were showing details of the EDS v Liverpool at 11.30 so hoping that one wont end up behind closed doors as ill defo be there.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Was an odd one wasn't it Doug?

Expected it when i saw the line up though to be fair. Thought Drury did pretty well considering he's not a right winger and though he was far from perfect i think he should reach championship level and with a bit of luck maybe even a promotion chasing team. He's got an engine but he'll never make it for us.

Angelino had quite a weird habit at times - he kept cutting in field to pick up passes directly in front of plummer and basically receiving the ball in a Lahm-in-midfield-esque position - not something ive seen from a fullback much before but it was interesting as he kept ending up in a deep lying playmaker position. He's a very good footballer that one and his confidence is admirable.

Was sat with my girlfriend and the first thing she said (and she knows nowt about football really) was 'the leicester players all look much bigger and older' and i definitely got that impression too. Noticeably more physical than us and after our early goals we definitely started to look a little lost without the usual threat of Ambrose and Barker on the wings. Bossaerts offers very little going forward as well so our wide play was severely weakened with Maffeo inside.

All in all Ted made the right call. It was bloody freezing.

Reckon it'll be business as usual selection wise on Saturday morning though - the advertising boards around the side of the pitch were showing details of the EDS v Liverpool at 11.30 so hoping that one wont end up behind closed doors as ill defo be there.

Yes it's the 21's v Liverpool at 1.30 and after that the 18's play Middlesbro I assume on another academy pitch.

That bit with Angelino taking up that position is the norm now it seems. The 2 center backs go wide and Glendon dropped deep centrally ,while Angelino and Bossaerts switched into the middle all to try and give the keeper options to play the ball to. Admirable in it's way but it does get tricky when the opposition get their pressing right. We still go for a play it out on the floor option and it only takes one mis control and we can be giving a goal away.The trouble is a long boot down the middle is virtually giving the ball away as we have no big guy to aim for.

I don't know how many if any of the Leicester players have first team experience but I saw a tweet from some one suggesting that was the case but yes it did seem they were a bit bigger and more experienced.

On Drury I am no longer sure what his best position is. He was a winger when he started out I believe and when I first saw him at City. City seemed to have been working on making him into an attacking full back and when he went to St Mirren I think he started at full back and then more of a wing back.I was hoping to see his father tonight as I used to speak with him quite a bit to see how things had gone but I didn't see him.

[Ted Hughes]

I was watching Angelino very closely last week & ok, it's against kids, but again I thought the way he found angles to get the ball to Barker (& vice versa) & the positions they took up was on another level completely to watching the first team attempt the same thing. So much quicker & more inventive & more decisive.

Watching Kolarov/Barker in Abu Dhabi; well he made Barker look a bit of a twat at times imo, as if Barker was taking up stupid positions, but when you see it alongside Angelino, it's not stupid, it's just a more inventive, less predictable kind of football then the Kolarov/Clichy kind of game.

I think there are several, such as Angelino, Denayer, probably Maffeo, who don't necessarily have to end up in the positions they are playing now. They are just really really good footballers, who should be able to find their way into the team somewhere. I just can't remember Milner for instance, being smarter or better as a kid, than Angelino or Maffeo even though he played further forward. He was 'ok' with a decent level of ability but nothing world beating by comparison. If he can end up playing midfield for the Champs, then so can they, if they need to. Provided they show the same effort.

They have more than one chance to make the grade.