fa youth cup final

[iwasthere2012]

Oh that was unlucky. Good football. It was off side though.

[iwasthere2012]

2-0 Chelsea. Out muscled in midfield.
Then a looping header that Grimshaw misjudged.
Difficult task now.

[blues2win]

3-1 Another error by Grimshaw I'm afraid.

[Bluedj]

This ref is giving Chelski everything

[blues2win]

https://twitter.com/fa/status/725414605846118400

Chelsea's second goal.

[Blue Since 76]

Grimshaw looks the essence of the bizarre push for everyone to be ball players, regardless of whether they are capable of the basics in the actual position. Hence why Stones is worth £50m.

[iwasthere2012]

3-0 on the night and we really aren't playing well.
Too many making poor decisions and Chelsea just don't look like they have the mistakes in them that our lads do.
That gulf in professionalism is still evident tonight I'm afraid.

[nottsblue]

Sounds disappointing. But am i right in saying our boys are younger?

[blues2win]

4-1 on aggregate so well beaten in the end. Had our moments in the first half but the two Grimshaw mistakes gave us a mountain to climb. Top of the league so maybe will win the championship!

[iwasthere2012]

Sounds disappointing. But am i right in saying our boys are younger?

They have a few sixteen year olds too.
In general they ate stronger and bigger though.
I think they all just make better decisions collectively though.
We have some decent players but they have costly mistakes in them.
Diaz has been very disappointing tonight.
Constantly giving thevball away. I don't think he likes hail and snow. He's just scored now by the way.
First thing he's done. Maybe a late late show from us yet.
I like the look of Jadon Sancho since he's come on. He's actually started to make things happen by running at them.

[iwasthere2012]

Sounds disappointing. But am i right in saying our boys are younger?

They have a few sixteen year olds too.
In general they ate stronger and bigger though.
I think they all just make better decisions collectively though.
We have some decent players but they have costly mistakes in them.
Diaz has been very disappointing tonight.
Constantly giving thevball away. I don't think he likes hail and snow. He's just scored now by the way.
First thing he's done. Maybe a late late show from us yet.
I like the look of Jadon Sancho since he's come on. He's actually started to make things happen by running at them.

[iwasthere2012]

Wouldn't mind hearing from those that see a lot of the academy games. That's the first time I've seen more than 5 minutes of Jadon Sancho. We've talked about Diaz's skill on the ball and it's undeniable, but he was so way off tonight and only got forward when Jadon came on.
That kid can really carry the ball. He looks really decent. He dribbled so well and didn't lose it. Seemed to know just when to release it.
Brightest spark for me in an otherwise disappointing night.

[Fidel Castro]

Grimshaw is like a Barthez off the estate

[blues2win]

Grimshaw tweets an apology for his mistakes tonight. Obviously gutted. No need mate no one tries to fuck up

[iwasthere2012]

Grimshaw is like a Barthez off the estate

And their keeper Baxter does the bread and butter goalkeeping things so well.
Very good keeper.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Gutted for the boys and Grimshaw especially as I first met him watching City train at Carrington. A true blue he was there with his father who went along quite a lot. Can't hide the fact that he messed up on that first goal. Not sure about the 2nd tho.

Overall I thought we did quite well in some of the game but just lacked a killer instinct where it mattered in their area. Buckley i thought was very good and gave Da Silva a torrid time and he's supposed to be one of their top players. And Nemane on the other side seemed to have the beating of his man too . Add that Nmecha had a decent game and it makes you wonder what went wrong!

The problem really was midfield where Brahim just couldnt get into it. Don't think I have ever seen him blocked out of a game quite like that. Kongolo too despite a few moments wasn't influential at all which left Davenport battling away.I thought he had a terrific game. Chelsea dominated the middle and as a result looked threatening but till that error I thought nil nil was very promising at half time.

It did seem to have knocked our confidence although we still got some great situations without being able to finish anything and then their 2nd goal which was a bit freaky. Not a semblance of control over the header but it went right under the bar/post and that was about it. Credit to the boys as they kept battling on, still coming close and got the goal that they deserved..
Did Tosin come off with Sunday in mind!

Sancho did what he does very well and that's looking very good and confident on the ball. Very similar to Diaz in his ball skills and movement with the ball but the difference for me tonight was Brahim started in the middle of the park and was targeted immediately the ball went even close to him. More often than not he starts wide and moves in more centrally maybe at half time. Sancho apart from coming on late played the wide role and looked great immediately.

I thought Tom Deli looked good in his few minutes on the pitch.

Thay need to recover well and beat Blackburn on Saturday and win the under 18's Premier League title which they richly deserve to fo.

[Dunnylad]

Cups are cups, if it's your day anything can happen, plus the reverse. The league is a better barometer of overall progress & success. As for Grimshaw at that level its about how he learns from the errors, but needs to forget & move on (as easy as that is to say, but hard to do)

[Tokyo Blue]

Cups are cups, if it's your day anything can happen, plus the reverse. The league is a better barometer of overall progress & success. As for Grimshaw at that level its about how he learns from the errors, but needs to forget & move on (as easy as that is to say, but hard to do)

I haven't seen the game or the goals, but I am not sure he should forget, mate. He needs to move on, but remember and never do it again. Hopefully it'll make him a stronger person and a better keeper.

[iwasthere2012]

Gutted for the boys and Grimshaw especially as I first met him watching City train at Carrington. A true blue he was there with his father who went along quite a lot. Can't hide the fact that he messed up on that first goal. Not sure about the 2nd tho.

Overall I thought we did quite well in some of the game but just lacked a killer instinct where it mattered in their area. Buckley i thought was very good and gave Da Silva a torrid time and he's supposed to be one of their top players. And Nemane on the other side seemed to have the beating of his man too . Add that Nmecha had a decent game and it makes you wonder what went wrong!

The problem really was midfield where Brahim just couldnt get into it. Don't think I have ever seen him blocked out of a game quite like that. Kongolo too despite a few moments wasn't influential at all which left Davenport battling away.I thought he had a terrific game. Chelsea dominated the middle and as a result looked threatening but till that error I thought nil nil was very promising at half time.

It did seem to have knocked our confidence although we still got some great situations without being able to finish anything and then their 2nd goal which was a bit freaky. Not a semblance of control over the header but it went right under the bar/post and that was about it. Credit to the boys as they kept battling on, still coming close and got the goal that they deserved..
Did Tosin come off with Sunday in mind!

Sancho did what he does very well and that's looking very good and confident on the ball. Very similar to Diaz in his ball skills and movement with the ball but the difference for me tonight was Brahim started in the middle of the park and was targeted immediately the ball went even close to him. More often than not he starts wide and moves in more centrally maybe at half time. Sancho apart from coming on late played the wide role and looked great immediately.

I thought Tom Deli looked good in his few minutes on the pitch.

Thay need to recover well and beat Blackburn on Saturday and win the under 18's Premier League title which they richly deserve to fo.

I think that's a fair assessment Doug.
I thought first half we were the better team. Nemane definitely had the better of the right back and Buckley was causing the the left back all sorts of trouble.
Nmecha was much better than his first leg display. We did look like we could score, but even first half we weren't getting into it like we should in midfield.
Diaz struggled and Davenport was very much fighting on his own. Kongolo only showed glimpses.
Grimshaw's mistake was unfortunate but what was lacking with him is something that was lacking throughout, I thought......decisiveness. Hopefully that will improve with experience.
Chelsea were good as a complete team, structured, with a plan to play against us. I still think we have some really decent prospects in our squad. Not least, the back four including those subbed on. I thought they looked very good, despite the scoreline. Thought Marcus Wood did alright at left back when he came on. Tosin,Humphreys and Oliver were comfortable up to the first goal.
Sancho coming on and Dele-Bashiru freshened things up and both looked really decent but the game was well and truly up by then.

Question for you Doug. Dele-bashiru and Marcus Wood. Do they normally play in the backs or are they midfielders? Both gave good accounts of themselves where they were put. Also how old are the replacements that were put in, including Sancho. Do they play at the younger age group?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Gutted for the boys and Grimshaw especially as I first met him watching City train at Carrington. A true blue he was there with his father who went along quite a lot. Can't hide the fact that he messed up on that first goal. Not sure about the 2nd tho.

Overall I thought we did quite well in some of the game but just lacked a killer instinct where it mattered in their area. Buckley i thought was very good and gave Da Silva a torrid time and he's supposed to be one of their top players. And Nemane on the other side seemed to have the beating of his man too . Add that Nmecha had a decent game and it makes you wonder what went wrong!

The problem really was midfield where Brahim just couldnt get into it. Don't think I have ever seen him blocked out of a game quite like that. Kongolo too despite a few moments wasn't influential at all which left Davenport battling away.I thought he had a terrific game. Chelsea dominated the middle and as a result looked threatening but till that error I thought nil nil was very promising at half time.

It did seem to have knocked our confidence although we still got some great situations without being able to finish anything and then their 2nd goal which was a bit freaky. Not a semblance of control over the header but it went right under the bar/post and that was about it. Credit to the boys as they kept battling on, still coming close and got the goal that they deserved..
Did Tosin come off with Sunday in mind!

Sancho did what he does very well and that's looking very good and confident on the ball. Very similar to Diaz in his ball skills and movement with the ball but the difference for me tonight was Brahim started in the middle of the park and was targeted immediately the ball went even close to him. More often than not he starts wide and moves in more centrally maybe at half time. Sancho apart from coming on late played the wide role and looked great immediately.

I thought Tom Deli looked good in his few minutes on the pitch.

Thay need to recover well and beat Blackburn on Saturday and win the under 18's Premier League title which they richly deserve to fo.

I think that's a fair assessment Doug.
I thought first half we were the better team. Nemane definitely had the better of the right back and Buckley was causing the the left back all sorts of trouble.
Nmecha was much better than his first leg display. We did look like we could score, but even first half we weren't getting into it like we should in midfield.
Diaz struggled and Davenport was very much fighting on his own. Kongolo only showed glimpses.
Grimshaw's mistake was unfortunate but what was lacking with him is something that was lacking throughout, I thought......decisiveness. Hopefully that will improve with experience.
Chelsea were good as a complete team, structured, with a plan to play against us. I still think we have some really decent prospects in our squad. Not least, the back four including those subbed on. I thought they looked very good, despite the scoreline. Thought Marcus Wood did alright at left back when he came on. Tosin,Humphreys and Oliver were comfortable up to the first goal.
Sancho coming on and Dele-Bashiru freshened things up and both looked really decent but the game was well and truly up by then.

Question for you Doug. Dele-bashiru and Marcus Wood. Do they normally play in the backs or are they midfielders? Both gave good accounts of themselves where they were put. Also how old are the replacements that were put in, including Sancho. Do they play at the younger age group?

I think Marcus is 18 now so it''s the end this season for him at this level. I would say he is a midfield player but has played at right back in the past. Good solid player who has played for England and I thoink was in the England squad this season. Has also captained the under 18's and again if my memory is right was a fairly regular player in the team in the early part of the season. Not quite sure how/why that changed but it could be as simple as Davenport coming in and playing so well as that holding role is he his best position.

Tom Dele-Bashiru is another midfield player but more of an attacking box to box player I think. I did speak briefly to Jason Wilcox very early in the season and Bashiru's name is one he mentioned as one to watch. Looks strong and powerful doesn't he and plenty of skill too.He has mainly played under 16's this season with some bits and pieces for the 18's.At 16's I would guess he is very very special and with the rest of that team/squad( Sancho and early season Brahim) it's no surprise they have been murdering teams all season.