Went to watch the 18's v Newcastle this afternoon and saw an easy 6.1 win.And this with a team missing a number who would arguably be in our best under 18's side. Will Patching and Marcus Wood are away with England under 17's somewhere and they have been excellent so far this season for the team as has Issac Buckley-Ricketts who was only on the bench.Add to that Cameron Humphries and it just goes to show the depth of talent we have around that we can absolutely overrun Newcastle and not be at all flattered by the scoreline.
In the side today were Jadon Sancho and Ayotomiwa Dele-Bashiru ( Tom Dele) who have been playing under 16's all season and I believe are still 15. All I can say is wow. Sancho scored 2 in the first 10 minutes and although the keeper wasn't great on either goal some his his other play got you out of your seat.I think the guy trying to mark him would rather have been sat with me as he didn't have much of a clue what to do.Wonderfully quick feet and can go either way and there were times he left a defender literally standing. One midfield player who came back to help once was so baffled at what he was doing and just gave up and walked away. I don't think he knew where Sancho had gone.
Tom Dele I had only seen before for 10 minutes as a sub against Stoke but I had heard excellent things and I got the chance to speak briefly with Jason Wilcox last Sunday and he mentioned this lad as something special. To be honest I don't think he had his best game today as he did run into a few blind alleys and lose the ball but the lad is 15 and with his pace,aggression (all fair),power,driving runs,ability to retain the ball and lost markers etc etc you would have thought he was 19! Definitely one to watch.
The game itself as a contest was over almost immediately and if we had made better final passes it could easily have been 10. Newcastle looked a poor side especially in the first half but did come out in the 2nd as if they meant it. At the back we were not troubled that much at all but I quite like the look of both full backs on show today. Callum Bullock on the right and Demeaco Duhaney on the left although he is mainly a right back as well.A great assist by Duhaney down the left with Sancho for Fernandes goal.
Alongside Tom Dele in the middle was Sadou Diallo who looked very good again to me. Powerful lad who wins a lot of ball , drives forward with it and if he scored goals would have everything. Maybe he has that as well but he is quality and a bit of a beast. Lukas Nmecha played at 9 today and got 2 goals and I think is only 16 but getting plenty of under 18's football. Good player who loves to score goals and gets plenty.One was a pan today and the other gifted to him by a sloppy defender but he had to hold him off as he advanced on the keeper and flicked it past him. Extremely promisiing.
Right wing was Paolo Fernandes who scored yet again and like Sancho on the other side was giving the full back a torrid time. He can go both ways and seems to get past his man more often than not and also seems to get on the scoresheet quite regularly. Just a slip of a lad but good pace, rides tackles well.
And then there is Brahim Diaz still to come. Another still playing for the under 16's as his international clearance still isnt sorted but by all accounts he is the best of the lot. I saw him once with Twosips in the pre season game at Rhyl and for a while in the second half he was unplayable and like Sancho could get you off your seat. Cant wait for him to step up to this level and beyond.
Next is the18's game v Utd on Friday at the CFA. Be there if you can it should be well worth watching
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