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General Reserves Talk

  • Thread starter M+D
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MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
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Only time I've watched azeez was in the under 17 euros(?). Was against France I think, tbh he did not impress me at all, but obviously a meaningless sample.. Looking forward to getting a better look at him, a lot of hype around him I've noticed..
Aouchiche had him on strings that day. Amazing player. Was a good battle between the two of them.

Azeez has a lot to work on - he's incredibly talented naturally; excellent technician, great first touch, can dribble out of trouble, great passing range, good shooting, good athlete, good body strength. The issue with him at the moment is his lack of assertiveness on the field. For someone with a lot of his gifts, he really doesn't impose himself on games with the kind of force you'd expect someone of his ability to do. He's perfectly capable of fitting into a great team performance but if the team tanks, so does he at the moment. He just needs to give more of himself to the cause, because when he turns it on, he can be unplayable.

I don't think he's quite ready for first team football as of yet. Physically and technically, he's fine for it. But I have a feeling he'll be a slow burner. Naturally I'm cautious after Reiss Nelson hit the wall - I think some we might have to take our time with and while it looks unlikely that we will, Azeez will take at least a season or two IMO before he's really ready to stand out.

For comparison, I consider Matt Smith to be a more assertive player - he positions himself more as the technical leader of the team, dominates the ball and regularly makes his presence felt in games. While he lacks the physical prowess of Azeez, he is arguably one of the better technicians in the whole set-up. Charlie Patino is similar aswell, and I'm keen to see more of his development. That takes nothing away from Azeez, who has natural talent+personality in spades, but needs to knit his game together more.
 

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
I was just thinking about Xavier Amaechi...... It's really frustrating that he left under the circumstances he did. Hoepfully he hasn't burnt any bridges. He linked so well with Saka, Nketiah at U23 level. I can't help but think he would have done the same this season and his opportunity would have come. It's so important that when you get a very good group of young talent, you keep them together as they seemed to really enjoy playing with each other.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
I was just thinking about Xavier Amaechi...... It's really frustrating that he left under the circumstances he did. Hoepfully he hasn't burnt any bridges. He linked so well with Saka, Nketiah at U23 level. I can't help but think he would have done the same this season and his opportunity would have come. It's so important that when you get a very good group of young talent, you keep them together as they seemed to really enjoy playing with each other.
I agree, but Amaechi got impatient. He likely didn't see where his opportunities were gonna come from with Emery in charge and I didn't blame him. It was well into the season that we still had Mhkitaryan stinking the joint out before Raul said **** it and sent him away on loan, forcing Emery to play the likes of Saka and Pepe.

That said, he was hasty in moving to Germany and obviously didn't get good enough assurances. Maybe next season it all comes together for him out there as he's still very talented. Sad thing about the academy situation is that even though we're producing better and better players as time goes on, inevitably we can't keep all of them. Balogun looks to be on his way out and people are pissed - even though we already have Eddie and TJJ coming through at the same time.
 

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
George Lewis has signed from Fram Larvik seemingly as a replacement for the outgoing Nathan Tormey. Seems like a very good prospect and very raw but I wonder if he could realistically make it here or is he just a 'squad place filler'?

 

Hunta

Established Member
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Country: England
Summary:

Hutchinson, Patino, Edwards, Foran and Flores have signed or are signing scholarship terms.

Mitchell, Monlouis, Bandeira, Vigar, Norton-Cuffy and Jeffcott should sign too.

Decisions to be made on Gaspar, Sagoe Jr and Sweet.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
George Lewis has signed from Fram Larvik seemingly as a replacement for the outgoing Nathan Tormey. Seems like a very good prospect and very raw but I wonder if he could realistically make it here or is he just a 'squad place filler'?

I think he's just a squad filler. The u23s are light in numbers on the attacking front with Tormey leaving and Coyle Balogun TJJ who all might also be leaving permanently or on loan.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
So I’m guessing Zach Awe isn’t old enough to get a scholarship yet? @MutableEarth
I think it's just an omission by Jeorge. I'm almost sure Awe is part of this age group as he's played with them all season . He's not as active on social media and hasn't been given an u18 call up so its hard to get info about him like the rest . There's also Jack Henry-Francis who I think may be in this group but has been injured alot this past season.
 

Afro Mugo

Active Member
Nah, I just asked Jeorge Bird and he said he's expecting Awe to be part of this year's intake. He's one of the lesser known members so it's probably gone under the radar. I'm quite excited about him though, he looks really promising, as does Monlouis and Foran.
I'm really more excited about the defensive talents than the attacking talents . We really need a modern day CB prospect . Adams-esque. I'm glad there's a queue of 6ft plus CBs in the pipeline.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
I think it's just an omission by Jeorge. I'm almost sure Awe is part of this age group as he's played with them all season . He's not as active on social media and hasn't been given an u18 call up so its hard to get info about him like the rest . There's also Jack Henry-Francis who I think may be in this group but has been injured alot this past season.
IIRC Awe actually has started an U18 game before the season ended, started in defensive midfield alongside Patino.

I'm really more excited about the defensive talents than the attacking talents . We really need a modern day CB prospect . Adams-esque. I'm glad there's a queue of 6ft plus CBs in the pipeline.
Yeah the defensive talents are pretty strong in this intake, possibly the strongest in a long time. The likes of Norton-Cuffy and Jeffcott at full-back are also ones to watch. That said, we're not short of midfield and attack prospects in this one. Hutchinson, Flores and Edwards are very prolific.

Still waiting on news of Sagoe Jnr. The little I've seen of him, he looks extremely promising. Surprised there's question marks on Sweet.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
It's funny because the intake that had Clarke and McGuinness turned out to be pretty good so far at youth level, but will be interesting to see how they turn out at first team level. Both are still very promising but Clarke is shorter than 6ft and McGuinness is injured quite a lot. That said, I think Zech Medley will definitely go on loan and that will give more opportunities to McGuinness to start games once fully fit. Will be interesting what happens with Clarke aswell and if he goes on loan. He had a strong year for the U23s. I really like Clarke as an all-round modern defender.
 

Hunta

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Monlouis, Patino, Sweet, Hutchinson and Oyegoke have all played for the unbelievable England 03 team this season as well.

Shows how talented these lads are.
 

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