FA Youth Cup Final, 1st Leg | Fri 22 May | 8 PM

[ricky1985]

well wilshere showed what happens when a player with CL plays in a youth cup game.. he was head and shoulders above the rest.. Our centrebacks screwed up but nevertheless I expect to win at Anfield and with our 3rd youth cup in 4 seasons.. we have our jobs cut out and need to cut out mistakes.. Im expecting a Lauri Dalla Valle hatrick to win us the tie

I saw this on the Liverpool board that was linked to above. When you say you can see the difference playing someone with Champions League experience makes, what exactly do you mean?

Do you mean it's not that he's more talented than everyone else, just that he's more comfortable playing at this level, because of the experience he's had with the first team? Because for me it's nothing to do with the fact that he's played Carling cup, Premier legaue or Champions League - it's just that he is absurdly talented and in a different stratosphere to anything Liverpool have and probably anyone else Arsenal have. Nothing to do with experience everything to do with quality.

As for you predicting a second leg comeback - very bold. Our boys are by some margin the best academy in the country, we won our league section by nearly 30 points, and the beat the winners of the northern section, Manchester City, in the last round over two legs; 6-2, and it could have been a lot more. They won their sections by 25 points, I think you finished 4th.

Put it this way, for you to turn this around you would need our boys to get complacent or not turn up. I'm not trying to act brash here, I'm just saying that our academy is extremely goood, comfortably the best, and with all due respect, in a different league to Liverpool's academy.

Playing at a higher level shows you are above the youth level..when we won our first of the 2 consecutives youth cups Man City threw in Micah Richards in the second leg who was head and shoulders above the rest.. As far as talent is concerned Wilshere is better at this moment in time but who knows someone else could surpass him and be a late bloomer.. If youd seen Lampard in the youth cup final you would have doubted him making it but now he is one of the best..

That's because Micah Richards was twice as talented as any of the other players on the pitch. Not because he had played at a higher level already, but because he had a huge amount of talent. I agree players develop at different ages, but I'll confidently predict no other player on that pitch, Liverpool or Arsenal, will develop into as good a player as Wilshere will do. He is very special.

 

[famous no 10]

'pools Cb was ****e...you know, that gormless looking one that did **** all but foul, hand ball and generaly looked like he wanted to go home early...awful player.

Good strike by their forward, great reflex, apart from that we looked completely in control from the first goal onwards...JW is going to be a class act, and Bartley impressed again. Our 'keepers a midget, not sure that works.
Shame about Frimpong, I rate him...and Lansbury finally had a game where he looked like he really is a good player. JET is pretty good, isn't he?

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Been reading a lot of articles today pointing out the lack of height that Shea suffers from, like it's some kind of autoimmune virus. Don't buy it. I think he's looked pretty good both in the cup and for the reserves this season. Good composure and balance in him. Seems very level-headed, which is pretty hard to come by at this age. Not saying he's got enough talent to ever be in our first team but he looks like he's doing the business at his current level at least. I think there's good hope for him having a future in football.

 

[jackycreegs]

Shea reminds me of the guy who plays in goal in my 5-a-side team. Impressive reflexes but a bit of a heart attack in gloves apart from that.

On the highlights of one of the academy games I think the commentator said that he'd been playing as an outfield player until quite recently. If that's true then his all round game being a bit shakey at the moment is understandable. Still, Szczesny's only a year older than him and looks a hell of a lot better.

Height is obviously very important for a goalkeeper as it helps you reach things.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Yeah, height is obviously important to some degree, but guys like Shay Given and Iker Casillas have made careers without being particularly tall. It's not like Shea is a midget anyway, just a bit shorter than your average keeper. I rate reflexes, composure and positioning much more than just being tall. There's a bit of a point to be made in that shorter keepers always have to work twice as hard as the taller ones too, perhaps. They don't have the same physical advantage right from the start.

That said, I agree about Szczesny. I think he looks like a great prospect. Out of the current reserve and academy keepers he looks the most like the real deal.

 

[Jameel46]

One player not being mentioned is Rhys Murphy, and even though he onlt played 15mins he did look good when he came on.

 

[DaGunners]

One player not being mentioned is Rhys Murphy, and even though he onlt played 15mins he did look good when he came on.

Yep, I love his game. A classic striker who only wants to score goals. A bit like Eduardo.

 

[Zico]

From what I have seen of Wilshere, I suspect he is probably past the stage of playing with kids, and like a Wayne Rooney or a Cesc Fabregas, needs to advance to the first team to continue his footballing education apace. The only problem is that our first team seems a little too unsettled and inexperienced to nurture a talent such as this.

My hope would have been that we would have a veteran team that would be able to absorb one-off academy talents like Wilshere and allow them to rapidly advance in the way that players like Rooney and Fabregas did. I just shudder at the prospect of Wilshere learning from Denilson, Walcott and Diaby.

 

[dbig]

For those who are interested in watching this match (again), someone has uploaded the full game at Maxxed Football Forums. Enjoy!

 

[stiiphunn]

don't you need some sort of account to access the file though?

 

[dbig]

You need to register to view the forums.

 

[stiiphunn]

You need to register to view the forums.

Problem is : "Sorry, registration has been disabled by the administrator."

But never mind, thanks a lot anyway!

 

[dbig]

Check your PM.

 

[banduan]

Rhys Murphy is a goal machine.

BTW, despite this being an under-18 game, not like U-16, the pitch was still too big.

Them lads were knackered and just staring sometimes after the hour mark.

 

[AliBabaBrewer]

That Maxxed forums administrator's being a tit and has disabled registration.
Does anyone know anywhere else I can see the game?

 

[LeTallec]

Not to rain on your parade or anything but Denilson was once captain of the U-20s too. doesn't really count for much.

yeah but denilson was never the South American player of the year or took his team Gremio to the Copa liberatores final

 

[kamikaze80]

How exactly is it *? I think Sunu has more talent than Ade, hardly a ridiculous claim.

no, you think there's "no doubt" that sunu is "a million times" more talented than adebayor at this very moment, which is, of course, absurd.

stop posting so much, you're bringing the forum quality down with your retardedness.

 

[stiiphunn]

Sorry Kami but that was not necessary.

 

[Jameel46]

That Maxxed forums administrator's being a tit and has disabled registration.
Does anyone know anywhere else I can see the game?

I 2nd This.

The bloody internet is supposed to have everything :evil: !!!

 

[banduan]

Talent is something you're born with, so age shouldn't be a factor. However, I don't see why Sunu is that much more talented than Ade- bearing in mind Ade never plays to his best ability nowadays.