by shaka's shorts »
18 Jan 2012 21:18
Just back from the game - full match report. Not going to give marks/10 in case the lads are reading this - don't mind giving a first teamer low marks, but not the kids. I have seen quite a few youth cup games over the years, so am comparing to the better teams / players. I thought this would be the best batch since Jem, pearce, church, henry team, but straqngely the players I was expecting to be good were a little disappointing and the lesser known players impressed.
GK Santangelo - very disappointing. Has a big reputation and more experience than most. Twice he came out off his line and missed it (including 2nd goal), kicking was poor, flapped a lot. I assume the occasion got to him as he played well in the pre-season friendly I saw him in.
RB - Keown - Probably our most impressive player, defended well, never got beaten and passed sensibly
LB - Griffin - Irish lad, good on the ball, nice left foot, got forward more than Keown - did well
CB - Partridge - did well, good on the ball, passed well, brought it out of defence, but maybe lacks the pace/height to make it as a CB?
CB - Cooper - had a shocking ten mins first half, both of their goals he was out paced by Alex Jones as balls were played around him. He lost composure on the ball as a result. Tried to play football from the back and dribbled it out a few times. Very tall and gangly. Nice back post header from a corner that was flicked on at the near post
LW - Obita - our most dangerous player as you would expect. Dribbled and out paced the full back a few times, good crosses that no-one got on the end of. Did he look a first team player? I don't think he stood out that much. Bizarrely, Dolan has McDermott sub disease. Moved him inside midway through 2nd half (a la McAnuff) and just like Jobi, did nothing when he was moved into CM!
RW - Ryan Edwards - he impressed. Quick, works hard, dribbles and crosses well. Very right footed, so was less effective when switched to left wing.
CM - Josh Webb - played the defensive midfield role (Karacan). Did OK but nothing he did stood out.
CM - Tshibola - was disappointed with him. Very physical (Ledge), but considering he has played up in the reserves, he offered nothing going forward and had a poor first touch
CF - Tanner - he caused much debate amongst our group. He defiantely has something about him. A bit of a Noel Hunt - good spring, aggressive, tries the unexpected, plays off the striker, was very busy, kept coming deep, played a few great passes, but lost the ball quite often and maybe lacks pace. He could be very good...
Striker - Samuel - Goalscorers instinct, was in the right position so many times, but missed a glorious 1 on 1 in last minute and hit the post with his other good chance. Not a stand out performance, but you could see that he could be very good. Quick, strong, poacher. I was hoping for more from him, but has potential to be very good
Subs - Ikpeazu - Heskey, Manset - think that says it all....
Murphy - came on too late to have any effect