EFL Trophy Rovers v Leeds U21

[Rockford's Love Child]

we have no real wingers except Morris and Hawkes - if one of those gets injured it will upset the balance of the current system that is working.

Hughes would be able to cover out wide, but I think this just reflects a lack of depth in the squad generally. If one of the full backs gets injured we only have Robinson who can provide cover, so there is not great depth whatever system is adopted.

I still think there will be occasions when the 532 system is used this season.

 

[ALDO MUSSY]

just saw MM's interview it's a clear shot at MP for the Jan window wonder if we will see a fair few moving out and more coming in he was quite clearly not happy last night and rightly so, glad we are home now too busy for me over there we have a few things to fink about

 

[Boz]

Having now seen the interview, it seemed mostly football politics with Micky making the point about lack of squad depth, hoping to drum up some funds for January. He exonerated the younger players from criticism, which is reasonable. However, I still think it counter-productive to be too critical of a team flung together for a meaningless tournament, while on the other hand increasing the sacred cow status of those who weren't playing in this game and now appear to be deemed almost undroppable. While there was plenty going wrong, this was a better performance than, for example, the season opener v Stevenage.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I am not sure it was better than the Stevenage game. We have to bear in mind Mellon has plenty of experience of managing dressing rooms, and knows which players need an arm round the shoulder and those that need a rocket.

If the standards of those in the starting eleven dropped to the level on display last night, they would not be spared criticism. We only have to think back to the Andy Cook saga to know that.

 

[Ian]

I don't think there is anything wrong in having a bit of a dig if we lost a match and conceded five goals. It was not a scathing attack but a gentle nudge to the fringe players that standards have to be better and it's pretty clear the squad does not have much depth so a little nudge to the powers that be too. On a seperate note, did we sign Simeu for the season?

It's an interesting one with regards to the tournament. MP is publicly positive about it for financial reasons although not sure what he really makes of it all and MM really doesn't have much time for it.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

On a seperate note, did we sign Simeu for the season?

Ian, all our loanees were signed for the season. I'm sure Simeu will stay the course, but I'm less confident about Robinson and Glatzel.

 

[Boz]

Will have to agree to differ with both of you. While I was frustrated at some of the defending, it really wasn’t that bad a showing given the makeshift nature of the line-up and the quality of the opposition, with some of the Leeds kids having Prem or international games under their belts.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

The Leeds side was not as good as some people are suggesting. It featured a couple of players with Premier League experience, but in recent seasons we have beaten Leicester and United sides which featured Dewsbury-Hall and Chong respectively.

We played some decent football in spells, but that was not particularly hard given the lack of physicality of the opposition and their naive defending. I thought it was a feeble defensive performance.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Ian, all our loanees were signed for the season. I'm sure Simeu will stay the course, but I'm less confident about Robinson and Glatzel.

Southampton probably have the right to recall Simeu in January and farm him out to a club at a higher level.

 

[Boz]

The Leeds side was not as good as some people are suggesting. It featured a couple of players with Premier League experience, but in recent seasons we have beaten Leicester and United sides which featured Dewsbury-Hall and Chong respectively.

Looking at the line-ups and reports it doesn’t seem that Dewsbury-Hall played in that game for Leicester. The only name I recognised was Jacob Wakeling who’s now at Swindon. Chong did make 5 appearances for Man Utd, our FAT game was near the start of his time with them. He’s now at Birmingham.

By contrast Geldhart has over 20 including Prem appearances for Leeds, Sam Greenwood 9 and Gnonto has 6 appearances for the full Italian team on his cv. It’s probably one of the strongest kids teams we’ve faced in this competition, particularly in an attacking sense, even if it doesn’t suit the manager’s agenda to admit that.

Looking back at the Rovers line-ups for those two games, the Man Utd 3-2 seems a good result as our side was a mix of youth and experience. The side we put out for the 4-2 v Leicester was strong save used Morris at left-back and our youngsters were only introduced when the game was as good as won.

 

[Ian]

Southampton probably have the right to recall Simeu in January and farm him out to a club at a higher level.

That would be a real shame.

It’s probably one of the strongest kids teams we’ve faced in this competition, particularly in an attacking sense

I would agree with that. They did have some quality in attack although our defending at times didn’t help matters.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Looking at the line-ups and reports it doesn’t seem that Dewsbury-Hall played in that game for Leicester. The only name I recognised was Jacob Wakeling who’s now at Swindon. Chong did make 5 appearances for Man Utd, our FAT game was near the start of his time with them. He’s now at Birmingham.

By contrast Geldhart has over 20 including Prem appearances for Leeds, Sam Greenwood 9 and Gnonto has 6 appearances for the full Italian team on his cv. It’s probably one of the strongest kids teams we’ve faced in this competition, particularly in an attacking sense, even if it doesn’t suit the manager’s agenda to admit that.

Looking back at the Rovers line-ups for those two games, the Man Utd 3-2 seems a good result as our side was a mix of youth and experience. The side we put out for the 4-2 v Leicester was strong save used Morris at left-back and our youngsters were only introduced when the game was as good as won.

Dewsbury-Hall played in the game we lost narrowly 2-1 the previous season, which was a much better Rovers performance than the one on Tuesday night. Manchester United have a much more formidable squad than Leeds and Chong played Champions League football for them.

The Leeds team was still mostly populated by kids who will never play at the highest level, and some who won't make it as professionals at all. If Turnbull and Simeu had played we would have defended better.

I am not sure making the obvious statement that our defending was crap and we should have done better constitutes an 'agenda' on the part of the manager.........

 

[drwhoman]

If you lose five goals against an Under 21 team then the Manager ie entitled to have a moan Even if the likes of Gelhardt, who is ex Wigan by the way, gave them the run around. He has done the same against the Liverpool Under 21s. He has not looked out of place at PL level. On recruitment, it is always a bit of a hit and miss even when PL clubs have teams of people assessing targets. Look at Keita at Liverpool. 50m, a real mixed bag, and never fit! The money on offer is highly significant at our level when a contract of over two years is a rarity.

 

[Boz]

Dewsbury-Hall played in the game we lost narrowly 2-1 the previous season, which was a much better Rovers performance than the one on Tuesday night. Manchester United have a much more formidable squad than Leeds and Chong played Champions League football for them.

The Leeds team was still mostly populated by kids who will never play at the highest level, and some who won't make it as professionals at all. If Turnbull and Simeu had played we would have defended better.

I am not sure making the obvious statement that our defending was crap and we should have done better constitutes an 'agenda' on the part of the manager.........

Chong played one Champions League game for United and now plays in the Championship. There are only a couple of players still at Utd from our FAT win over them and only one, Ethan Laird, has seen any first team action though he's now on loan at QPR. It's inevitable that a lot of these youth players won't make it as players in the top flight, although as already pointed out, a couple of the Leeds lads have already top flight experience, while Wilfried Gnonto is a full Italy international and their youngest goalscorer. It wouldn't hurt to acknowledge the quality of the opposition.

If O'Connor or Merrie had played in midfield we would have defended better too.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Chong played one Champions League game for United and now plays in the Championship. There are only a couple of players still at Utd from our FAT win over them and only one, Ethan Laird, has seen any first team action though he's now on loan at QPR. It's inevitable that a lot of these youth players won't make it as players in the top flight, although as already pointed out, a couple of the Leeds lads have already top flight experience, while Wilfried Gnonto is a full Italy international and their youngest goalscorer. It wouldn't hurt to acknowledge the quality of the opposition.

If O'Connor or Merrie had played in midfield we would have defended better too.

I acknowledged the quality of the opposition. However, I don't think the Leeds side was vastly superior to the United, City and Leicester sides we have played in recent seasons, none of whom thrashed us.

I thought the defensive performance of Jameson and Byrne on the night was poor, and Turnbull and Simeu would have done much better. Your comment regarding the midfield just reinforces my original point that there is not great depth in the squad.

 

[Boz]

Losing by two goals is hardly a thrashing though.

I thought the performance of Nolan in particular in midfield was poor and McAlear didn't seem comfortable as a holding midfielder, O'Connor and Merrie would have done much better at protecting the back four.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Conceding five was not great. Newcastle fielded a much stronger side, but found it difficult to break us down.

Nolan actually did well in the build up to Hughes' goal, but not much else of note.