sydneysaint17 Posted 20 November, 2013 Share Posted 20 November, 2013 Very poor performance all round in my opinion. I went along to watch it as I go to uni in Exeter, and after reading various tales on here about certain players (Targett, Reed, Rowe etc.) was quite excited to see them in action. Exeter played a similar pressing style of football and created a lot of chances while we created very few. They were dominant throughout and deserved to win the game comfortably. Clearly this was only one game and they may have just had an off day, but given the hype some of these academy boys have had I was expecting a lot more than a pub team performance against quite average opposition from them tonight. None of them looked even close to 1st team standard (Gallagher, Stephens and Targett particularly) and the mirrored 1st team pressing tactics weren't working anything like as well as they do for the full side. Did anyone else go and if not, whats other peoples opinions on this years batch of U21's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChudSaint Posted 20 November, 2013 Share Posted 20 November, 2013 Went along and agree with everything you say, very disappointed. An Exeter regular I know told me 4 of their U21s were regular first team starters and another 3 have featured, maybe League 2 toughens them up a bit as they certainly wanted it more on a miserable wet and windy night. Best team won Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarneySFC Posted 20 November, 2013 Share Posted 20 November, 2013 Very poor, went as I'm at uni here too, no one put in a good performance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneysaint17 Posted 20 November, 2013 Author Share Posted 20 November, 2013 Clearly our 3 best U21 players are involved in our first team, but you'd still expect us to easily beat a side like that. Saints only began to look half interested after the first goal went in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieDog Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 Would be interested to know the average age of our team (I think it was just under 19) versus theirs, plus our standouts in that age group were missing (Shaw, JWP, Chambers, plus Isgrove) but I can't imagine the management will be very happy with that result (and general performance by the sound of it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry the Badger Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 I remember people on here saying Luke Shaw looked far from ready in the u21 games, just before he was promoted into the first team and started tearing up the prem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 I would imagine our youngsters are too excited about what Father Christmas is bringing them and this is affecting their concentration. Perfectly understandable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 I remember people on here saying Luke Shaw looked far from ready in the u21 games, just before he was promoted into the first team and started tearing up the prem. Don't trust everything you read on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eelpie Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 How come our famed Academy is performing so badly nowadays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Shango Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 I've never been convinced by Gallagher, but people at the club who know a lot more than I do seem to rate him quite highly. Turnbull and Stephens have been disappointing since going on tour with the first team in the summer. I like Targett, but he isn't anywhere near the level some people think he is at. Jake Flannigan has looked pretty good this season from what I've seen, and at only 17 he still has plenty of time to improve even further. Think him and Harrison Reed probably have the best chance of making it, but its not going to be easy for anyone given how quickly the first team are improving. Seager's doing ok, but I thought he might have progressed a bit further by now considering how well he started last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearsy Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 How come our famed Academy is performing so badly nowadays? not sure it was ever famed for winning trophies, it's more about producing quality players for Arsenal+Spurs etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneysaint17 Posted 21 November, 2013 Author Share Posted 21 November, 2013 Reed was the only player last night who looked vaguely impressive. Have seen Targett twice now and a friend has refereed him quite a few times - never seen him have a decent game. There must be something about him otherwise clearly he wouldnt be involved/offered a deal, but honestly looked very out of place even last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 Wouldn't be surprised to see Reed on the bench on Saturday v Arsenal (replacing Cork who's injured) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 I remember people on here saying Luke Shaw looked far from ready in the u21 games, just before he was promoted into the first team and started tearing up the prem. Football is a team game, a bad team can make a good player look crap and a good team can make a crap player look fairly good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Munster Posted 21 November, 2013 Share Posted 21 November, 2013 Football is a team game, a bad team can make a good player look crap and a good team can make a crap player look fairly good. Wise words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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