Ball Sup Blog... SUFC Academy U21 v Nottingham Forest (h)

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I guess it’s not ok to blood u21s in the first team then miserable bastards 😂 they weren’t moaning when we had to play ssid u21s in the league earlier in the season !
Utter bellends who I hope occupy the last relegation spot
As ever UTB !
 
Can’t believe we’re not leading by 2 or 3 goals. We’ve created loads of chances. Great goal⚔️
 
we’ve just wasted 3 great chances then Forest score with their first shot in anger this half 🙈
 
Our defence have been learning from the first team
 

Forest forward (Ateef Kanate?) looks head and shoulders above the rest of their side. We’ve been better in every department, except Kanate up front looks like he’s played in a dozen premier league games (which he hasn’t) unlike Osula (who has).
 
Enjoyed the game. A defensive mix up gifted Forest the lead & we missed a host of chances before Osula scored a good equaliser. Forest sub ripped us apart 2nd half.
A few decent performances but I was disappointed in Brooks who looked a long way off a starting place in 1st team. He took way too many touches & was nowhere near as progressive with the ball as Peck & Marsh. Young Curtis has a long way to go too...
Forest are Cat 1 so the result was not a shock at all. But the Blades did play some good football.
UTB
 
I think you summed that up nicely. I thought the MOTM for the Bladesvwas PECK by a country mile👍
 
This now shows how some fans who demand some of the young lads to start are nowhere near ready.

Brooks / Osula / shouldn’t be anywhere near starting for us next season.

Sam Curtis is a good few years away. He is much further behind than the rest I feel.
 
In some aspects it was like the first team playing in the premiership,not on technic and quality though.
Forest category 1 are a level above
and playing teams at that level does give you experience we lack! even bringing in some players who are making there way with us or on loan just didn't work on the night ability wise we were better overall
Just didn't finish our good play.How many go on to play at the top level will be interesting as I think we were technically superior in many areas just didn't punish them on the night.That extra level they are playing in showed in the result! I think we were the better team technically just didn't punish them by taking a few more of the chances we created
 
Bladezz said:
This now shows how some fans who demand some of the young lads to start are nowhere near ready.

Brooks / Osula / shouldn’t be anywhere near starting for us next season.

Sam Curtis is a good few years away. He is much further behind than the rest I feel.
Click to expand...

It does happen that youngsters can have mediocre games in the U21s, then go on to impress at first team level, so let's not write them off too soon.
 
We looked a lot better than them throughout.
More composed, more possession, better chances.
We shipped an incredibly stupid one and they sat very deep.
Osula hit the post, then scored an excellent goal.
In the second half we once again look comfortable and dominant.
Sachdev hits the bar after about 55 minutes when he should score, and then they bring on someone who runs half the length of the pitch into all the space we have left behind and buries it, then does the same thing inside the box. It happens.
They all look like pretty good players. Brooks wasn't that bad.
I want to say Marsh and Peck looked the best but I keep getting them mixed up.
 
finlaytheblade said:
In some aspects it was like the first team playing in the premiership,not on technic and quality though.
Forest category 1 are a level above
and playing teams at that level does give you experience we lack! even bringing in some players who are making there way with us or on loan just didn't work on the night ability wise we were better overall
Just didn't finish our good play.How many go on to play at the top level will be interesting as I think we were technically superior in many areas just didn't punish them on the night.That extra level they are playing in showed in the result! I think we were the better team technically just didn't punish them by taking a few more of the chances we created
Click to expand...
Agreed. Individually we looked to have at least as good players as them. But it looked hard work for us to score, while they got theirs quite easily.

The U21 line ups change quite a bit, and especially defensively they've not had the chance to find consistency as a unit. Freckleton is frustrating. He looks very fast and strong in one minute, then gives away their opener. May have been a push though:

1712732175067.png

Offensively as well they have things to learn when it comes to playing style and passing and movement patterns. Faxton has superb composure for a goalkeeper and is a big talent. Peck is very talented midfielder and here they combine to play through Forest's pressure:

1712733245570.png

This is a part of football that is a bit new. Teams know it can be effective pressing high, gegenpressing and all that. In turn this has lead to teams getting better at playing through this pressure - which is what Faxton, Peck and Sasnauskas do here.

But it's not the only point that you just keep the ball despite being pressed. It is a chance to create something. If the attacking team is alert enough, they can exploit these occasions where you've got past a couple of players and the rest haven't quite regrouped. It can be almost like a counter attack, even if you've started from the back.

But if the players aren't alert enough, not aware of the fact Faxton, Peck and Sasnauskas have managed to start something, it is often wasted There's no movement, Sasnauskas doesn't attack space with the ball. Instead he punts his long, which the Forest defenders just picks up easily.

1712734097964.png

4 poor things with the above photo:

1 Sachdev is on his heels
2 Brooks is on his heels
3 Sasnauskas doesn't run with the ball
4 There is often space (yellow square) behind the presser (yellow circle) and we have noone trying to exploit it.


As Sasnauskas punts it forward the image below shows further the amount of space there was behind the original pressing Forest player:

1712734568130.png

If we're going to teach our players to play through this kind of pressure we must also teach them to use the opportunity to try score a goal before the opposition have time to reorganise.

There were a number of similar occasions, and if these youngsters keep ignoring stuff like this, they may continue to wonder why they're losing against teams, who man for man don't seem any better than them.
 
Forest's academy play the modern game. Athletic, fast players who can rip you apart with a through ball onto a pacey striker or winger.

Our team represents the old game. A lot of one touch passing which leads to nothing.

Up until Forest scored the opener we dominated possession but did little with it. It was very pretty, fast, one touch football, and technically good, but it created little to no chances on goal. When it did get to Osula or Brooks in advanced positions they often turned and passed backwards, when they could've had a shot. It's like it's ingrained into them to get rid as soon as they get it. Forest players would keep the ball and run with it, dragging our players with them to create space. We didn't. We just kept passing it, forwards, backwards, sideways, sometime 10 passes in a row but achieving nothing as Forest could just sit back and wait for us.

Marsh was the only one who has the courage and initiative to shoot early or on sight. Peck looked okay too. The rest looked like exactly what they are. Academy level players.

Brooks was good until Forest scored then he seemed to run out of ideas or he just have up (headache of knowing that losing feeling all the time?).

Another thing I noticed, which also hampers the first team, is how high up the pitch the back line play. This created space for Forest's pacey players to run through from an incisive pass, where they could go one on one with the keeper. Thankfully, unlike our first team, we had pace to get back and catch them. Forest sat deep, which meant there was no space to run through or into. With our over lapping centre backs we ended up crowding ourselves out and made it easy for Forest. Osula's goal was a good finish but a scrappy build up because of how crowded Forest's box was. We made it very hard for ourselves. The over lapping centre backs now hinder our attack instead of helping it.

The first team often do this, where we play high up the pitch and get caught on the counter by quicker players, and teams sit back deep knowing that all we have to offer is crosses into the box, which they can easily cut out. The style of football at this club from the first team through to the academy is out of touch with the modern game.

The modern game is all about strong, athletic players who can run with the ball, or burst through the back line at full pace. Our game is all about technical football, quick one touch, but it's holding us back. This comes down to recruitment. We don't recruit strong, athletic players for the first team and our academy is full of short arses too. We are set up to fail as we lack athletic players.

This makes sense why teams were allegedly interested in Jebbison. You can teach a sprinter how to become a better football, but you can't teach a slow footballer how to become faster. They'll see him as potential as he's rapid. All they've got do is work on his touch and finishing and you've got a good player on your hands.
 
Tony_Kaufman said:
Forest's academy play the modern game. Athletic, fast players who can rip you apart with a through ball onto a pacey striker or winger.

Our team represents the old game. A lot of one touch passing which leads to nothing.

Up until Forest scored the opener we dominated possession but did little with it. It was very pretty, fast, one touch football, and technically good, but it created little to no chances on goal. When it did get to Osula or Brooks in advanced positions they often turned and passed backwards, when they could've had a shot. It's like it's ingrained into them to get rid as soon as they get it. Forest players would keep the ball and run with it, dragging our players with them to create space. We didn't. We just kept passing it, forwards, backwards, sideways, sometime 10 passes in a row but achieving nothing as Forest could just sit back and wait for us.

Marsh was the only one who has the courage and initiative to shoot early or on sight. Peck looked okay too. The rest looked like exactly what they are. Academy level players.

Brooks was good until Forest scored then he seemed to run out of ideas or he just have up (headache of knowing that losing feeling all the time?).

Another thing I noticed, which also hampers the first team, is how high up the pitch the back line play. This created space for Forest's pacey players to run through from an incisive pass, where they could go one on one with the keeper. Thankfully, unlike our first team, we had pace to get back and catch them. Forest sat deep, which meant there was no space to run through or into. With our over lapping centre backs we ended up crowding ourselves out and made it easy for Forest. Osula's goal was a good finish but a scrappy build up because of how crowded Forest's box was. We made it very hard for ourselves. The over lapping centre backs now hinder our attack instead of helping it.

The first team often do this, where we play high up the pitch and get caught on the counter by quicker players, and teams sit back deep knowing that all we have to offer is crosses into the box, which they can easily cut out. The style of football at this club from the first team through to the academy is out of touch with the modern game.

The modern game is all about strong, athletic players who can run with the ball, or burst through the back line at full pace. Our game is all about technical football, quick one touch, but it's holding us back. This comes down to recruitment. We don't recruit strong, athletic players for the first team and our academy is full of short arses too. We are set up to fail as we lack athletic players.

This makes sense why teams were allegedly interested in Jebbison. You can teach a sprinter how to become a better football, but you can't teach a slow footballer how to become faster. They'll see him as potential as he's rapid. All they've got do is work on his touch and finishing and you've got a good player on your hands.
Click to expand...
I would argue we have some good athletes in that side but I take your point more broadly and a contributing factor behind that is the lads that stand out athletically at a young age are snapped up by club higher up the food chain so we tend to produce players who aren’t top end athletes but are good technicians or who are top end athletes but have either been late developers or come to us through unconventional pathways which means they’ve fallen between the pre 16 scouting networks of the big power house clubs.

It’s neither a fair nor a good system but it’s the one the FA wants
 

Bergen Blade said:
It does happen that youngsters can have mediocre games in the U21s, then go on to impress at first team level, so let's not write them off too soon.
Click to expand...
Not writing them off. But they are nowhere near ready for a championship play off push starting in 4 months time.
 
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