The Academy/Development squads watch thread 2024/25

[savage 4 england]

Good to see Tanner back.

He's the one who I think can really kick on.

[RoyalSheep]

Went tonight, and although I couldn't feel my toes at the end was a good evening! A few players impressed and a couple disappointed...but all in all was a great performance by the U21's!

Dan Lincoln looked very good in goal and made a few good saves in the first half, although reminds me of Federici with how he makes his saves look better than they are

Kuhl (looks exactly like David Luiz) looked very good. Superb tackler and composed.

Stand out player was definitely Tanner. Had pace, skill and a good shot, think he may have got the assist for Samuel as well which was a lovely through ball. Very excited to see more of him!

D'ath was a bit of a disappointment considering he was one of the more senior players as he lost it a few times and didn't really do much.

Also, Jake Cooper is flippin tall and Liam Kelly is flippin short.

[Royal Ginger]

Possible place for a youngster defender on the bench against Charlton? With Gunter and Baird out, Cummings will come into the team, and we'll have a gaping hole on the bench.

[ZacNaloen]

Would have to be in his thoughts, niall keown travelled to Blackburn which suggests he is next in line.

[winchester_royal]

Keown not in the U21 squad for tonight's game hints at a possible inclusion for tomorrow.

Tanner just scored another cracker apparently

[Pepe the Horseman]

Is Keown a centre back or full back?

[SCIAG]

Is Keown a centre back or full back?

He plays both. I personally think he is better at right back, though he's quite a defensive one compared to Arnold or Stacey.

I guess he's been selected for his versatility, but I would be worried if Pearce or Gorkss went off. Cooper should be the next centre half in line, and we could always drop Taylor or McAnuff in at full back...

Speaking of which, has Jake Taylor travelled?

[winchester_royal]

Nope.

Reading U21 team to face @NorwichCityFC: Moore; Long, Griffin, Cooper, Sweeney; Tshibola, Kuhl, Stacey, Fosu; Tanner, Samuel

#readingfc subs: Lincoln, Hyam, Shaughnessy, L.Kelly, Cardwell.

[ZacNaloen]

Cooper is prone to a silly error, needs more time I think

[SCIAG]

That is a lovely team. Much more balanced than ones we were using to fit all the older lads in.

Looks like Taylor and Keown are in consideration for tomorrow then. I'd love them to get on the pitch with the other academy graduates.

Cooper is still better than Keown (at centre half). He isn't particularly good at tackling and I wouldn't be confident if he got on the pitch either, but he'd be my preference given Hector and Partridge are unavailable. He'd have Church for breakfast.

[ZacNaloen]

It's also young for an U21 side, which I like

[winchester_royal]

And it's winning, which is always a plus.

The Norwich twitter feed is impressed with Tanner

[ZacNaloen]

It's always better to follow the oppositions twitter feed for youth team stuff. Ours is shocking, an update every 45 minutes minutes.

[SCIAG]

I think Tanner might have overtaken D'Ath. Doesn't look good for him, Tish has the deeper role sewn up and Tanner is doing better at U21 level than D'Ath has done.

[ZacNaloen]

Tanner is just a better creative player, he has a touch of class about him, perfect to play in the hole behind a lone striker

D'ath is like a not quite as good Karacan. Box to Box and will pop up late with a shot. Think his level is more league 1 from what I've seen though, would like to be proven wrong though.

And Tish is Guthrie, difficult to say how good he will be but he makes it look so easy.

Also, Kuhl despite being about 4 foot shorter didn't look out of place up against Diakite in the QPR cup game (not that he was playing at 100%)

Think we'll have a strong home grown midfield in a few years..

[winchester_royal]

Tanner's goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ28uXzS ... e=youtu.be

[ZacNaloen]

Just came to post that

[ZacNaloen]

its 1-1 at the moment

[paultheroyal]

Tanner's goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ28uXzS ... e=youtu.be

Decent goal that

[SCIAG]

He got lucky with the attempted clearance hitting his feet, but he still had a lot to do and he did it very well.