FA Youth cup 2023/24

[Royals and Racers]

Rhone
Ahmed
Field
Sackey
Beacroft
Duah
Osho
Spencer
Barough
Howard
Coke Miles Smith
Subs
Sharlott
Goulding
Source
Gutierrez-Ramirez
George
Bossman

[Royals and Racers]

1-0 41 mins Coke Miles Smith
H-T 1-0
Royals miss pen 85 mins
1-1 90+ 2
F-T 1-1 into ET
E-T H-T 1-1
2-1 107 mins Spencer
F-T 3-1 Barough 120+2

[Royals and Racers]

454 at SCL tonight.

[Royals and Racers]

Few thoughts from last evening.Keeper Rhone looked assured, Field the LB impressive. Standout players for me were centre back Beacroft and Joe Barough up front whilst the 2 wide players Osho and Coke Miles Smith showed plenty of pace and skill.

[Wycombe Royal]

454 at SCL tonight.

Trying this formation out with the U18's? Would we get away with it in the league? Might make us tougher defensively.

[Sutekh]

454 at SCL tonight.

Fielding 14 is allowed is it?

[The Royal Forester]

454 at SCL tonight.

Fielding 14 is allowed is it?

Either your maths is a bit suspect, or you are playing one of the subs as well. Don't blame you if the latter, it MIGHT make us a bit harder to beat.

[Snowflake Royal]

454 at SCL tonight.

Fielding 14 is allowed is it?

Either your maths is a bit suspect, or you are playing one of the subs as well. Don't blame you if the latter, it MIGHT make us a bit harder to beat.

Keeper.

1+4+5+4=14

[The Royal Forester]

Fielding 14 is allowed is it?

Either your maths is a bit suspect, or you are playing one of the subs as well. Don't blame you if the latter, it MIGHT make us a bit harder to beat.

Keeper.

1+4+5+4=14

Oops! it's my maths which is a bit suspect then.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Could drop the keeper to give am extra body as a bit more control in midfield.

[Clyde1998]

I went to this, but haven't been able to post my thoughts since Friday.

I was very underwhelmed by the performance. Thought we controlled the ball well, but there was a lot of overplaying: I remember one passage of play where we had possession of the ball near the six yard box out wide and it ended up being passed back to the halfway line - more urgency in attack is needed. I think that's true for most teams in the current era of football - stop slowing the play down to allow the defensive team to get back in their shape!

I felt we only won the game in extra time due to Forest Green running out of steam; about half their team went down with cramp at one point during the game. A bit concerning given we're a category one academy, whilst Forest Green are probably category three or lower.

Thought Rhone stood out - made a number of important saves and commands the defence well. Our better outfield players seemed to be the ones with good physical attributes - being quick or strong - as opposed to anyone with specifically good technical ability.

The only other time I've seen the U18s this season was the pre-season game at Thatcham, so it could well be a one-off performance as opposed to something that's seriously concerning.

Either way - Rotherham in the next round.

[Royals and Racers]

I went to this, but haven't been able to post my thoughts since Friday.

I was very underwhelmed by the performance. Thought we controlled the ball well, but there was a lot of overplaying: I remember one passage of play where we had possession of the ball near the six yard box out wide and it ended up being passed back to the halfway line - more urgency in attack is needed. I think that's true for most teams in the current era of football - stop slowing the play down to allow the defensive team to get back in their shape!

I felt we only won the game in extra time due to Forest Green running out of steam; about half their team went down with cramp at one point during the game. A bit concerning given we're a category one academy, whilst Forest Green are probably category three or lower.

Thought Rhone stood out - made a number of important saves and commands the defence well. Our better outfield players seemed to be the ones with good physical attributes - being quick or strong - as opposed to anyone with specifically good technical ability.

The only other time I've seen the U18s this season was the pre-season game at Thatcham, so it could well be a one-off performance as opposed to something that's seriously concerning.

Either way - Rotherham in the next round.

Don’t forget we missed a pen late on- at 2-0 we would have been comfortable. I though the Royals skipper Beacroft was man of the match- looks really decent.

[Clyde1998]

I went to this, but haven't been able to post my thoughts since Friday.

I was very underwhelmed by the performance. Thought we controlled the ball well, but there was a lot of overplaying: I remember one passage of play where we had possession of the ball near the six yard box out wide and it ended up being passed back to the halfway line - more urgency in attack is needed. I think that's true for most teams in the current era of football - stop slowing the play down to allow the defensive team to get back in their shape!

I felt we only won the game in extra time due to Forest Green running out of steam; about half their team went down with cramp at one point during the game. A bit concerning given we're a category one academy, whilst Forest Green are probably category three or lower.

Thought Rhone stood out - made a number of important saves and commands the defence well. Our better outfield players seemed to be the ones with good physical attributes - being quick or strong - as opposed to anyone with specifically good technical ability.

The only other time I've seen the U18s this season was the pre-season game at Thatcham, so it could well be a one-off performance as opposed to something that's seriously concerning.

Either way - Rotherham in the next round.

Don’t forget we missed a pen late on- at 2-0 we would have been comfortable. I though the Royals skipper Beacroft was man of the match- looks really decent.

I'd forgot about that - looked a good save tbf (although had to tell from my angle).

I haven't watched any highlights yet, so I may be mis-remembering things. It was probably just the sort of game where unless we won by three or four, it was always going to look a bit underwhelming - kind of like the typical FA Cup match where a higher league side plays a lower league side.

Forest Green are bottom of their U18 division (I think it's the third tier, although it's all regional at that level) - containing Plymouth, Portsmouth, Swindon, Cheltenham, Bristol Rovers, Oxford, Exeter and Newport - having lost eight of their nine league games (one win).

That said, two of the Forest Green side that started against us have played first team football. Olly Sully, who scored their goal, has played in League Two, the FA Cup and EFL Trophy this season (70 first team minutes) and Finn Bell has played 31 minutes in the EFL Trophy over the past three seasons. I wonder if those two players are more first team players than U18s with their involvement in the first team. It's a different progression path at Forest Green than at Reading, which makes it difficult to directly compare.

Physical development of players can heavily affect youth football - simply being faster, stronger, etc. than your opponents will make a much bigger difference at youth level than at first team level, where the technical and mental side of the game becomes more important. Forest Green did look more physical than us.

I'm probably just being overly critical as we conceded late which meant I had to stay in the cold for another forty minutes, whilst messing up my synchronisation with the trains home. The important thing is we got through the tie and move on to another game we should be winning on paper.

[Royals and Racers]

Reading v Rotherham is on Thursday 14th December KO 7pm at SCL stadium.

[Royals and Racers]

4th round draw done already and Reading or Rotherham are away to Sheffield Wednesday or Hemel Hempstead.
Matches to be played by January 20th.

[Royals and Racers]

Reading v Rotherham is on Thursday 14th December KO 7pm at SCL stadium.

Tickets now on sale- seating for the match is in the Sir John Madejski stand.

[Royals and Racers]

4th round draw done already and Reading or Rotherham are away to Sheffield Wednesday or Hemel Hempstead.
Matches to be played by January 20th.

Sheff Wed v Hemel tie was postponed yesterday- waterlogged pitch.

[Royals and Racers]

Looking forward to tonight’s match. Rotherham play in the youth Alliance league and are mid table in Group A. The Royals undoubtedly favourites as the Youth Alliance league is in effect 2 divisions under Pl 2 ( PDL next). Having said that FGR play in the same comp and are bottom of their group but gave us a decent game last time out. KO 7pm and tickets must be bought in advance.

[Royals and Racers]

Rhone
Osho
Field
Spencer
Beacroft
Kanu
Harris
Sackey
Barough
Howard
Coke Miles Smith
SUBS
Sharlott
Goulding
George
Garcia
Gutierrez-Ramirez
Jones
Porter-Atkinson

[Clyde1998]

Rhone
Osho
Field
Spencer
Beacroft
Kanu
Harris
Sackey
Barough
Howard
Coke Miles Smith
SUBS
Sharlott
Goulding
George
Garcia
Gutierrez-Ramirez
Jones
Porter-Atkinson

Can’t remember the exact team from the last round, but that looks fairly similar.

Heading down to the game tonight, so hopefully we get a good result.