What's up with the reserves this season?

[dom9]

Last season, the Ressies walked their league. This year, they are finding it a lot tougher. Not sure why. The squad is pretty much the same, but with a year more experience, so you might think they would carry on in the same vein.

Any thoughts?

[Woobus]

Nemeth has been out injured most of the season.

[saj]

The main factor in my opinion is that some of our midfielders/forwards are not physical enough. Pacheco and Bruna are just way too lightweight and have no ability when it comes to holding the ball up which something that you need. And yes we have missed Nemeth a great deal

[keniget]

I posted this after the defeat to City the other week:

Well, that's the fourth straight defeat for the reserves and it's not hard to see why. It's incredible that after expending so much time, energy and money building up this team that it's so lacking in pace, creativity and goals. We were rock solid last season, which gave us the platform to go on and win the title, but it was only after Nemeth came in a few months into the season that the team genuinely looked capable of scoring. Those foundations seem a little shakey now with the defence and midfield underperforming but it doesn't help that once again, in the absence of Nemeth, our attack is utterly impotent. How can a teams attacking ambitions rest so heavily on one players shoulders? Especially when we've invested so heavily in that area?

In goal, we've seen both Gulacsi and Bouzanis look error prone and untrustworthy in recent weeks. Is ****andje still at the club? Maybe it's worth playing him. Or even giving Cavalieri the odd game or two to keep his match fitness. Or maybe just giving one goalkeeper the jersey and persisting with him instead of rotating. One game every 6 weeks surely isn't enough.

In defence, we've got some form of consistency and quality in Darby and Insua (who again had a tough time against their RW) but for some reason we've chopping and changing the CB partnership and if that's just to give players the odd game, that's wrong. We should be focusing on developing our best players and based on what I've seen, that is San Jose and Kelly.

Midfield is a problem. Spearing and Plessis are a reliable partnership who work hard defensively and do their best to give the team a lot of possession but when Spearing isn't passing well (which he hasn't been in the games I've seen this season), there is no-one who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen for us. Maybe Duran can help in this respect but it's hard to see either Spearing or Plessis losing their place.

Out wide things are generally typically pretty poor, as we have no players with any real pace to stretch the opposition defence. Bruna is too lightweight and slow. New boy Weijl is a bit like Leto in that he's got a few tricks on the ball but again, he's slow and looks a bit work shy on top of it. El Zhar offered a big improvement on what we normally have on the right tonight but had little to work with around him.

That leaves us with attack. **** me Brouwer is ****. He's slow, cumbersome, "works hard" at a snails pace, boasts an erratic touch and is a woeful finisher. Why is he starting? Are the other strikers *that* bad? What's going on? Why doesn't Simon start who has looked okay in the few cameos he's had.... or even N'Gog who hasn't seen a minute of action for the first team since the Villa game ages ago. His partner Pacheco can be equally frustrating at times. Like Bruna, he's lightweight and too often makes the wrong decisions. He's pacey and is always looking to create openings, so it's worth persisting with him, but I'm guessing he'll be dropped back to the bench once Nemeth is back, who will partner the undroppable, yet execrable Brouwer.

In might seem overly harsh but I didn't intend it to be. The main problems are:

- Injuries to key players, namely Nemeth
- Drop in form of key players, namely Spearing and Plessis
- Number of players in the squad necessitates needless rotation.

[El Jefecito]

I posted this after the defeat to City the other week:



In might seem overly harsh but I didn't intend it to be. The main problems are:

- Injuries to key players, namely Nemeth
- Drop in form of key players, namely Spearing and Plessis
- Number of players in the squad necessitates needless rotation.

Great analysis

[El Jefecito]

The main factor in my opinion is that some of our midfielders/forwards are not physical enough. Pacheco and Bruna are just way too lightweight and have no ability when it comes to holding the ball up which something that you need. And yes we have missed Nemeth a great deal

Again, spot on.

[ukfootballfan101]

Last season, the Ressies walked their league. This year, they are finding it a lot tougher. Not sure why. The squad is pretty much the same, but with a year more experience, so you might think they would carry on in the same vein.

Any thoughts?

Who cares if the reserves win or lose? It means nothing. There are far bigger problems with the reserve team.

The reserves are needed for two reasons:-

1. To help injured players recover.

2. To help develop young players.

Many people (including a few on here) think that Nemeth is the brighest star in the reserve team, now if he were fit which team would he be playing in? Maybe he would have got Ngog's couple of sub appearances but thats it, he would have been mainly playing reserve football, but whats the point? he's already proven he's out grown the reserve team, he should be in the first team match day squad, loaned out or sold.

I would prefer that the reserves lost every game if it meant half a dozen 15-17 year olds were being played outside their comfort zone against the seasoned pros in the reserve league to speed up their development.

In my opinion there are 3 problems with the reserve team:-

1. There are too many players.
2. There are too many **** players who don't have a hope in hell of ever getting in the first team.
3. There are too many players who's development is being stunted. Nemeth, Spearing, Plessis and a few others should be in the first team squad, loaned out or sold.

For me I would prefer half the starting 11 in the reserves to be players like Bruna, he's young and very talented but light weight and inexperienced BUT if he started every reserve game he would gain so much valuable knowledge and experience.

What does everyone else think?

[-V-]

Ran out of steam a bit. They were so far ahead of everyone else in terms of ability. Sometimes it takes a little bit of bad form to get that direction again

[NicoBernetini]

This may sound daft but sometimes a game in the Reserves is much more physical than the first team.

You have players looking to break through, committed etc and trying to impress.
Its perfect for the lightweight players to help them progress and i think its essential for the likes of Pacheco and co to carry on playing and getting used to facing these 6'5 centre backs.

It will be brilliant for their development as you get more protection in the premiership as the referees are 'meant' to be better.
Problem is, if Pacheco and co end up in the gym bulking up, will they loose any of their pace or balance because of it?
They just need to build upper body strength, they clearly won't have a chance in a shoulder barge or something alike with Terry, Vidic etc but they just need to make sure that when they enter the first team fray if they ever do, that they know defenders are going to be having nibbles at them all throughout the game as they did to Torres.

[DannyMan2006]

There is actually three reasons they are losing games. The first two have already been mentioned, injuries to Nemeth and a down turn in form of key players.

The down turn in form could be put down to the fact that they have nothing up front to help out. Players in a losing team tend to lose confidence in their own game and as a result their own performances suffer.

The third reason is that every team we play is gunning for the reds as they are the team to beat. Look at the line ups of teams we've played and in the strating XI you will see a number of premeirship class players, who as well as having the ability have the physichal strength.

Against City they had the likes of Benjani and Ball, Sunderland had Chopra and Stokes, Everton had a strike force of Vaughan and Anichebe. Now these may not be amazing players but they are well above the usual levels of reserve football. And I'm afraid to say that 80% of our reserve squad players do not have the physichal attributes to compete.

I did explain this earlier in the season when people were questioning the lack of reserve players breaking into the first team. It would be men against boys in the prem. That said it was also the reason I wanted a player or two on the bench to get them the experience.

Having said that, as mentioned before it is not Ablets job to win titles. He will be measured on the number of players who break into the first team. But players do improve more in winning teams..............

[DannyMan2006]

This may sound daft but sometimes a game in the Reserves is much more physical than the first team.

You have players looking to break through, committed etc and trying to impress.
Its perfect for the lightweight players to help them progress and i think its essential for the likes of Pacheco and co to carry on playing and getting used to facing these 6'5 centre backs.

It will be brilliant for their development as you get more protection in the premiership as the referees are 'meant' to be better.
Problem is, if Pacheco and co end up in the gym bulking up, will they loose any of their pace or balance because of it?

They just need to build upper body strength, they clearly won't have a chance in a shoulder barge or something alike with Terry, Vidic etc but they just need to make sure that when they enter the first team fray if they ever do, that they know defenders are going to be having nibbles at them all throughout the game as they did to Torres.

You can not bulk up a player who is still growing and developing to quickly. Patience is the key. Once they hit 20/21 that is the time to get them in the gym. Some are natural like Rooney, who as well as that has also clearly been going to the gym for a long time, him being an ex-boxer as a youth. To suddenly lump it on someone like Pacheco would be detrementle.

[ukfootballfan101]

There is actually three reasons they are losing games. The first two have already been mentioned, injuries to Nemeth and a down turn in form of key players.

The down turn in form could be put down to the fact that they have nothing up front to help out. Players in a losing team tend to lose confidence in their own game and as a result their own performances suffer.

The third reason is that every team we play is gunning for the reds as they are the team to beat. Look at the line ups of teams we've played and in the strating XI you will see a number of premeirship class players, who as well as having the ability have the physichal strength.

Against City they had the likes of Benjani and Ball, Sunderland had Chopra and Stokes, Everton had a strike force of Vaughan and Anichebe. Now these may not be amazing players but they are well above the usual levels of reserve football. And I'm afraid to say that 80% of our reserve squad players do not have the physichal attributes to compete.

I did explain this earlier in the season when people were questioning the lack of reserve players breaking into the first team. It would be men against boys in the prem. That said it was also the reason I wanted a player or two on the bench to get them the experience.

Having said that, as mentioned before it is not Ablets job to win titles. He will be measured on the number of players who break into the first team. But players do improve more in winning teams..............

I've not followed the reserves as much as I did last year, so I wasn't aware of that, but I think this is a good thing, as we have both said it will help the inexperienced players develop quicker. Who cares if they lose.

[dom9]

Interesting points above - all valid.

I personally don't think it is important if the reserves win or lose, it's the development on the players which counts.

I was intrigued as to why there was such a difference between this season and last.

[keniget]

There is actually three reasons they are losing games. The first two have already been mentioned, injuries to Nemeth and a down turn in form of key players.

The down turn in form could be put down to the fact that they have nothing up front to help out. Players in a losing team tend to lose confidence in their own game and as a result their own performances suffer.

The third reason is that every team we play is gunning for the reds as they are the team to beat. Look at the line ups of teams we've played and in the strating XI you will see a number of premeirship class players, who as well as having the ability have the physichal strength.

Against City they had the likes of Benjani and Ball, Sunderland had Chopra and Stokes, Everton had a strike force of Vaughan and Anichebe. Now these may not be amazing players but they are well above the usual levels of reserve football. And I'm afraid to say that 80% of our reserve squad players do not have the physichal attributes to compete.

I did explain this earlier in the season when people were questioning the lack of reserve players breaking into the first team. It would be men against boys in the prem. That said it was also the reason I wanted a player or two on the bench to get them the experience.

Having said that, as mentioned before it is not Ablets job to win titles. He will be measured on the number of players who break into the first team. But players do improve more in winning teams..............

I don't agree with that. In quite a few of those cases, the Prem players were coming back from injury and that's why they playing. Either way, we more than held our own against them, often retaining the majority of the possession (as we usually do), but were undone by stupid mistakes at the back (e.g. awful keeping by Bouzanis and Gulacsi as well as defensive errors by Huth).

[southern red]

I noticed that Man City have 2 reserve teams, one in the FA Prem Reserve League and another in the Central League. We seem to have a large number of players, both home grown and imported, fighting for places, but only one competitive game every few weeks for them . It must be demoralising for those players who are too old for the Under 18s but can't get a game for the Reserves. These players probably don't know if they're ever going to get a game, and if they eventually play, they couldn't be match fit.
I can see no reason why we shouldn't have another reserve team playing competitive matches and this would give Rafa a chance to see other reserve players in action.