Arsenal v Liverpool - Youth Cup Final.

[RoadEnd]

Are they as good as the scoreline suggests ?

Yes

[BigChief]

Men against boys. We've been raped every which way. Thank God Kennedy will not be given a contract, gives another youngster a chance. Is Ayala good? He looks cr*p against the high ball in general.

[Sprouty]

We only had two players who actually looked the part. Amoo and Buchtmann.

The rest just weren't in the same league.

[x0x]

Yep dissapointed at the way the two central defenders have been playing, they looked clumsy to say the least... bad timing, slow...

Central mids were a bit invisible ( irwin and wisdom), whereas up front dalla valle hasn't really showed anything... must say Bouzanis looks quite good although he got 4 goals behind him but not his fault i guess, butchmann was also good especially up to ~60min, as i mentioned earlier Amoo looks a threat when attacking too.

Whereas for Kacanikilic and Ince they were okay i guess, Ince was the better of the 2 IMO..

[BrianF80]

Men against boys. We've been raped every which way. Thank God Kennedy will not be given a contract, gives another youngster a chance. Is Ayala good? He looks cr*p against the high ball in general.

Going into this game I thought Ayala was good. But up against these quick strong guys he was made to look embarrassingly bad.

[BrianF80]

We only had two players who actually looked the part. Amoo and Buchtmann.

The rest just weren't in the same league.

To be fair we lost the midfield which meant there was no service to Dalla Valle and no protection for the defence against players who pretty much man for man were quicker and stronger than them. As DannyMan (I think ) said if you can't win the physical battle you will struggle and we did.

[DannyMan2006]

Would be quick to write off Liverpool as a team after that performance. And we'd probably be right too when it comes to being compared to the very best. But at this level it is not about the team, it's about individuals - the total opposite of normal first team football.

As the commentators tonight said, they'd both swap a cup win for a player making it in the first team. The main problem tonight for LFC was the physichal difference between the two teams. You only had to look at the size difference between the two teams at corners to see where the problem lied.

Allied to the size and strength of Arsenal players, up top they had a clear advantage over our centre backs pace wise. Wilshire was a cut above, but he had a very fast mobile forward to aim for against two very sluggish centre halfs.

For me, and it's easy to see now, Andre Wisdom should have started at CB. He is clearly not a CM and he was lost at times. But his pace would have helped out greatly at the back.

Overall I'm very disappointed, but you have to remember that our better players were starved of possession, but that always looked on the cards. Also remember that we had a key midfielder in Adam Pepper missing and that our squad was a lot younger than Arsenals. a year or two doesn't sound alot, but at this level a 15 year old RB up against an 18 year old LW is a big difference.

For me, Wisdom at the back and Pepper in midfiled would have made a massive difference.

[Whelan5]

Would be quick to write off Liverpool as a team after that performance. And we'd probably be right too when it comes to being compared to the very best. But at this level it is not about the team, it's about individuals - the total opposite of normal first team football.

As the commentators tonight said, they'd both swap a cup win for a player making it in the first team. The main problem tonight for LFC was the physichal difference between the two teams. You only had to look at the size difference between the two teams at corners to see where the problem lied.

Allied to the size and strength of Arsenal players, up top they had a clear advantage over our centre backs pace wise. Wilshire was a cut above, but he had a very fast mobile forward to aim for against two very sluggish centre halfs.

For me, and it's easy to see now, Andre Wisdom should have started at CB. He is clearly not a CM and he was lost at times. But his pace would have helped out greatly at the back.

Overall I'm very disappointed, but you have to remember that our better players were starved of possession, but that always looked on the cards. Also remember that we had a key midfielder in Adam Pepper missing and that our squad was a lot younger than Arsenals. a year or two doesn't sound alot, but at this level a 15 year old RB up against an 18 year old LW is a big difference.

For me, Wisdom at the back and Pepper in midfiled would have made a massive difference.

I don't know enough about the players to know if the changes you suggest would have made a difference but i thought some of the arsenal players were class. As well as Wiltshire i thought Thomas looked very impressive and he has the physic to play in there 1st team already.

As you say there is a huge difference between a 16 and 18 year old. And on that subject i really liked the look of our right back, think he's only 16 and i know he gave away the pen but his attitude and desire where i thought top class. Also after giving away the pen his head didn't drop and he really got stck in for the second half. I'm not sure if he is a local but he strikes me as a worthy heir to Carra (in an attitude sense) in a few years time.

Finally a word of credit to the Liverpool supporters at the game, when Wiltshire was taken off he got applauded by them and i think that shows yet again the class of the Liverpool fans. That guy is a real talent and will be one of the best in the world in 5 years and to see our fans rise above the usual fan rivalry and acknowledge that made me proud. I'd be prouder if he was playing for us but there you go!!

[BrianF80]

Would be quick to write off Liverpool as a team after that performance. And we'd probably be right too when it comes to being compared to the very best. But at this level it is not about the team, it's about individuals - the total opposite of normal first team football.

As the commentators tonight said, they'd both swap a cup win for a player making it in the first team. The main problem tonight for LFC was the physichal difference between the two teams. You only had to look at the size difference between the two teams at corners to see where the problem lied.

Allied to the size and strength of Arsenal players, up top they had a clear advantage over our centre backs pace wise. Wilshire was a cut above, but he had a very fast mobile forward to aim for against two very sluggish centre halfs.

For me, and it's easy to see now, Andre Wisdom should have started at CB. He is clearly not a CM and he was lost at times. But his pace would have helped out greatly at the back.

Overall I'm very disappointed, but you have to remember that our better players were starved of possession, but that always looked on the cards. Also remember that we had a key midfielder in Adam Pepper missing and that our squad was a lot younger than Arsenals. a year or two doesn't sound alot, but at this level a 15 year old RB up against an 18 year old LW is a big difference.

For me, Wisdom at the back and Pepper in midfiled would have made a massive difference.

Good stuff, I thought the same about Wisdom he would have made a real difference. We would have been able to play Irwin @ RB as well which would have helped a lot.

[DannyMan2006]

I don't know enough about the players to know if the changes you suggest would have made a difference but i thought some of the arsenal players were class. As well as Wiltshire i thought Thomas looked very impressive and he has the physic to play in there 1st team already.

As you say there is a huge difference between a 16 and 18 year old. And on that subject i really liked the look of our right back, think he's only 16 and i know he gave away the pen but his attitude and desire where i thought top class. Also after giving away the pen his head didn't drop and he really got stck in for the second half. I'm not sure if he is a local but he strikes me as a worthy heir to Carra (in an attitude sense) in a few years time.

Finally a word of credit to the Liverpool supporters at the game, when Wiltshire was taken off he got applauded by them and i think that shows yet again the class of the Liverpool fans. That guy is a real talent and will be one of the best in the world in 5 years and to see our fans rise above the usual fan rivalry and acknowledge that made me proud. I'd be prouder if he was playing for us but there you go!!

Put it this way, in a top team even I would look quite capable. In a poor team I would look well out of my depth. LFC lost the battle in a few key areas and as a result struggled to keep hold of the ball and let their heads drop. Wisdom has a top future and is only 16, but he had a poor game tonight in the unfamiliar role of CM. He neither marked proprely nor distributed at the the level required. In that vital midfield area we sruggled and allowed the likes of Wiltshire to much time on the ball.

Those who saw us against Birmingham will know the damage that Thomas Ince can do when given time on the ball. Tonight he was starved of service and made to look poor. On the flip side we allowed Arsenals players free reign in midfield and they took advantage of it.

Player for player there is not too much difference between the teams, they just had the strong advantages in the right ares for them.

[southern red]

I was lucky (?) enough to be there and it was very much men against boys. Arsenal looked as if they could have easily scored 7 or 8, when they ran at our defence we looked very square. Only plus points very Amoo, Buchtmann looked ok and I thought Ince showed potential - biggest disappointment was Dalla Valle. I had high hopes for him but he was off the pace all night

[DannyMan2006]

I was lucky (?) enough to be there and it was very much men against boys. Arsenal looked as if they could have easily scored 7 or 8, when they ran at our defence we looked very square. Only plus points very Amoo, Buchtmann looked ok and I thought Ince showed potential - biggest disappointment was Dalla Valle. I had high hopes for him but he was off the pace all night

To be fair to Dalla Valle he never gor the service and was also carrying a slight injury. Like a few of them he never really got going.

[ronanm]

I don't know enough about the players to know if the changes you suggest would have made a difference but i thought some of the arsenal players were class. As well as Wiltshire i thought Thomas looked very impressive and he has the physic to play in there 1st team already.

As you say there is a huge difference between a 16 and 18 year old. And on that subject i really liked the look of our right back, think he's only 16 and i know he gave away the pen but his attitude and desire where i thought top class. Also after giving away the pen his head didn't drop and he really got stck in for the second half. I'm not sure if he is a local but he strikes me as a worthy heir to Carra (in an attitude sense) in a few years time.

Finally a word of credit to the Liverpool supporters at the game, when Wiltshire was taken off he got applauded by them and i think that shows yet again the class of the Liverpool fans. That guy is a real talent and will be one of the best in the world in 5 years and to see our fans rise above the usual fan rivalry and acknowledge that made me proud. I'd be prouder if he was playing for us but there you go!!

Thanks for the insight

[redsarebest]

Watched on TV - the physical mismatch was the most noticable thing -in size as well as speed and power.

Ive done some checking though -

18yo - us

Bouzanis
Kennedy
Ayala
Irwin
Amoo

18yo -them

EAStman
Lansbury
Emanual-Thomas (or suchlike!)
Cruise
Bartley
Sunu
Colquelin

!7 yo - us

De La Valle
Kakanicilic
Buchtman
Ince

17 yo - them

Shea
Ayling
Wiltshire
Fimpong

School kids - us

Clair
Wisdom

them
None

They played the excellent Wiltshire - we have 6 players we could have played ahead of those we picked - MAckay Stevens; Weijl; Pacheco; Bruna: Saric; Paalson
With those we would have been a different proposition imo

[DannyMan2006]

Watched on TV - the physical mismatch was the most noticable thing -in size as well as speed and power.

They played the excellent Wiltshire - we have 6 players we could have played ahead of those we picked - MAckay Stevens; Weijl; Pacheco; Bruna: Saric; Paalson
With those we would have been a different proposition imo

Totally agree with all that, excellent insight.

What must be remebered by our fans is that everyone of our players who played was an Academy player at the start of the season. Even now, they are still playing in the under 18 team with a few just starting to make the reserves team.

Alot of clubs, Arsenal included, play their best XI from the U18 and Reserves side. At Liverpool, if you're established in the reserves side that is where you play, not in the FA youth cup. In fact, I remember when we played Man City in the final. For the second leg they played Micah Richards who was already starting with the first team.

So we should all be proud of our lads. It's about player development, not winning trophies. I should imagine that had Pacheco and Paalson started we'd have been far more competitive. But that could have meant leaving out Ince or Kakalicnic and Andre Wisdom maybe. And that would not be in our best interests.