That was a painful end to the game.
It looked like Cain and Clarkson had turned up to a sunday league match. A distinct lack of quality from everyone else on the pitch.
Edit: A bit harsh on Owen Beck actually, he was quite lively. And good to see Shariff back from injury.
Iāve only watched them a few times but Cain stands out a bit in games Iāve watched. Not physically ready to my eye, but stands out in the games Iāve seen.
Clarkson would be my pick of the bunch but Cain very close behind. Nobody else in that squad tonight would come close (Jaros excluded) apart from the Woodburn of old.
If we didnāt have so many midfielders Iād expect to see them in the league cup side. Maybe one of them will get on the bench.
Latest Results - U23 Premier League - Week 2
Tottenham 3-0 West Ham
Marsh, White, Richards
Reading 0-4 Fulham
Jasper x2, Carvalho x2
Leeds 2-2 Wolves
Gelhardt, Greenwood - Corbeanu, Cundle
Aston Villa 3-0 Norwich
Ramsey, Revan, Philogene-Bidace
Blackburn 2-1 Man City
McBride, Thompson - Mcatee
Brighton 2-2 Arsenal
Jenks, Cashman - Cottrell, Balogun
Derby 2-1 Liverpool
Shonibare, Stretton - Cain
Southampton 1-4 Chelsea
Sims - Russell, Ballo, Peart-Harris x2
Latest Transfers - U23 & U18
Pervis Estubian, 22: Watford to Villarreal - Ā£14m
Kamil Jozwiak, 22: Lech Poznan to Derby - Ā£3m
Crysencio Summerville, 18: Feyenoord to Leeds - Undisc
Gabriel Adebambo, 18: Dundalk to Stoke - Undisc
Douglas Taylor, 17: Salford to Stoke - Undisc
Daniel Csoka, 20: Wolves to Wimbledon - Free
Korede Adedoyin, 19: Everton to Sheff Wed - Free
Peter Taylor, 20: West Brom to Alvechurch - Free
Carrick Hill, 18: West Brom to Alvechurch - Free
Josh Hawkes, 21: Hartlepool to Sunderland - Free
Mitchell Curry, 21: Middlesbrough to Sunderland - Free
Ollie Younger, 20: Burnley to Sunderland - Free
Owen Gamble, 21: Sunderland to York - Free
Harlam Hale, 20: Southampton to Crystal Palace - Free
Reece Hannam, 20: West Ham to Crystal Palace - Free
Alfie Matthews, 18: Arsenal to Crystal Palace - Free
Rece Jones, 18: Stoke to Stafford - Free
Jordan Holsgrove, 21: Reading to Celta Vigo - Free
Jack Bycroft, 18: Southampton to Weymouth - Loan
Tony Gallacher, 21: Liverpool to Toronto - Loan
Roco Rees, 18: Brighton to Worthing - Loan
Louis Lomas, 19: Norwich to Slough - Loan
George Hirst, 21: Leicester to Rotherham - Loan
James Pardington, 20: Wolves to Dulwich Hamlet - Loan
Indiana Vassilev, 19: Aston Villa to Burton - Loan
Jack Roles, 21: Tottenham to Burton - Loan
Conor Gallagher, 20: Chelsea to West Brom - Loan
James Garner, 19: Man Utd to Watford - Loan
Shilow Tracey, 23: Tottenham to Shrewsbury - Loan
Pablo Moreno, 18: Man City to Girona - Loan
Arijanet Muric, 21: Man City to Girona - Loan
Joel Asoro, 21: Swansea to Genoa - Loan
U18s vs Stoke
Subs: Davies; Mabaya, Frauendorf, Woltman
Blair is going to have to come off, he stretched to control a pass that would have put him in 1v1 but immediately pulled up holding his hamstring.
Frauendorf is on to replace him.
Classy goal from Stewart.
1-0 Liverpool - Stewart
Lovely goal. Poor clearance by the Stoke goalkeeper falls to Stephenson who played a first time pass to Morton, 1 touch into Stewart who rolled the CB and chipped the onrushing keeper.
3 touches in total - 2 passes and a chip.
2-0 Liverpool - Stewart
Good turn by Stewart got him goalside of the Stoke CB and he was pulled down. Penalty given and scored by Stewart himself.
Stoke CB looks like a rugby player and tackles like one too.
The u18s are playing great stuff here.
Chambers, Stewart and Morton are excellent but Balagizi is playing a different game to everyone else. No wonder heās so highly rated, the opposition canāt get anywhere near him.
The good thing with Balagizi is that despite being bigger and stronger than everyone on the pitch, he is actually impressing with his technical ability and clever passing. Most players of his physical stature at this level just bulldoze their way through everything and then look shite when they move up a level.
Those little one twos he was doing with Chambers (?) to get out of our corner were so good.
His technical ability and composure on the ball remind me of Jones. He just rolls the ball away from people when pressed, never panicked.
All the usual caveats apply when talking about a 16 year old but he looks seriously good.
Liverpool got him from Man City if Iām not mistaken? Perhaps itās a matter of their coaching, their young players Iāve seen (such as Foden, Garcia, Diaz, Camacho) looked nicely developed in that aspect. I have certain hopes of him, probably the highest of current U18 group (Koumetio notwithstanding, I guess heāll be a member of U23 side).
Half time
Liverpool 2-0 Stoke
Stewart X2
Comfortable first half, currently looks like a matter of how many goals we will get. Balagizi has been exceptional and in one half has almost proved he deserves game time in the 23s. Stewart with two really clever bits of CF play to get a goal and a penalty. Want to see of that kind of clever movement from him.
I would doubt their coaching is any better than ours, they have a larger catchment area and more money to spend.
Trent and Jones are very technical playersā¦
Not doubting our folks, donāt get me wrong, but I think he has spent more time at Man City than at Liverpool, hence my conclusion.
3-0 Liverpool - Corness
Direct from a corner, Stokeās GK completely missed it.
Stoke usually have excellent GKs at U18 level but this guyā¦ Is not one of them. In fact this is probably the worst Stoke U18 team Iāve seen in a long time.
Hughie Mcauleyās voice does my head in.
Haha heās not a natural on commentary. Always sounds like heās about to say something else but then doesnāt speak.
Stewart always looks like he has time on the ball, never looks rushed at this level.
Will he see time with 23s this season?