Not typical but probably not unheard of either.
Bobby Duncan had a very good u18 record (not quite as impressive as this so far) but never looked close to being capable of being a first team player, so expectations should be tempered based on the numbers alone. The easy tap ins that Cannonnier has been scoring often disappear at u23 level, never mind first team. Not enough football has been shown this year to judge him properly yet IMO.
Yeah agree with ILLOK, Cannonierās goals have all been tap ins and - as Bobby Clark has found - that struggles to translate to higher levels of football. Heās rarely involved in build up play which is what I would prefer to see at this stage.
Thatās not writing him off but just to say that goalscoring records donāt necessarily mean they are a top prospect (although itās not a bad sign either).
Also Cannonier didnāt get a look in last season, youād expect he would have been accelerated into the team if he was thought of as a realistic first teamer (heās a second year scholar now - will be too old for U18s next season).
Liverpool U18s returned to winning ways in the U18 Premier League with a 3-0 defeat of Sunderland at the Academy.
Oakley Cannonierās customary goal put the home side in front on 31 minutes and the Reds produced a late surge to secure victory in Kirkby through strikes from Melkamu Frauendorf and Harvey Blair.
The young Reds had to hold firm for spells as the visitors pressed for an equaliser and a downpour added to the challenge, but did so impressively to secure three points after previous back-to-back losses in the division.
There was an open nature to the contest from the start and after seeing off some early Sunderland pressure, Liverpool fashioned two sights of goal.
First, Luca Stephenson embarked on a strong, extended run to the edge of the box before slipping in Blair to his left, whose attempt to strike was blocked.
Within a minute, Frauendorf and Bobby Clark combined neatly to tee up Tommy Pillingās run into the box but his shot lacked power and proved an easy take for Harrison Bond.
The action ebbed and flowed satisfyingly from then on, though without much in the way of clear opportunities until a slew of chances and incidents around the half-hour mark.
The Reds were inches away from breaking the deadlock when Frauendorf was released down the right and guided a cross into the Sunderland area that Cannonier was just unable to reach.
He would not have to wait long to net, however. And it came from the opposite flank as Luke Chambersā knock along the wing invited Blair to send in a ball to the box. It evaded Frauendorf but rolled kindly for Cannonier to emphatically side-foot high into the goal.
Marc Bridge-Wilkinsonās side soon needed their goalkeeper to preserve that new lead.
Ben Middlemas got a delivery into the Liverpool area from the right under his control and dispatched a drive that Harvey Davies reacted well to importantly block away.
The stopper was then called on to tip over a 20-yard thump from Oliver Bainbridge that may have snuck under the crossbar without Daviesā intervention.
Clark and Blair forced saves by Bond in the closing moments of the half and the Reds upped the ante further after the break, pinning Sunderland back for 10 minutes as they pushed for a second goal.
Blair might have strengthened their advantage past the hour when afforded time and space to line up a shot but directed his effort too close to Bond.
Encouraged by the unchanged 1-0 scoreline, the away team responded and Louie Salkeld was not far away with a curler towards the top left corner having created the chance with a smart body swerve.
Instead, though, Liverpool added gloss to the result with two excellent goals in the final 10 minutes.
Frauendorf bagged his sideās second as he took in Clarkās angled pass to the edge of the area, used Chambersā outside run as a decoy and lashed a shot into the bottom right corner.
And Blair quickly found the same spot to wrap up a good win for Bridge-Wilkinsonās charges, sending his strike beyond Bond after Chambersā blast had been repelled by the ākeeper.
Liverpool U18s: Davies, Davidson, Chambers, Bajcetic, Miles, Stephenson, Frauendorf, Clark, Cannonier, Pilling, Blair.
Unused substitutes: Lucky, Hewitson, Danns, Gyimah, Laffey.
Morton sent off 62 minutes as u23ās losing 3-0.
Corness also sent off 85th minute only come on on 78th minute for Balagizi.
Result 3-0.
U21s vs Bolton today at 7pm.
Liverpool absolutely rinsed of players because of the international break. 1st game of this tournament was played on transfer deadline day, second game played during international break. People wonder why we lose in it so often!
Hard to predict the team as I havenāt kept up with all the call ups but I expect a pretty threadbare side.
At least something other than international football!
Not sure if this is everyone but with the absences I know about the team could be
Mrozek
Wilson Quansah Koumetio Boyes
Balagizi Corness Morton
Bearne Musialowski Woltman
Subs: Kelly; Miles, Bajcetic, Dixon-Bonner, Ritaccio, Frauendorf, Cannonier
Team news just came through, a bit different than my predictionsā¦ Big surprise with Nat Phillips being allowed to drop down and play tonight.
Pitaluga
Wilson Quansah Phillips Gallacher
Morton Ritaccio Corness
Bearne Dixon-Bonner Woltman
Subs: Kelly; Koumetio, Mabaya, Cannonier
Heās a 24-year old 5th choice CB with zero minutes this season, there are no senior games for 2 weeks and the U23ās need a bit of help with players missing (?), I donāt think itās such a surprise.
4-1 down to a pretty strong Bolton team now. After a good first half Bolton really turned the screw after the break and the difference in physicality has just been a bit too much for us.
Dixon-Bonner has put in a solid performance as the CF, very much put of position for him, and he managed to grab a goal back for us.
Pitaluga gave away a bit of a needless penalty, it looked like the situation was sorted by Koumetio but the Brazilian was quite rash to charge out of his goal and trip the forward.
Biggest problem for the U21s/U23s is still the lack of goal threat. It was a known problem going into the season that Woltman, Bearne and OāRourke are really not the level required to win regularly at U23 level and that situation wasnāt improved when OāRourke went out for the season. Musialowski didnāt play tonight but he too has struggled this year after stepping up from the 18s. I think it will be a much more intriguing attack when we have Stewart fit with Musialowski out wide.
Great news!
Conor Bradley starts for Northern Ireland tonight.
Liverpool U18s v Villa
Mrozek ,McLaughlin-Miles ,Lucky Omoruyi , Bajcetic , Chambers, Stephenson, , Pilling , Clark, Roberts, Frauendorf, Blair.
Subs,
Murphy,Worrell , Hewitson, Laffey, Danns, Gyimah.
Harvey Blair netted the winner as Liverpool U18s beat Aston Villa 2-1 away from home in the U18 Premier League Cup on Saturday afternoon.
Having also previously defeated Crystal Palace in the competition, Marc Bridge-Wilkinsonās side sit on top of their group with one game left to play.
Stefan Bajcetic headed the young Reds into an early lead at Bodymoor Heath when he connected with Luca Stephensonās corner.
The home side levelled from a contested penalty, but Blair headed home a second-half winner from a Luke Chambers free-kick.
Reflecting on the victory, Bridge-Wilkinson told Liverpoolfc.com: "It was a good performance overall from us.
"We started well and had several good opportunities to add to our early goal but we just couldnāt score.
āVilla came back into it and got a penalty but we responded well and it was great to see Harvey on the scoresheet again for us.ā
Liverpool U18s: Mrozek, Lucky, Chambers, Bajcetic, Miles, Stephenson, Frauendorf (Laffey, 78), Clark, Roberts, Pilling, Blair.
Unused substitutes: Hewitson, Danns, Gyimah, Worell.
Liverpool U 23ās V Arsenal U 23ās,
Davies, Bradley, Koumetio, Boyes, Beck, Clayton, Morton, Norris, Balagizi, Glatzel, Musialowski -
Subs
Woltman, Hughes, Dixon Bonner, Bearne, Quansah.
0-0 HAlf time score.
edit
Musialowski 1-0
Glatzel 2-0
Norris 3-0
Elijah Dixon-Bonner trained with the first team ahead of Atletico.