u21 today

[shaka's shorts]

55,000 people have now seen Samuel's goal on YouTube.
423 of us saw it live!!!!!

[Lovely hot donuts!]

I couldn't make it to the game so .have a genuine question for those that did.

From what I've seen of him he doesn't seem particularly fast and he doesn't look particularly strong when you compare him to the standards of the first team mens games. He also appears to have a bit of a tendancy to go it alone, when he should perhaps be picking a pass - although that goal came off, if he had been playing at a higher level there were 4/5 changes for the ball to be nicked away.

So what is it about him that sticks out apart from his goalscoring record for both our reserves and England u19s?

Looks like he could be a decent all round player in time and has a good eye for goal but what makes people think he's there or thereabouts for the fringe of the squad next season rather than needing a season or two at a lower level? He's only featured in 3 senior games after all. (understanding that being in and around the first team should aid quicker development etc etc).

I was at the game and have seen him on a few occasions prior. I agree he isn't particularly strong but he's fairly fast, on Sunday he outran defenders on numerous occasions.
As for not passing, I would say that he did pass well a bit. On this goal it is true a more "sensible" approach would have been to pass. However, on Sunday, they were playing a 4-5-1 where came back to collect the ball off the midfield quite a lot, turned and had no-one ahead of him so didn't have a passing option. If he's played in this system a lot of last few years then it might have trained passing out of him!

But, at the end of the day, the goalscoring record is so good that he must have something. Even if his attributes aren't conventionally brilliant, you don't score that many goals, even at that level, by fluke. Would love him to go to Dagenham so he can be tested properly.

[GreaterTorontoRoyal]

Beat Stoke U21 with a penalty in the 92nd minute! 1-0

[MouldyRoyal]

Went to look at the table for the U21 competition and got a bit flummoxed as it's rather complex.

Sounds like the competition is split into 3 stages, phase 1, phase 2 and a knockout stage. The competition is currently in phase 2.

The format is explained here:

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matc ... on-format/

Reading currently sit top of Group 2 which means they will advance to the knock out stage only if they stay at the top. Reading would need to play a decider against the winner of Group 1 (Everton currently top) to see who will go into the semi finals against the top 3 teams from the Elite group.