Season start with a home tie to Derby. Lots of changes to teams in off season so I know whoever we were playing this was a toughie.
Both teams will be at full availability I suspect but we will look at the best team to start well and hope we achieve the points .
Right let's not beat around the bush - last year was a disaster for the U23s. Having won the league in season 21 with only 2 defeats in the entire 36 game season we managed to lose 16 out of 51 last time around and finished 3rd but a distant third! Basically of the 15 extra games we played last season we lost 14 of them! But that is now in the past and it is time to look to the future. On paper we have the best U23 squad on the game and we need to be playing like it!
Personnel changes are minimal in this squad compared to the seniors. Rico Lewis and Junior Wilson have joined to bolster the defence whilst Jordan Doherty comes into the midfield alongside Emre Can who has been signed on a short term deal to bring experience to help develop the kids. Verell George will be part of the rotational attack. Other than that it is as you were with many familiar faces across the lineup - many of whom have improved well over the off season. Kane Taylor is the star man tasked with filling the boots of Iroegbunam and he is the captain the team will be built around.
When you look at the Spurs roster compared to ours there should only be one winner but that was the case last year and we managed to lose and draw against them before winning the second two meetings. So we won't take them lightly. Our fans will expect to win every game this season so we have to be careful not to disappoint.
We want that title back and the new U23 regulations help us with that. But this squad will probably only be able to stay together for this season without some being promoted. So it may well be a case of now or never for some of these players. Make the most of it and don't regret it will be the message throughout the season
Despite the fixture list saying West Ham are playing the Reds it's actually Wolves they're playing. So @Eduardo you'd better tell the coach driver to pull onto the M5 at junction 8 rather than continuing down the M6...
Couldn't be a much tougher start for us as I take on this U23 side but, compared to the seniors, this squad is actually half decent. There is a lot of garbage to move on but that will come in due course. But the better players are half decent. We have brought in Norcott as we wanted a stronger GK than what we had and Vaden has joined in defence whilst Collyer, Stevens and Allan were demoted back down from the seniors. But all those for me are minor tweaks.
We don't expect to be winning this division but we think we are strong enough to stay in it and cause an upset or two along the way. We will be looking to strengthen as we go but the seniors come first on that aspect. We have shown at Villa how powerful a good youths can be for the first team and a side like Wolves can really benefit from having a strong U23s. Someone like Collyer could be a first team starter before too long!
We know Liverpool will be a title contender again this season so it'll be an interesting one. A strange one where I can actually help Villa with this Wolves team. We would be going all out for the win anyway but that's an added incentive.
Like the seniors, this squad is a work in progress and this isn't a game to be judged on at this stage. A result at home to give the fans something to shout about would be nice though...
Managing youth football isn’t easy and we’ve lost 13 players in front of the new season. We’ve tried to replace them but those who has moved in isn’t of the same quality as they who left. I’m not sure what to expect from the upcoming season but we’re out there to finish as high up the table as possible.
There’s six first team regulars left from last season and all six play an huge part of this new Liverpool U23. I’ve demoted three players from the first team to make the roster competitive. Ron-Thorben Hoffmann will be our first choice in goal. He is over-aged but is qualities is needed and hopefully we’re able to keep him for most of the season. Nick Kinina is sent down to be a leading figure defensively. The talented defensive midfielder is over-rated but we got space in the roster to play him and he is as good as it gets at U23 level. The last one we’ve demoted is Josh Darius to partner Oakley Cannonier up front. Darius is of such high quality that we don’t expect to keep him for long but when we have him in the team, we have to play him.
Facing such a world class manager like Alex in the opening round isn’t something you looking forward to and looking at their roster their as good as us. I don’t expect us the be title contender this year but as long as we’re playing good football, I’ll be happy.
The reverse fixture of the seniors!
Lots of changes for the youth team, which was needed after the monstrosity and chaotic end to the season.
There is still the backbone of the team that performed last season and I am pretty happy with how the youth team has shaped up.
Saved penalties for a living and reffed for a bit.
Currently run EFLO, CoE and OFMC
We have gone through a rebuild with the youths to try and make them more competitive but im still not 100% convinced we are at the same standard of the top teams. Arsenal last season didnt focus on youths so im not sure where they will sit this year so we will just setup as usual for first game of the season and see how it ends. Then we can evaluate what further changes we need to look to consider moving forward for the rest of the season.
