Blues rout the Gunners in Youth Cup

Good luck lads.

Although George Green hasn't had much of a look-in: he was an unused sub in the 3rd Round at Southampton, and could well have been the same at Port Vale... Not even on the bench today.

Sorry about that, Danny. Must try harder.

I assumed he was injured, but after your comment, Michael, I'm wondering if he's being given some "special" treatment by the coaching staff to get rid of all that stuff called flair he apparently has.

I'm half expecting him to be turned into a Phil Neville clone by the time he's 17!

It's just a shame that most of these youngsters won't even make it to the first team. They'll be released by the time they're 19.

I am a bit surprised that people respond to a story about us beating Arsenal 4-2 away by asking why George Green didn't play. How about a bit of credit to the lads who passed Arsenal off the park?

From 1-11 I was seriously impressed by what our lads delivered. Technically they seemed the peers of all but a few of our first team (Pienaar, Baines, Osman). We zipped the ball about with instant control, played cross field/through/simple passes as the situation required and generally looked a class, well drilled outfit. Congratulations to Kevin Sheedy who has clearly impressed his own technical qualities upon his players.

A quick run through of the team:

The keeper has one hell of a gob on him! He bellowed orders around the ground and seemed to have excellent command of his defenders and midfielders (& striker on two occasions telling him off for not tracking back). He seemed a little short on inches to really be a premier league player but who knows maybe he will grow a bit! His defence put him under pressure over and over again with tight back passes but the keeper didn't panic and his kicking was consistent.

The defence looked very impressive in spite of two conceded. Ibou Touray at left back has clearly been listening to Leighton Baines. His timing in the tackle, pace and ability to overlap were all demonstrated in abundance.

The right back (forgive me as the teamsheet was wrong so not sure who number 2 actually was) had a great second half. I overhead *Matt Jackson say he was a centre half playing out of position. If so he got away with it because of his pace and strength. I never saw him beaten and several times he galloped up the line.

Centre halves were lacking in height and physique when compared to their Arsenal counterparts but actually seemed far superior in terms of composure, passing, technique, communication, reactions. Conceding two makes it seem the centres halves were at fault but I'm not sure they were (particularly not the second).

In midfield we had Matthew Kennedy on the left and Molyneux (?) on the right. Kennedy skinned his man a few times in the first half and won the free kick for the goal. He beat his man on the touchline with a step over and then sprinted clear of two defenders only to be hacked down on the edge of the area. Repeated the trick ten minutes later and was hacked again in a similar area. Second half he seemed a bit annoyed and tried to kick one of their lads of the ball. Looks a physically strong and fast player.

The centre mids combined really well. Charsley is short and stocky with a good delivery off free kicks. Connor Grant may have been MoM. The lad looked so comfortable on either foot. Could twist away from defenders on either side with minimal effort, I never saw him lose the ball once and he even tried an audacious shot from his own half near the end. Charsley seemed to have an engine on him and got out to make a few important blocks at times.

The front two were Long & Waring. Long kind of floated about wherever he pleased. His cross from the right wing for the third was an absolute beauty and undefendable. His goal for the second was an arrow from outside the box into the top left hand corner. He had a lot of time to sort himself out before hitting it but still perfect execution. He worked his nuts off and had a lovely turn of pace. Also had a bit of a confident strut about him (as Kennedy does). Along with Grant he was a big contender for MoM.

The main forward was Waring. I saw this lad come off the bench a few seasons ago to score the title winning goal against Fulham. He stands tall above everyone else on the pitch and has strength to muscle defenders about as he sees fit. His touch can let him down on occasions and he certainly isn't the fastest. Still he had a big second half and was instrumental in a lot of our counter attacks. Good hold up play and you could tell neither centre half fancied it against him.

Overall I was very impressed with the team. 4 goals away at Arsenal and it could have been more. Other than the lad Gnabry I wouldn't have taken a single Arsenal player for our team on last nights performance.

I think Matt Jackson must be a scout for Wigan. There were loads of scouts there last night. Something to worry us given that Donegan was pinched by Fulham after our last youth team trophy.

I went to the game last night with pre-conceived ideas about what our players would be like compared to theirs. I was wrong in a big big way. Our lads have technique, can play, work their nuts off, have the right attitude & spirt, they're organised and they have more than a sprinkle of quality. I don't know much about this level but they wiped the floor with Arsenal. I was very excited until I got down to pitch level after the game. Watching the lads leave the pitch you could see that they're all just kids really. It will be a long time before any are physically ready for the first team (other than Kennedy). Still big well done to Sheedy and the lads.

George Green (who is really still U17 not 18) was a sub on that night, wasn't used and had to be told firmly to join in the warm up - Sheedy asked the subs to warm up midway through 2nd half and Green decided to stay on the bench, until told to warm up by Sheeds.

I know he has also been with England U17's last month in a tournament overseas ?, scored and played well in 2 out of 3 games.

Mike – Good to hear that Grant has shone before. He looked the business last night, that's for sure.

I don't know the date yet, but keep an eye out on the EFC official site for the usual last-minute announcement.It's against either Norwich or Birmingham.