Pass & Move, Is It The Reserve Team Groove?

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Albrighton, Bannan, Hogg, Clark and Lichaj always seem to look to pass the ball to a team-mate no matter where they are on the pitch and whether there is an opponent on top of them, which is a refreshing change.

I assume they have come into the first team playing like this as this is how they play in the reserves.

It's nice to see players who want to pass and recieve the ball, no matter the situation.

Obviously it'll go wrong on occasions, but for the amount of times they play themselves out of awkward positions, it's worth it and it's good to watch.

Does anyone watch the reserves regularly? Is this how the reserve team play?

[avfcpg]

I think it's more what GH is trying to get us playing. Possession football..

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I posted this on the Post Match thread but May as well stick it here..

I was thinking exactly the same. A few people mentioned during the week how Houllier needs time to bring in his own players to play the his style. He's landed on his feet with our kids who have been brought up to play football the right way. They really have done us proud and on todays performance, I may have to eat humble pie regarding Lichaj, who I've never been that impressed with. Today I thought he put in a solid first team debut.

Agree about Hogg too. The lad suffered a serious injury a while back that may slowed down his development but looks like he has what it takes to claim a place in the squad. It was great to have Barry Bannan back, even if he did drift out the game in the second half. As for Albrighton, I've always been a fan and although there's plenty of room for improvement, he looks like being a great player even if he's not quite ready to play the full 90 minutes. As a striker, Houllier is doing the right thing with the Fonz, giving him a few minutes here and there, building up his confidence which I thought was shot after the summer away with England U19's.

We have a lot to thank our people at the Academy and Kevin Mac with the Reserves.

[Greg N'Ash]

They're certainly doing very well but we are relying too heavily on them at this stage of thier development imho. I certainly don't want to go in February hoping they will consistently perform. They won't as with all young players. With people like Ireland failing to make any sort of contribution we need a few faces to take the pressure off them and allow the luxury of taking them out of what could be a long hard slog to May.

[Toronto Villa]

I posted this on the Post Match thread but May as well stick it here..

I was thinking exactly the same. A few people mentioned during the week how Houllier needs time to bring in his own players to play the his style. He's landed on his feet with our kids who have been brought up to play football the right way. They really have done us proud and on todays performance, I may have to eat humble pie regarding Lichaj, who I've never been that impressed with. Today I thought he put in a solid first team debut.

Agree about Hogg too. The lad suffered a serious injury a while back that may slowed down his development but looks like he has what it takes to claim a place in the squad. It was great to have Barry Bannan back, even if he did drift out the game in the second half. As for Albrighton, I've always been a fan and although there's plenty of room for improvement, he looks like being a great player even if he's not quite ready to play the full 90 minutes. As a striker, Houllier is doing the right thing with the Fonz, giving him a few minutes here and there, building up his confidence which I thought was shot after the summer away with England U19's.

We have a lot to thank our people at the Academy and Kevin Mac with the Reserves.

good point regarding Fonz Mark. Bringing on Carew today wouldn't have served any purpose really. Giving the Fonz a few minutes while we were winning will give him notice of the manager's confidence in him.

[mrfuse]

Lets hope we are the team to break the mould I know its been forced on us but Im more excited about playing the youngsters than buying some over priced so called star that doesn't want to really play for us.

[dave.woodhall]

Albrighton will be an international this time next year. I'd put money on it.*














* Not my own, obviously

[jembob]

All of the chaps coming through from the youth team look very very good and comfortable on the ball. A friend of mine had lunch with one of the Manure coaches last week and they are really impressed by Bannan. Hogg seems to be growing by the game and Licaj looked very capable today. Some of our returning senior players will find it difficult to regain their first team places.

[The Left Side]

All of the chaps coming through from the youth team look very very good and comfortable on the ball. A friend of mine had lunch with one of the Manure coaches last week and they are really impressed by Bannan. Hogg seems to be growing by the game and Licaj looked very capable today. Some of our returning senior players will find it difficult to regain their first team places.

Agreed, hopefully that means we can sell/release a bit of the deadwood like Sidwell, Salifou, Osbourne and Beye and keep the competitive edge when the injured players return as they will have the babbies nipping at their heels for the shirt.

[darren woolley]

It all bodes well for the future i also like the way they pass themselves out of trouble the youngsters are really stepping up to the plate now and considering this was Lichaj's first start very accomplished performance roll on wigan next week i say.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Albrighton will be an international this time next year. I'd put money on it.*

Then the trouble starts.
'You're only earning how much?'

[JJ-AV]

Albrighton will almost certainly be a first team player for us for years to come.

Clark and Bannan could very well be too. And judging on their performances so far, Hogg and Lichaj could definitely offer something to the squad.

Throw in Gabby who's already made it and you have to saw how well our academy is proving to be.

Gabriele Marcotti (pompous twat, but very knowledgeable) made the point a few years back that the likes of Hibbert and Osman were the success stories of Everton's academy, as opposed to Rooney - because special talents will make it anywhere, whereas the other two were just very well coached young kids who'd been moulded into professional footballers.

I think our kids have the same sort of look about them, I don't think there's any world beaters there, but they're all valuable assets.

[TopDeck113]

Albrighton will almost certainly be a first team player for us for years to come.

Clark and Bannan could very well be too. And judging on their performances so far, Hogg and Lichaj could definitely offer something to the squad.

I think even if just Albrighton makes it - and at present I'd say that he's the most likely - then that is justification enough for the current Academy set-up.   

The reality is that in the cut-throat world of top level professional football, only the very best stay around for long enough to be considered to have made it.  That's why the Beckham-Butt-Scholes-Giggs-Neville Bros situation at Man Utd  was so exceptional: a top club having a generation that came up together and had long, successful careers at the club that brought them through.

With Villa's current set up, if we're producing a player every two or three years that goes on to make 250+ appearances for the first team, then as far as I'm concerned our Academy is a success.  If it also pays for itself by selling on the others to "lesser" teams (think Ridgewell, Gardner, etc), so much the better. 

[Salsa Party Animal]

It is good to see this as young players and parents would see our academy is doing the right thing by making them a good footballer and person and we are a good club to learn the trade and get the chance to become professional whether it is for Aston Villa or Port Vale.

[Brend'Watkins]

I posted this on the Post Match thread but May as well stick it here..

I was thinking exactly the same. A few people mentioned during the week how Houllier needs time to bring in his own players to play the his style. He's landed on his feet with our kids who have been brought up to play football the right way. They really have done us proud and on todays performance, I may have to eat humble pie regarding Lichaj, who I've never been that impressed with. Today I thought he put in a solid first team debut.

I though Lichaj had a very good game yesterday, a good enough performance to keep Luke Young out of the side for the Wigan game too.  He looked composed and didn't treat the ball like it was a hot potato....something Young has a tendency to do at times.  Seeing defenders pass there way out of trouble is a welcome change.