MATCH THREAD: Cambridge v Charlton Ath: BSMTrophy: Tues 17th Sept 2024: KO 19.10 +post-match p20

I thought lyle was quiet

Southbank said:

Jonniesta said:

Southbank said:

Lots of positives, but some negatives. Worst thing for me was that none of the three academy boys from last season who started, Anderson, Asimwe and Kanu, look as if they are progressing, none of them look good enough for a first team challenging for promotion.
On the other hand, Edun, Mitchell and REG looked good and most of Taylor's dead balls were better than the first teams'. Campbell was not that impressive.

Think you're being harsh on Kanu. He added a lot. Agreed on Anderson obviously!

I like Kanu, he works hard but does not look like scoring, a striker's main job ( great assist tho)

Which is so weird because he looked like he'd be a great goalscorer when he was coming through the youth teams 

killerandflash said:

A lot of the players out there desperately needed the minutes, as we're 2 months into the season and many of them have hardly played at all. Thus the team understandably faded in the last 20 minutes, as they're lack of match fitness slightly showed.

Indeed, while I understand why NJ wants to keep a settled side, to build relationships and partnerships on the field, there were players out there tonight who showed they can do a very decent job for us, and could have in the last 2 months. Slightly baffling why Taylor has been invisible for 2 months for example. And it was also a surprise that nobody went out on loan either at the end of the window, would we really have missed Asiimwe if he had gone out on loan until January?

Asiimwe got injured didn't he? Or am I thinking of someone else 

ForeverAddickted said:

aliwibble said:

ForeverAddickted said:

Stig said:

Thanks for the commentary Ali.

What about the rest of us? - Mod favouritism going on here clearly!!

Maybe, or maybe you lost brownie points for the spoof score update

ForeverAddickted said:

captainbob said:

Foxycafc said:

am i the only one with audio ahead of their video

I don't know. What's the score?

Cambridge are 4-1 up

Was really disappointed no one bite on that one

The only reason I didn't give you a yellow card was I was already 3 pages behind by that point

A collection of random thoughts:

- Potts looked like a calm head knowing when and what to do. As Cambridge were building a head of steam , potts went down with what looked like a dubious injury to kill momentum 

- not sure what's happening with karoy. Yes the red card bad but more generally I think he needs to work out what sort of player he wants to be 

- Taylors set pieces were pretty good and generally tidy 

- delighted to see Edwards on the pitch so soon

I must have seen Karoy play 20/25 games now and I don't think I’ve been impressed once. Apart from endlessly giving the ball away and committing niggly fouls, what does he do?

Goal at Derby last season did us a bit of a favour. Good squad player, maybe playing international football has gone to his head a bit. Overall good performance,  players getting a needed run out and to give NJ something to  think about in a positive way, really hope Taylor gets to push on, lad has been so unlucky yet attitude has been great throughout. Encouraging performance considering the number of changes 

Take Anderson out the game and we win the game 4 or 5-0. Him alone has nearly cost us. Needs to buck up his ideas before Jones freezes him out. I think he will be a decent holding midfielder one day but needs to start learning fast. Lucky it was a nothing game today so hopefully its the kick up the arse he needs.

I thought we were good tonight, especially considering it was 11 changes. We moved the ball forward quicker than usual and the interplay was good. Edun was aggressive and smart on the ball, Taylor was clam and efficient, Kanu held the ball up well and Potts looked extremely assured. REG was decent as well. I feel like we had a couple of the line and were unlucky to only score 2. Other than their pen Cambridge never really troubled us and that bodes very well given it was an entirely different team. Good stuff

Scoham said:

arny23394 said:

I must have seen Karoy play 20/25 games now and I don't think I’ve been impressed once. Apart from endlessly giving the ball away and committing niggly fouls, what does he do?

Runs all day, presses the opposition, wins challenges, gets forward to get the occasional goal or assist (2 and 4 respectively according to statbank). A lot of the things Jones wants in a CM.

Not every academy player will be a PL star of the future (copyright Katrien Meire), some will be useful squad players for us. He's still only 19, nearly 20 and not made 50 appearances for us yet. He's young enough to improve, and if he doesn't he'll be moved on.

Running and pressing is a prerequisite for any footballer. He may run around a lot, but his poor first touch means he gives the ball away an awful lot, he rarely attempts to pass the ball forward and gives away lots of silly fouls. 

arny23394 said:

Scoham said:

arny23394 said:

I must have seen Karoy play 20/25 games now and I don't think I’ve been impressed once. Apart from endlessly giving the ball away and committing niggly fouls, what does he do?

Runs all day, presses the opposition, wins challenges, gets forward to get the occasional goal or assist (2 and 4 respectively according to statbank). A lot of the things Jones wants in a CM.

Not every academy player will be a PL star of the future (copyright Katrien Meire), some will be useful squad players for us. He's still only 19, nearly 20 and not made 50 appearances for us yet. He's young enough to improve, and if he doesn't he'll be moved on.

Running and pressing is a prerequisite for any footballer. He may run around a lot, but his poor first touch means he gives the ball away an awful lot, he rarely attempts to pass the ball forward and gives away lots of silly fouls. 

No doubt he can and will improve, but currently he’s nowhere near the level needed to compete at the top of league 1.

On your first point they don’t all do it consistently and not at the high intensity Anderson does.

I read the same type of arguments when we had Cousins, Wagstaff and Lapslie, but their energy added something to the squads they were a part of. I don’t disagree about his weaknesses, but there’s a place for him in this squad. You don’t need 20 Championship quality players to get promoted.

Like I said if he improves he’ll grow with us, if he doesn’t he might drop down a league or two like Wagstaff and Lapslie did. Cousins on the other hand wasn’t a technical player but played in the Championship for several years after leaving us. Fox although a different position was another hard worker who’s done the same. If you underestimate the importance of those attributes you can end up with a squad that lacks the aggression and legs to properly compete. This season is the first for a while where that doesn’t seem to be the case.

It would also likely cost a lot more in wages to have an experienced L1 squad player who offers similar strengths but is a bit more well rounded. That budget can instead be put towards first choice players.

fenaddick said:

https://x.com/cafcofficial/status/1836147686413611223?s=46&t=MojDVxh_AjG5taAWPQn6Tw

Like these comments from Nathan Jones. Lots of positives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIt4vg_MTPE

Terry Taylor’s set pieces are good, also not bad as a player at all.

Zach was decent aswell with his ball carrying. Reminded me of Bielik.