Soccer Prospects Thread VII

[cgf]

France beat Uzbekistan 1-0 and are through to the semis. They'll face the winner of Mali-Morocco.
My former student Paul Argney still hasn't been scored on in the competition.

TBF he has yet to face Brunner & Ramsak ;-)

 

[Evilo]

Not sold on France's play tbh. They've been shaky the whole tournament.
But they did show metal strength. And Argney and Meupiyou have come up big.
Disappointed in Lambourde and Bouabre.

 

[cgf]

Not sold on France's play tbh. They've been shaky the whole tournament.
But they did show metal strength. And Argney and Meupiyou have come up big.
Disappointed in Lambourde and Bouabre.

TBH we haven't been as sharp as we were at the euros either. Ouedraogo was huge for us, especially against your athleticism & physicality, so him getting injured was a major loss and our collective pressing just hasn't been as crisp.

Luckily we still have plenty of game-breaking talent in attack and Schmitt has consistently surprised me with how reliable he is for a U17 keeper, but if we don't raise our level now that we're in the final 4, I won't be shocked if we fall short as well.


Glad your boy has been doing well though, he was very impressive at the euros. Bummer about Lambourde & Bouabre, they were the two outfield players who popped most for you in that tourney...at least to my eye.

 

[Evilo]

Fode Sylla is starting the semi final, Saimon Bouabre isn't. Sylla used to be the star of this selection but Bouabre has taken over for more than a year now.
Well Sylla impressive so far and creating the biggest chance.

 

[Jussi]

One of Darren's twins that United got back from City in the summer:



He was also the only U-18 team player who trained with the UCL squad today.

Sidenote, Darren was close to being called up to the senior team by SAF, when he was 16 but he got injured.

 

[Evilo]

France got through Mali with a mistake from my kiddo Argney which he made up minutes later with some great saves.

France/Germany in the final, just like in the Euros.
However, contrary to the Euros, France seems extremely shaky this tournament and I can't see them threatning Germany (it ended up in penalty shootout last year in the Euros).

 

[cgf]

France got through Mali with a mistake from my kiddo Argney which he made up minutes later with some great saves.

France/Germany in the final, just like in the Euros.
However, contrary to the Euros, France seems extremely shaky this tournament and I can't see them threatning Germany (it ended up in penalty shootout last year in the Euros).

We both look much more wobbly than we did over the summer, so I won't be surprised if it goes to penalties again. We were outplayed by Spain & Argentina...only winning because we had more talent...and the Americans came close to equalizing against us late.

Of course Brunner & co. can turn any match in our favor, but both our play against the ball and our early build up play has been way sloppier than it was at the Euros...as Ouedraogo (whose introduction turned around our first match) 's absence has really hampered our midfield control.

 

[Evilo]

Argentina has a lot of talent though. They were my favourites in the tournament going in and played some nice football. They totally dominated Germany in the first half.

 

[cgf]

Argentina has a lot of talent though. They were my favourites in the tournament going in and played some nice football. They totally dominated Germany in the first half.

Oh I don't mean to take anything away from them, they played great...couldn't handle Brunner, but nobody can at this level...just pointing out we haven't been as sharp with our pressing or build up play at this tourney, and that without Ouedraogo next to Darvich, we can't control the midfield with talent alone.

 

[Evilo]

I know you weren't, but I just disagree with the notion Argentina is less talented.


In other news, Rennes is trying to sign Lucas Bergvall. Exciting.

 

[cgf]

I know you weren't, but I just disagree with the notion Argentina is less talented.


In other news, Rennes is trying to sign Lucas Bergvall. Exciting.

Ah, I haven't watched them enough to have a firm opinion and they certainly impressed today...but it felt like they had to work a lot harder to create dangerous chances in the final third, they certainly crafted plenty of them and their press was excellent.

But we could just waltz into scoring chances almost every time we didn't give the ball away before it got to Darvich or Brunner, and both of our extended stretches of possession ended up in the back of their net...albeit the 2nd was called off for offsides.

 

[les Habs]

Argentina definitely has some talents staring with Echeverri. From what I saw they didn’t seem great at the back though.

Another team that deserves mention is Mali. From what I saw no fluke there and an interesting player or two.

 

[Evilo]

Yes Mali has a couple of nice players, especially Diarra.
But the gem is Amara Diouf from Senegal. What a talent !
Going from Generation Foot to Metz next year.

 

[les Habs]

Yeah, Diouf looks a standout right now.

How many from the tournament do you have in your set up?

 

[Evilo]

Not that many.

 

[Evilo]

Final going on. Mali won 3rd place.
Germany up 1-0 at halftime.
Germany better organised and better team overall.
Yet France had the best chance by Bouabre and Germany needed a VAR pen to score (which was a pen).
France unimpressive as usual except Argney, Meupiyou, Bouabre and Lambourde.
Their weak point still is LB Sadi who turned over the ball all the time and cost the pen.

 

[Evilo]

France totally dominating the second half so far but a counter by Germany turned into a lucky own goal for them before Bouabre scored a great solo effort goal.
2-1 and France the better team in the second.

Deserved second yellow for a German player.
Come on kids!

 

[Evilo]

Final score 2-2 so penalty shootout again, like last year in the Euro final.
Lots of regrets since France played Germany off the pitch in the second half and finally played up to their potential.
Should have scored a third a long time ago.

Hopefully they come away with the win.

 

[Evilo]

Argney saved the decisive penalty from Bruner with an amazing save but Titi shot a desastrous penalty to gift Germany their first U17 WC title.

 

[bluesfan94]

Really makes you wonder how far the US could have gone if they had gotten the deserved penalty against Germany and didn't get the undeserved (according to the ref) red card against the team with the ineligible player.

 

[cgf]

France got lucky that their first goal was just onside because Odogu leaned the wrong way and that they didn't concede more than 1 in the first half...or at the start of stoppage time...but we let them into the game way too much in the second half; even before Osawe's soft second yellow.

Luckily the team who deserved it most was able to secure the win on penalties and Ouedraogo's absence didn't let the Frenchies steal this one. Clean sweep for the mini Mannschaft this year, with the only loss coming on the last day of qualifiers to Spain; when we had already secured our spot in the next round.

 

[Evilo]

I don't feel like Germany deserved to win this one really.
France overall was the better team, though the red card certainly helped.
France had the best chance of the first half and dominated the second. They also scored two goals on a nice classy solo effort and on a nicely built passing play.
Germany scored a VAR pen and a lucky deflection own goal.

 

[cgf]

Despite the red card and possession disparity Germany generated as many shots as France did, more corners, and more dangerous chances. The french just couldn't handle Brunner...even with a man advantage...or Darvich.

France were lucky that their 1st goal wasn't called for offsides, that they only got called for 1 penalty, that Osawe was shown a second yellow, and that our backup keeper let in a softie.

Germany scored a beautiful counter attacking goal and had multiple chances to score while they were outclassing France in the first half...as well as after going down to 10.

Your boy stood on his head though, Germany would've been up by 2-3 at the half if not for Argney.

 

[JoVel]

Despite the red card and possession disparity Germany generated as many shots as France did, more corners, and more dangerous chances. The french just couldn't handle Brunner...even with a man advantage...or Darvich.

France were lucky that their 1st goal wasn't called for offsides, that they only got called for 1 penalty, that Osawe was shown a second yellow, and that our backup keeper let in a softie.

Germany scored a beautiful counter attacking goal and had multiple chances to score while they were outclassing France in the first half...as well as after going down to 10.

Your boy stood on his head though, Germany would've been up by 2-3 at the half if not for Argney.

What kind of a player do you think Brunner can become?

 

[Evilo]

Despite the red card and possession disparity Germany generated as many shots as France did, more corners, and more dangerous chances. The french just couldn't handle Brunner...even with a man advantage...or Darvich.

France were lucky that their 1st goal wasn't called for offsides, that they only got called for 1 penalty, that Osawe was shown a second yellow, and that our backup keeper let in a softie.

Germany scored a beautiful counter attacking goal and had multiple chances to score while they were outclassing France in the first half...as well as after going down to 10.

Your boy stood on his head though, Germany would've been up by 2-3 at the half if not for Argney.

They were lucky an onside goal was called onside? That they weren't called for pens that never existed? That Osawe was shown a deserved red?
Possession was 65/35. And it didn't just happen after the red card you know it.
I think Germany was lucky that Ayman Saidi, a RB, was forced to play LB (he cost the penalty). As soon as he was subed, Germany was outclassed.
Man I wonder what game you were watching.

Brunner was frankly bad this game. It was Darvich most of the time.
Brunner scored on small teams because of his physical advantage. I see much less upside in him than Darvich who, while not as powerful, has more brains and elegance.

Oh and let's not forget there's a penalty for France not called at the 90th. Would have been called earlier, but ref probably didn't have the balls to call it then. Arguable the german defenseman doesn't do that at the 60th minute either mind you.