16 Mar 2022 00:18:14
Under23's Brilliant performance on Tuesday evening. MOT.

1.) 16 Mar 2022
16 Mar 2022 01:43:46
Yep Leeds United 3 Manx 0 in front of 10,000 approx

Very impressive from Kenneh in defence and up front Summerville, Max Dean and the increasingly impressive Archie Gray.

2.) 16 Mar 2022
16 Mar 2022 06:48:22
Strong team out! Close to 10k crowd! Archie Gray first goal, I think? Nice to give them a bit of a thrashing!
Think we might have a bit of a player in Max Dean!
The future is White! MOT.

3.) 16 Mar 2022
16 Mar 2022 07:16:23
Agree PLAB, definitely worth watching the highlights for those who have not seen them, so many good performances from Max Dean, Archie Gray etc but big shout out to Kenneh at CB what a unit he’s grown into looks like a young Patrick Viera!

Played alongside Charlie Cresswell last night and was probably MOTM (rated 9-10) normally used as a defensive midfielder and must be extremely close to making his first team debut.

4.) 16 Mar 2022
16 Mar 2022 09:46:46
You can watch the whole match on LUTV (without subscription) to fully appreciate the performance. Took the lads the first 5 minutes to settle into the game, but after that were fairly dominant throughout.

A team with the quality the Mancs possess - including 11-cap Tunisia international Hannibal Mejbri - were always going to create a few chances, but these were kept to a minimum, with a much better defensive shape and discipline under the new system. Kenneh was outstanding but the rest of them put in a shift too. Klaesson looked more assured - almost certainly helped by having greater confidence in his defensive cover - and pulled off a couple of excellent saves when the Manx managed to get in on goal.

The Mancs principal tactic seemed to be give the ball to Mejbri and see what he can do. This might have worked better if we’d still been playing Bielsaball, as his marker would have had been more restrained in the press for fear of picking up a card and then treading on eggshells after the inevitable yellow had been produced. Last night, our midfield were able to take in turns to harry him, each getting a free foul in etc. Our second goal came from young Archie Gray pressing him on the edge of their box, giving Greenwood a chance to nick the ball and set up Max Dean. Dean repaid the youngster later, in pressing their keeper, who was attempting to sweep out on the wing, and cleared the ball to Archie who - dead centre about 40 yards out - accepted the invitation to set himself and fire the ball brilliantly into the unguarded net to wrap up the points. In his interview afterward Gray credited the assist to the crowd, their imploring him to SHOOT apparently made him focus more clearly on the line and place the ball, rather than just hit it and hope.

None of players appeared fazed by the occasion, playing our most bitter rivals at Elland Road in front of such a big crowd, while still only two weeks into learning a new tactical setup. From the interviews afterwards, it seems like they’re being encouraged to be more vocal with each other on the pitch, to help keep focused on shape etc, giving a quick bollocking/ gee up on occasion if appropriate.

It was good to see all of the players recently promoted to the first team (except Joffy) featuring - with Cresswell, Summerville and Kenneh playing the full match. This hugely improved our chances of beating (and by the end humbling) the Mancs, giving the large crowd exactly what they wanted and helping to build on the more positive feeling around the Club after the weekend’s win. Importantly, that win also increases the U23s chances of avoiding the drop into PL2 Division 2. For the same reason, hopefully this more experienced lineup will feature in some of the remaining 5 games too.

The only downside to last night’s match was what appeared to be a knee injury for Lewis Bate - he tried to play on and seemed to be moving fairly freely again, but gave up after going in for a crunching challenge - hopefully that hasn’t worstened whatever problem he’s picked up.

5.) 16 Mar 2022
16 Mar 2022 09:57:41
Great to hear! Ta for the insights lads!

6.) 16 Mar 2022
16 Mar 2022 15:42:49
Good write up clu.