Jump to content
  • Sign up for free and receive a month's subscription

    You are viewing this page as a guest. That means you are either a member who has not logged in, or you have not yet registered with us. Signing up for an account only takes a minute and it means you will no longer see this annoying box! It will also allow you to get involved with our friendly(ish!) community and take part in the discussions on our forums. And because we're feeling generous, if you sign up for a free account we will give you a month's free trial access to our subscriber only content with no obligation to commit. Register an account and then send a private message to @dave u and he'll hook you up with a subscription.

MK Dons 0 Liverpool 2 (Sep 25 2019)


tlw content
 Share

Recommended Posts

 

 
dave_usher.jpg
 
Report by
Dave Usher

 

This is exactly how the early rounds of the League Cup is supposed to be. Lower league opposition that allows you to field a mixture of fringe players and kids while still progressing to the next stage. 

 

We haven’t had that opportunity in recent years as we kept getting difficult draws. The same thing has happened now as we face Arsenal next, but at least we had this game to blood some youngsters. And all in all, it was a resounding success. 

 

Harvey Elliott was brilliant, Curtis Jones was very good too, Ki-Jana Hoever scored and Kelleher was very assured in goal (didn’t mention his first name as I can’t spell it and I’m too lazy to look it up). You’ve probably noted that I haven’t mentioned Rhian Brewster. I’ll get to him in a bit. 

 

It was a good game with chances at both ends. I enjoyed it. It’s always nice when a few kids get a chance and perform well, plus we had the added bonus of giving run outs to the senior lads who haven’t played much. Being able to do all that and still win is just what you want.

 

It wasn’t all plain sailing though, MK Dons had four or five really good chances and some of our defending wasn’t what it should be. Lovren blundered in the first half and Gomez was beaten far too easily in the second. Other than that they were alright, but it’s fair to say neither of them did anything to put pressure on Matip.  

 

 

This is just a teaser, click to view the full article

 

Please note that Match Reports are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £2 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

U17 world cup? Is Elliott not involved in that too?

 

As for TBM. He's a former striker, came through the Academy, played for the first team, watched all of the u18 / u23 games and speaks to Inglethorpe and other coaches. Yeah, he defo knows more than me, but I appreciate the vote of confidence!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • dave u pinned this topic

Regarding Brewster you have to take into account he missed 14 months due to injury. And he still havent had a prolonged run of matches after coming back. Early on yesterday he just looked like a bag of nerves, and I think he just needed to get this 1st match under his belt. All the kids did well yesterday,  some obviously more than others. And I also havent seen it mentioned anywhere, but those that drew 1-1 away against  Fleetwoods1st team (they lost on pens) was basically the u18s facing a team of similiar quality as MK Dons.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • dave u unpinned this topic
Guest Pistonbroke

Brewster was trying too hard, and like others have said has gone through a lot of injuries. It might work in his favour that he was outshone by the other youngsters, competition at any level brings out the best in certain players. We all know he is capable, so hopefully he uses the way things went to his advantage. Elliott looked very good, hopefully he'll calm down in front of goal and learn from the senior players about sticking the ball in the net with precision instead of power. Jones also looked lively, he did however have the imperious Milner to link up with. Milner is just your perfect professional, must be a joy to play on the same wing with. Hoever was a bit hit and miss but took his header very well, like Brewster we all know the lad has quality. Kelleher was pretty solid in goal and those saves he made were not only instinctive and good but they'll do wonders for a young lads confidence. I#d have liked to have seen a bit more of van den berg. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, bigal said:

Thought Milner showed great professionalism in leading those youngsters, he's a top bloke.

Was going to post similar. He played with the same intensity that he would in a big Champions League game.

 

Whenever he does decide to quit playing, I hope we keep him in a coaching capacity.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Pistonbroke
11 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

Was going to post similar. He played with the same intensity that he would in a big Champions League game.

 

Whenever he does decide to quit playing, I hope we keep him in a coaching capacity.

 

Pity Gomez and Lovren don't seem to have the same attitude. OK, Gomez is still young and hopefully he'll learn a few harsh lessons quickly, Lovren though. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought Lallana was excellent and I'm a long way from being a fan of his. He & Milner were easily the best of the seniors, Keita was OK as well but played within himself and kept it very simple, so you couldn't say he influenced the game enough given his reputation and talent.

 

The other seniors were out-performed by some of the kids. Personally, I was seriously impressed with Hoever - not just the goal and his general play but the fact he competed so well for every ball, even in the air against much stronger opponents he was fearless. He has the talent, that's obvious but he also looks to have the right attitude. If he is to make the grade as a centreback then he has to have that edge. Sure he needs to develop and put on some strength so he won't be out-muscled, that's all about growing into his frame, but if at this stage he is throwing himself whole-heartedly into challenges against big, experienced pros then that is a great sign.

 

Elliot - wow! Curtis Jones - some classy touches, he has quick feet and I hope he kicks on from here. Brewster meh, didn't seem to have much positional sense and he touched the ball so infrequently it was not the game to draw any conclusions, just has to play more but he didn't make a case for breaking into the first team yet as we all hoped from pre-season. Kelleher, very promising - his distribution is already streets ahead of Mignolet and one of his saves from point blank range was stunning, so he well deserves being our #2 even for a brief period.

 

Roll on Arsenal, then Crawley or Colchester please!

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 26/09/2019 at 17:06, Kurt said:

Regarding Brewster you have to take into account he missed 14 months due to injury. And he still havent had a prolonged run of matches after coming back. Early on yesterday he just looked like a bag of nerves, and I think he just needed to get this 1st match under his belt. All the kids did well yesterday,  some obviously more than others. And I also havent seen it mentioned anywhere, but those that drew 1-1 away against  Fleetwoods1st team (they lost on pens) was basically the u18s facing a team of similiar quality as MK Dons.

That's a well made point - but I'd say Fleetwood are better than MK Dons - they spent a fair bit in the summer (for League 1) and have mad Joey Barton as manager.  

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...