The Lounge

[Windlesham Don]

OK, seems like I am now able to post again! :o)

Went along to see the U18s play the Franchise in their final preparation match for the Youth Cup last 16 tie at Preston.

This set of boys are very impressive and the 4-0 victory probably flattered the Franchise, as the score could easily have been 6 or 7 we were so dominant.

Wednesday will be a test for the lads against a side who put out Everton in the last round, but if we concentrate and play to our abilities then we have a fantastic chance of progressing to the quarter final – that would be a category 3 academy in the last 8 of a competition populated with the vast resources of the Premier League academies!

My fingers will be firmly crossed for a chance to entertain either Brighton or Stoke in the quarter final. I’m sure the fans would turn out in force for that one to cheer the boys on.

COYD!!

[Colum]

So Sutton march on. In hindsight it was a mistake of Leeds to field such a weakened side, especially on that excuse for a pitch. Surely the fact that they’ve now gone unbeaten against three league clubs on it can’t just be down to good management and players. Especially when compared to their home form.

Bitter? Moi?

[onyadon]

Listened to Rob Cornell’s call of the terrific AFC Wimbledon Under-18s last 16 FA Cup Youth tie at Preston North End. Newly-signed professional Anthony Hartigan put the young Dons ahead in first period of extra time 2-1 with a cracking volley before PNE got two late goals to snuff out the Dons’ challenge for a quarter-final spot. There is some terrific young talent coming through the system, and looking forward to them making an impact on the first team squad before too long. Think it might be time, to start giving some of our home grown young ones (those above Under-18 level, Egan etc.) more of a taste of first team football, if only a few runs off the bench as we hopefully get close to consolidating our place in L1 in the final games this season.

[Windlesham Don]

The match at Preston was the 5th time I have seen the U18s this season and unfortunately when the chips were down the boys did not perform. There were some bright spots and I thought that Jayden Antwi and Judah Chapman showed their potential, but on the whole I feel that the boys did not perform as they have been recently. Hopefully the video of the match will prove very helpful to the coaching team, as they probably haven’t learnt much from some of the comfortable wins I have witnessed this season.

There is undoubted talent in the squad, so let’s hope they learn from this match and carry the lessons forward. Mental strength is as important as ability when a player becomes a professional and at Deepdale the boys seemed to get stuck in the headlights a little, failing to produce their true game.

[onyadon]

I tweeted this….. first time I’ve seen the term ‘evisceration’ used in the AFC Wimbledon context for the 4-0 loss at Sheffield United. Sounded like a tough afternoon. Sure, we could have done better, but by the looks of it Sheffield United are certainly heading for the Championship given their form and resources. We are in a different league to the Blades in lots of different ways. We just have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and take it out on Charlton Athletic and that lovely man Karl Robinson at Kingsmeadow next Saturday..

Here’s that article ….

[Singapore Don]

Make no mistake, that “performance” at Bramall Lane was as abject and lacklustre as we’ve seen from the Dons all season. The worst by far. While Sheffield United were silky smooth in their passing, incisive in their attacks, passionate in their fight, we were the polar opposite. Clueless, slow, lethargic and quite frankly embarrassingly hopeless. We simply allowed United to play their football, failing to press them until they got near our box. United had far too much time and space on the ball across the park. Not a single Dons player came out of that shambles with any sort of pride. Shea set us off badly with a terrible schoolboy goalkeeping error, Sean Kelly had an absolute nightmare being exposed time after time by the marauding Sheffield winger, our central defence was carved open far too often, they just went through us like a hot knife through butter. Robbo, I’m afraid, is looking his age now. We were lucky it was only 4-0 come the final whistle (like we were lucky to only concede 3 when they came to KM). As for the forwards, did they really have two weeks off? If so, they must have had a lot of down time, because while Elliott huffed and puffed to knock on high balls, Taylor looked well off the pace and Barcham offered nothing. Bulman was outrun and outfought in central midfield, and new boy Soares did little to impress. All round this was an appalling display, a ten hour round trip I’ll never get back – but at least I got to be with my daughter who came along from her nearby uni and a work colleague who’d come down with his son from Leeds to see his second Dons game of the season. Poor guy! At least we did get to see a great display of quick, intelligent, passing football by Sheffield United. They were excellent, and deserve promotion based on what we saw. They simply outclassed us.

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