Reserve team football is where you find the hardcore of football fans, and if last night at Ewen Fields in Hyde is anything to go by, a lot of chavs as well.
But there is also something special about it, away from the pressure and expectations of thousands of screaming fans, and away from bowling green surfaces of the Premier League there exists a more basic brand of the game where hatchet men that will never make it rub their shoulders with silky footballers recovering from injury, but on the fields of reserve team football all are equal.
As some of you may know I am a Manchester City fan and season ticket holder and I have been for many years, and I now find myself watching the reserves as well (or Elite Development Squad as they are ridiculously known), I have always wanted to have a way to keep football fans aware of this less glamourous level and help inform about players that could go on to become house hold names.
The first part of this adventure saw me the other night with 501 other people watching the City reserve side take on the Bolton reserves in Hyde in the Barclays Premier Reserve League North. Rather than a report on the actual match I think it is more interesting to look at players that caught the eye and think about who could potentially make the step forward into the first team.
The game was won by Bolton 3-2, but the major talking point was 2 bad looking injuries. City goalkeeper Gunnar Nielson had to be stretchered off with his leg braced taking oxygen, and to be honest it looked pretty serious, and again in the 2nd half there was another serious looking injury to City player Tom Smith who too was stretchered off.
But what of the rest of the players, I will start with Manchester City:
Firstly I must say it was nice to see Michael Johnson get a full game under his belt, after a long time out injured getting minutes on the clock is vital in getting him back in the first team. He was very neat on the ball and played quite a deep role, he rarely gave the ball away and got round the pitch well.
Certainly the best City player and arguably the best player on the pitch was ex-Barcelona midfielder Gai Assulin. The Israeli looked a constant threat, he looked pacey, carried the ball well, was not afraid to take on his man and beat many of them with relative ease. He pulled all the strings for the side and played in a very similar fashion to David Silva in the first team. I really felt watching him that he looked capable of playing for the first team at some point, maybe not in the next few weeks but at some point.
Donal McDermott also had an interesting game, or should that be frustrating. He has great ability on the ball and is capable of some great runs that would be good enough of the first team squad, but most of the time his product was woeful, he has a definite tendancy to run the ball too far and into blind alleys when there is a simpler pass on. He created many attacks, but also ended a fair few as well.
Someone close to the first team at City already is Alex Nimely, he suffered last night through lack of service, but when he did get a chance in front of goal, he finished well. The striker looked strong and relatively quick he also worked hard and got about the pitch well. I think should the service be better there are good signs for the young striker, and appearances on the substitutes bench for the first team demonstrate the potential in him.
Honourable mentions should also go to Chris Chantler who from left back looked solid and was good coming forward, however a move into midfield hampered his play somewhat. There also should be praise for Frederic Veseli at centreback who is considerably younger than his team mates and more used to playing with the under 18s but yet had a remarkably strong game against a very physical and strong Bolton frontline.
As for the Bolton youngsters, see how it broke down on the next page:
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Their stand out player for me was midfielder Josh Vela. He looked like very comfortable in the middle of the Bolton midfield, he was always available for a pass, and was very neat and effective. He seemed to be the heart-beat of the team, at times he would dictate play and move the ball quickly to get the team going. An excellent presence in the midfield the under 18 man looked like one day he could have the quality to play for the first 11.
I was also extremely impressed with the right back Joe Riley, not only sound defensively, he kept Andrea Mancini quiet in the first half as well as breaking quickly down the flank to lay on two goals for Bolton. He appeared to tire a bit as the game went on, but again he looked like a decent prospect and might be one to watch for both the under 18s and the reserves.
Tom Eaves, the Bolton front man also caught my eye during the game. He was pretty tidy for a taller lad, he had a good touch and was pretty skilled with the ball at his feet, it should also be noted that he was relatively pacey for someone tall. He got his name on the scoresheet, albeit from the penalty spot, but he was behind a lot of the good things that the Bolton side did, particularly in the first half.
21 year old Tope Obadeyi, has actually played 3 times for the first team and has had a couple of different spells on loan in the lower leagues, and both the good and the bad were on display last night. Always a willing runner, the quick winger caused problems down the flanks, however his final delivery was absent a lot of the time.
A tendency to play with his head down did not help the wide man, he did however get his name on the scoresheet with a well taken finish. Definitely has the physical attributes to make it, but he needs to improve the technical side of his game to have an impact at the higher levels of the game.
Honourable mentions should go too Michael O’Halloran who seemed a useful attacking player and centreback Mark Connolly who was excellent in the air and repelled many City attack.
It was an enjoyable night in Hyde, and I look forward to offering more of my thoughs over the coming weeks, hopefully keeping things in the balance in the process, my hopes here aren’t to deliver match reports, but just to inform about who is looking good in and who is flattering to deceive in this stepping stone of a league. I’ll be back next week with another view from the reserves, next time out, Wigan.
Any questions or comments about my views? Twitter is the place @soccercityjoe!
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