U23 Players 2018/19

[Olé Olé]

Great going. The shortlist is made up of 3 Irishmen, 3 from England and one a piece from Germany, Portugal and Denmark.

[liamoo11]

I wonder will we see any Irish lads getting a run in last game this weekend? O connor maybe at utd might be most likely to be involved on the bench seemingly trained with first team last week. Molumby maybe on bench but hughton seems so conservative probably not. Maybe someone at Southampton o connor or smallbone might make bench. Might Cassidy get a bench spot with Watford preparing for a cup final and resting lads? West ham might find a start for Coventry?

Depending on parrotts recovery with son and kane out maybe would make the bench. Might kian Flanagan be rewarded for winning that the under 23 player of the year by been on bench for crystal palace ?

[tetsujin1979]

Will Ferry won Academy Player of the Season at Southampton's end of season awards: https://southamptonfc.com/news/2019-05-07/player-awards-round-up-southampton-football-club-7-may-2019

[mark12345]

I wonder will we see any Irish lads getting a run in last game this weekend? O connor maybe at utd might be most likely to be involved on the bench seemingly trained with first team last week. Molumby maybe on bench but hughton seems so conservative probably not. Maybe someone at Southampton o connor or smallbone might make bench. Might Cassidy get a bench spot with Watford preparing for a cup final and resting lads? West ham might find a start for Coventry?

Depending on parrotts recovery with son and kane out maybe would make the bench. Might kian Flanagan be rewarded for winning that the under 23 player of the year by been on bench for crystal palace ?

I think with that unbelievable victory by Spurs tonight the physios at White Hart Lane will be moving Heaven and earth to get Kane ready for June 1. Which means that Parrott may not be thought of by the coaching staff at the club in terms of end of season games? Who knows though.

On a different topic, looking at the standard of play by all four teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League, how far are our young lads from ever scaling those heights?

[Razors left peg]

On a different topic, looking at the standard of play by all four teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League, how far are our young lads from ever scaling those heights?

Im pretty sure they could perform like Barce in last nights game easily enough!

[Cathalsmart]

I think with that unbelievable victory by Spurs tonight the physios at White Hart Lane will be moving Heaven and earth to get Kane ready for June 1. Which means that Parrott may not be thought of by the coaching staff at the club in terms of end of season games? Who knows though.

On a different topic, looking at the standard of play by all four teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League, how far are our young lads from ever scaling those heights?

You could say the same about probably half the Ajax team if the question was asked this time last year...

[elatedscum]

Parrott was still wearing the boot cast in Tallaght on Thursday night, so can’t see him playing any part in Spurs season or the u21s. Heard from someone involved with one of the youth squads that he was set to go to Armenia with the 19s but wouldn’t treat it as gospel yet

[Olé Olé]

Thank God this lad is notoriously grounded and hungry. He's clearly the envy of every Irish underage manager when he's selected for one of the other squads and they are all clearly referencing him when he's injured too.

[tetsujin1979]

Parrott was still wearing the boot cast in Tallaght on Thursday night, so can’t see him playing any part in Spurs season or the u21s. Heard from someone involved with one of the youth squads that he was set to go to Armenia with the 19s but wouldn’t treat it as gospel yet

yeah, he's wearing it in this photo with the squad before the game
1126533112446574593

[tetsujin1979]

I wonder will we see any Irish lads getting a run in last game this weekend? O connor maybe at utd might be most likely to be involved on the bench seemingly trained with first team last week. Molumby maybe on bench but hughton seems so conservative probably not. Maybe someone at Southampton o connor or smallbone might make bench. Might Cassidy get a bench spot with Watford preparing for a cup final and resting lads? West ham might find a start for Coventry?

Depending on parrotts recovery with son and kane out maybe would make the bench. Might kian Flanagan be rewarded for winning that the under 23 player of the year by been on bench for crystal palace ?

unfortunately none of these did make a final day squad.
However, the Southampton players had a good reason - they were playing Newcastle in the play off for Premier League 2 Division Two
1127981832002265088

Southampton won two-one, and will play in Premier League 2 Division One next season, but I'm not sure who of these players will be overage for the competition.
The whole game is on YouTube, see below
ifvUt33zruU

[samhaydenjr]

With the U23 season I got to thinking about when we may see some of the players we've been tracking breaking through to a level where they might merit consideration for the senior squad. And while it's probably too late for all but a couple to be factors in the current campaign, it's possible that there could be a significant number of youngsters making the grade in time for the World Cup Qualifiers in 2020. So here is a list of uncapped youngsters (plus Obafemi, who's only played 10 minutes) who I think could step up to first team football over the course of the next 18 months - as a rough criteria I'm looking at players with significant experience at their club's highest underage level at least as that indicates that a first-team breakthrough next season is a decent possibility (some will already have first-team experience). So here goes...

Goalkeepers
Mark Travers, Caoimhin Kelleher

Defenders
Conor Masterson, Corey Whelan, Lee O'Connor, Jimmy Dunne, Tyreke Wilson, Nathan Collins, Ryan Nolan, Dara O'Shea, Aaron O'Driscoll, Corrie Ndaba

Midfielders
Danny Crowley, Connor Ronan, Jason Molumby, Conor Coventry, Josh Barrett, Olamide Shodipo, Jake Mulraney, Harry Charsley, Josh Cullen, Jordan Shipley, Jason Knight, Will Smallbone, Will Ferry, KianFlanagan

Forwards
Michael Obafemi, Troy Parrott, Aaron Connolly, Ryan Cassidy, Jonathan Afolabi, Adam Idah, Glen McAuley, Aaron Drinan, Aidan Keena, Rowan Roache, Tyriek WrightSo, not too shabby - I know not all of them will become international standard players in the next fifteen months (if ever), but if even two or three in each area do, our squad will have a lot more depth when the qualifiers for Qatar start, as there's only likely to be a couple of retirements. There's also a Nation's League campaign next Autumn which could give Stephen Kenny an opportunity to give debuts to the most promising prospects

So what do you lads think? Is it possible that we'll have a much-improved squad for the next campaign? How many of this group (of 37!) will be ready when the qualifiers kick off? Have I missed anybody? Are there LOI players who could be added to the list? Or have I included a bunch of players who really not contenders?

[Eirambler]

Kieran O'Hara and Luca Connell are two not on your list that could go a long way in a short space of time depending on their next club moves.

On the other hand Jake Mulraney is nowhere near international level and never will be. He's exceptionally quick but almost every other aspect of his game is poor.

[pineapple stu]

Conor Masterson released on a free. Bit unexpected, but I think it's the start of his career now. He was never going to make it at Liverpool

Edit - actually, I'm mixing him up with Kelleher! But roughly the same point stands

[liamoo11]

Conor Masterson released on a free. Bit unexpected, but I think it's the start of his career now. He was never going to make it at Liverpool

Edit - actually, I'm mixing him up with Kelleher! But roughly the same point stands

Not kelleher its Whelan is it released on a free?is Masterson released as well I thought he signed a new contract last summer?

[samhaydenjr]

Kieran O'Hara and Luca Connell are two not on your list that could go a long way in a short space of time depending on their next club moves.

On the other hand Jake Mulraney is nowhere near international level and never will be. He's exceptionally quick but almost every other aspect of his game is poor.

Yes, completely forgot about Connell. Wasn't sure about O'Hara as I couldn't see a clear path to first-team action at Championship level for him next season, or alternatively being second-choice at least at ManU, but I guess one of those could happen.

As regards Mulraney, I concede I haven't seen him play, but he has been playing regularly for Hearts (same level as Horgan, Rooney and Hayes who are/were considered to be on the fringes of our squad). I didn't realise he's already 23, so it looks more like steady development for him rather than a potential meteoric rise over the next eighteen months.


Conor Masterson released on a free. Bit unexpected, but I think it's the start of his career now. He was never going to make it at Liverpool

Edit - actually, I'm mixing him up with Kelleher! But roughly the same point stands

Apparently Norwich were showing interest a few weeks back and Liverpool actually wanted him to stay, so hopefully this is a planned move to kick-start his first-team career: https://talksport.com/football/efl/519313/liverpool-starlet-conor-masterson-norwich-premier-league/

[tetsujin1979]

Whelan does appear to have been released, although nothing is confirmed yet. I think Robbie Keane is the last Irish player to appear for Liverpool, definitely the last Irish player to appear for them in the Premier League - that was in January 2009, more than 10 years ago! Since then, off the top of my head, Daniel Cleary, Joe Rafferty, Alex O'Hanlon, and now apparently Whelan and Masterson, have been released with only a few appearances on the subs bench between them.
Any central defender at Liverpool is going to find it hard to get into the first team. Van Dijk is always going to start, so there's effectively only one spot available to them.

[DeLorean]

Piece here from the Liverpool Echo - https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/promising-youngster-once-included-liverpools-16278151

[elatedscum]

**Sorry for the essay :p **. Whelan is definitely leaving. As for Conor Masterson, thoughts below...


To be honest, I'm surprised that he's not sticking around. Only because he's yet to go out on loan. The normal formula is to given him a season in the championship or league 1 to see how he gets on, to have a true sense of where he's at.


He was very unfortunate with the injury he got at the end of last season. It meant he fell behind Nat Phillips and George Johnstone during preseason where he was still injured. Then Hoever (who is playing tonight in Tallaght for Netherlands u17s) came along and was absolutely stunning, getting promoted at age 16 to being around the first team squad.


Assuming Liverpool wanted to keep him, it's a high risk, high reward choice to leave. He could end up falling into the traps that Dan Cleary did. Signing for a championship side, almost breaking in, managerial change, then a year or two of stagnation before returning to Ireland. Young attackers and midfielders at the fringes of the first team always get an opportunity to play the last 15-20 minutes of a match and impress, whereas a centre half, it's generally "if it ain't broke...". Especially when the young player has no previous experience of senior football.


Clubs like Liverpool are very good at arranging loan deals which highly incentivise playing their players. For example, if the player is playing more than 75% of matches, Liverpool will cover the majority of the wages and if they play less than 25%, the loaning club has to pay a penalty fee. Clubs want to keep Liverpool happy as if they are considered a good fit, they can agree a series of loans with promising young players, year on year, and if not, then their rivals might be the ones receiving the same players.


The counter argument is that theoretically if he signs for say Luton, by Luton owning him, they should have more interest in giving him game time and building his value etc. etc. but it doesn't often work that way. Also, depending on the player, year after year loans can really hinder development if they struggle to adapt to living in a bedsit or a dodgy hotel for several months, years of transience. Mental health problems or depression is not uncommon, also players diets can be an issue as well.


In terms of Conor specifically. Good player, very comfortable on the ball. Reads the game very well, good in the air (as with a lot of young ball playing defenders, has the odd clanger in him).


To break in at Liverpool, you need to be absolutely outstanding, I always felt he lacked a yard of pace to make the grade there. Best case scenario, he signs for a Championship side with a manager prepared to give him a chance. He breaks in during preseason and is playing regularly at that level for a couple of years before making the step up to the premier league. Honestly though, I would have said the exact same thing for Cleary, Cleary was/is faster and more physical but not quite as smooth as Masterson. Fingers crossed for him.

[tetsujin1979]

Idah, Connolly & Smallbone make up a third of the shortlist for the Premier League 2 Player of the Year Award - https://www.premierleague.com/news/1210894
And the winner is... https://www.premierleague.com/news/1221430

[irishfan86]

I know when clubs are struggling to avoid relegation kids rarely get a chance, but I was a little surprised Hughton didn't bring Connolly into the mix, even off the bench, to see what he could do at Premier League level. Ah well maybe he'll get a chance under a new manager next season. Would be great to see him break through.

[elatedscum]

he was injured from December and then on loan at Luton (where you can still play for u23s or friendlies of your host team but with not the senior side)

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47784977

[Olé Olé]

he was injured from December and then on loan at Luton (where you can still play for u23s or friendlies of your host team but with not the senior side)

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47784977
The point is that he wasn't afforded an opportunity pre-injury. That's when a lot of the speculation was being bandied around German clubs.

[tetsujin1979]

To be fair, Brighton had only failed to score in eight games until the end of January. Their problems at that point were in defence. By the time they had stopped scoring, Connolly was injured

[irishfan86]

All fair points Tets & elated -- perhaps I'm being too harsh on Hughton. Just want to see if Connolly has the stuff at the top level!

[liamoo11]

https://www.thisisanfield.com/2019/05/liverpools-newest-academy-signing-makes-first-outing-as-u18s-suffer-friendly-defeat/ this mentions that mcauley is out of contract this summer. If that's the case shamrock rovers would be a great move he would fit in well and give them a front man who is technical and can bring others into the play and be a goal threat.

[Olé Olé]

I did a check on his stats this season. He played 16 games in the PL2 for the under 23 side without a goal. The release on the cards.

At 19, this is an important decision to make alright. He is at an age where he could either come home or he could trial at a few lower league sides in England in the hope of earning a contract.

[liamoo11]

I did a check on his stats this season. He played 16 games in the PL2 for the under 23 side without a goal. The release on the cards.

At 19, this is an important decision to make alright. He is at an age where he could either come home or he could trial at a few lower league sides in England in the hope of earning a contract.

He is a lovely technical footballer and a good finisher but no where near enough power or pace for liverpool at the moment. Brewster is the same age but miles ahead physically. Would love to see him at rovers

[Paddy Garcia]

Liverpool is a graveyard for young Irish talent .........

[Olé Olé]

Liverpool is a graveyard for young Irish talent .........
O'Hanlon, Masterson, Cleary and McAuley were all very hotly tipped. None of then even lasted long enough there to get out on a loan. Hopefully Kelleher breaks the mould.

[mark12345]

He is a lovely technical footballer and a good finisher but no where near enough power or pace for liverpool at the moment. Brewster is the same age but miles ahead physically. Would love to see him at rovers

For a lad who was spoken so highly of for so long, I feel it would be disastrous for him to come home to Rovers. Admittedly Liam, you probably know a whole lot more about the scene at home that I do, but there is plenty of time for him to come home. I can think of 24 Championship clubs he can go to before ever thinking of coming home.

[liamoo11]

For a lad who was spoken so highly of for so long, I feel it would be disastrous for him to come home to Rovers. Admittedly Liam, you probably know a whole lot more about the scene at home that I do, but there is plenty of time for him to come home. I can think of 24 Championship clubs he can go to before ever thinking of coming home.

It's a fair point but would he play much at championship level at the moment? I dont think he is physically good enough just yet. He cant even make our under 19 squad now with the likes of afolabi and idah not to mention obafemi ahead of him for that central role all of whom are much more powerful and athletic than he is at present. A few years at rovers playing in a side that plays good football and badly need a natural front man would give him a chance to develop physically while playing at a high level and in Europe to go back to UK maybe at 22 or 23 physically ready

[Charlie Darwin]

It's a fair point but would he play much at championship level at the moment? I dont think he is physically good enough just yet. He cant even make our under 19 squad now with the likes of afolabi and idah not to mention obafemi ahead of him for that central role all of whom are much more powerful and athletic than he is at present. A few years at rovers playing in a side that plays good football and badly need a natural front man would give him a chance to develop physically while playing at a high level and in Europe to go back to UK maybe at 22 or 23 physically ready
He'd have to get into the Rovers team first. Alex O'Hanlon wasn't close to being good enough for the LOI Premier Division. Cleary was but after another year in England.

[liamoo11]

He'd have to get into the Rovers team first. Alex O'Hanlon wasn't close to being good enough for the LOI Premier Division. Cleary was but after another year in England.

Ah Charles he would get into that rovers team wouldn't he? Ye badly need a front man surely ye cant win a league with greene and Carr as front man options?

[elatedscum]

@mark12345

Honestly, I really feel another year at Liverpool would do him good. Not sure he's ready for senior football yet, be it in the championship or league 1 or league of ireland. he's always been an excellent finisher, totally natural. but as he's gone from U18 to U23, the quality of defenders improved and he began to struggle. but since then, his movement off the ball and his hold up play has really improved, along with his decision making and passing in the final third. even if he was to play U23s until January and then move to Rovers hopefully for a season. It would give him an extra 6 months of physical development, at which point hopefully he'd be able for the challenges he will face.


Half our current u21 side are lads who went across at 16 and are back home now. League of Ireland clubs are filled with lads who have essentially come home to play regular football - and the quality of football in the league has improved a lot in recent years... Genuinely, I could name a team of players who could be future internationals playing in the league right now (aged between 19 and 23) - so it’s really not the death knell for a young player that it once was.

[Charlie Darwin]

Ah Charles he would get into that rovers team wouldn't he? Ye badly need a front man surely ye cant win a league with greene and Carr as front man options?
Rovers play with physical and athletic strikers. I don't know what type of player McAuley is but I doubt he would be physically ready for men's football having never played it before.

[liamoo11]

Confirmation that McCauley is leaving liverpool. One great goalscoring season for the 18s and 2 average follow on seasons . To be fair he stepped up to 23s this season and looked decent I thought when he got opportunities. At 19 it's a great age to leave after a great education. Good hold up player, decent pace nice finisher and decent size but not the most athletic yet but hopefully that will come.