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Post by wirralwelsh on Jan 3, 2024 14:19:09 GMT
I think we have a pretty young team and are actually well covered for the future, up to 2028 Euros at least. Only exception is maybe at centre forward with Moore declining, but Cullen is having a good breakthrough season now, and plenty of teenage striker prospects too so shouldn't be a problem. Beck the next player to step up from Under-21's I expect, and Colwill and Harris already been in the first team squad. Ward, Williams, Beck, Davies, Rodon, Mepham, Ampadu, J James, Wilson, Johnson, Cullen should be nucleus of the team for a few years, with plenty of impact sub options too (D James, Brooks, Harris, Colwill, Broadhead etc. Maybe Matondo and Tyler Roberts also) Don't agree with you at all on Liam Cullen I'm afraid - I can only put it down to recency bias after he's scored in the last two games. But take a step back and you'll find a 24yo who's been in and out of a poor Swansea side with 4 goals (and 3 assists) in 25 appearances (15 starts/10 sub). He's a decent Championship player, probably not quite as good as Broadhead and certainly a step down from James (who is on 8 goals / 5 assists so far). Broadhead and James I'd certainly rate above Cullen overall but I think Cullen is more a natural centre forward whereas the other two are more natural wide players(I know Cullen has played wide at times for Swansea). He's not likely to be Premier league quality, but then I don't think Moore ever has been either, but still good enough to do a job for us. There's plenty of goals to come from an abundance of wingers and attacking midfield players (can add JJ as scoring option now toom, and Neco can chip in) so a Championship standard striker is probably all we need. I'm sure one or two of our teen striking talents will come good in the next few years also. In the short term Moore and Bradshaw can tide us over.
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Post by vaulksthrowfanclub on Jan 3, 2024 15:06:00 GMT
I rate Elliot Myles from Norwich very highly. He can dominate games.
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Post by winsumluzsum on Jan 3, 2024 16:22:50 GMT
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Post by winsumluzsum on Jan 3, 2024 22:08:32 GMT
Harris joining Exeter on loan for rest of season. Good move.
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Post by iot on Jan 4, 2024 12:04:54 GMT
Don't agree with you at all on Liam Cullen I'm afraid - I can only put it down to recency bias after he's scored in the last two games. But take a step back and you'll find a 24yo who's been in and out of a poor Swansea side with 4 goals (and 3 assists) in 25 appearances (15 starts/10 sub). He's a decent Championship player, probably not quite as good as Broadhead and certainly a step down from James (who is on 8 goals / 5 assists so far). Broadhead and James I'd certainly rate above Cullen overall but I think Cullen is more a natural centre forward whereas the other two are more natural wide players(I know Cullen has played wide at times for Swansea). He's not likely to be Premier league quality, but then I don't think Moore ever has been either, but still good enough to do a job for us. There's plenty of goals to come from an abundance of wingers and attacking midfield players (can add JJ as scoring option now toom, and Neco can chip in) so a Championship standard striker is probably all we need. I'm sure one or two of our teen striking talents will come good in the next few years also. In the short term Moore and Bradshaw can tide us over. I get your point, but can't see Cullen ever being our first choice CF (I think we're in big trouble if he is). I think the comparison you make with Moore misses the point slightly. I remember Moore's debut for us against Belarus. It followed the abysmal performance against Azerbaijan where we fluked a 2-1 win. We beat Belarus 1-0 with Moore and Morrell making their debuts. Although Moore didn't score in that game (nor did he come close from what I remember), he made a massive difference by giving us some structure - someone for our better players to feed off. That was the key difference in the second half of that campaign which enabled us to qualify. HRK (and Vokes to a lesser extent) also offered that, but Cullen certainly doesn't. He's very poor at holding on to the ball, and that's something we can't afford to have in our CF. So while fairly ordinary Championship forwards can do a job for us, it needs to be the right type of mediocre Championship forward. Brennan Johnson doesn't provide an effective platform to play off either, but he's brilliant at playing off the shoulder of the last defender, so that would give us another option if we can adjust our style to match his strengths - I was encouraged by what I saw against Turkey. I think it will be a case of alternating between Johnson and Moore for the short-term, and think we'd even start the likes of Broadhead as a bit of a false 9 before going for Cullen. We also have the option of going down the split-forward route with two of Johnson, James, and Broadhead performing the roles. As you say, I'm sure an Issaka or Morgan or someone else will come through in the interim
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Post by winsumluzsum on Jan 7, 2024 18:52:22 GMT
Another Swansea player to keep an eye on is 16 year old striker Thomas Woodward. Got 11 goals for Swansea U18s this season, including a hattrick in his most recent outing against Ipswich. Highly thought of.
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Post by saturn9 on Jan 7, 2024 22:31:28 GMT
Another Swansea player to keep an eye on is 16 year old striker Thomas Woodward. Got 11 goals for Swansea U18s this season, including a hattrick in his most recent outing against Ipswich. Highly thought of. Just reading up on his latest outing, not all doom and gloom on the Academy front. Already built like a light heavyweight boxer is Woodward😉😉
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Post by dragonsoccer on Jan 20, 2024 7:23:41 GMT
Current age groups
Wales U15s (2009+) have a camp next month, more details to follow (prep for next season' Victory Shield games) The U17 (2007+) also hava a camp in Feb, prep for Elite round coming up in March
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Post by fiveattheback on Feb 2, 2024 12:02:06 GMT
Cardiff u21s keeper Jake Dennis headed on loan to Gloucester
Belive he's been capped by the u19s?
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Post by dragonsoccer on Feb 2, 2024 13:14:42 GMT
Cardiff u21s keeper Jake Dennis headed on loan to Gloucester Belive he's been capped by the u19s? dragonsoccer.co.uk/newsite/index.php?id=446dragonsoccer.co.uk/newsite/index.php?id=371Was at U18 age group level (FAW called it U19s, but most were 2005 born) this current UEFA season he is U19 age group, was not in the squad for the matches last October
dragonsoccer.co.uk/newsite/index.php?id=615I guess the FAW will go with the same thing again - prep the 2006s for next season UEFA U19s age group PS also still no coach at U18 level for Wales - since matty jones moved upwards also Ryan Kavanagh as gone out on loan - only recently came back after injury
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Post by dragonsoccer on Feb 6, 2024 15:23:36 GMT
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Post by rob on Feb 6, 2024 17:34:39 GMT
Another Swansea player to keep an eye on is 16 year old striker Thomas Woodward. Got 11 goals for Swansea U18s this season, including a hattrick in his most recent outing against Ipswich. Highly thought of. Just reading up on his latest outing, not all doom and gloom on the Academy front. Already built like a light heavyweight boxer is Woodward😉😉 Left out of Wales U17 squad today despite not 17 until later this month.Seemingly no prior involvement with Wales development squads-players chosen capped by U16s mostly ?
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Post by winsumluzsum on Feb 6, 2024 17:41:16 GMT
It ain't unusual for Thomas Woodward to be omitted from the squad.
I'll get my coat...
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Post by dragonsoccer on Feb 6, 2024 17:51:03 GMT
Just reading up on his latest outing, not all doom and gloom on the Academy front. Already built like a light heavyweight boxer is Woodward😉😉 Left out of Wales U17 squad today despite not 17 until later this month.Seemingly no prior involvement with Wales development squads-players chosen capped by U16s mostly ? without checking not been in any wales camps from U15 upwards born in 2007, so currently U17 level same thing happened with Iwan Morgan
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Post by dragonsoccer on Feb 6, 2024 18:24:43 GMT
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Post by dragonsoccer on Feb 13, 2024 12:00:13 GMT
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Post by manulike on Feb 13, 2024 18:11:38 GMT
Only saw the first half and FFW through the 2nd half - but the U17 did us proud again. Just a friendly, but we were very dominant in the first half (even missed a pen) and took the lead with a superb volley from 20m. We went down 2-1 in the 2nd half, but still battled on, with loads of passion throughout and got an equalizer in ET. Beating Belgium a couple of months ago was no fluke.
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Post by hooky on Feb 18, 2024 13:09:31 GMT
Wow - I missed this!
Fri, 16 Feb 24 : 13:52 :
MD2 Bosnia and Herzegovina (0) 0 Wales (2) 4 Goals : Henry Kasvosve, Elliot Myles, Jake Davies, Oliver Bostock
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Post by manulike on Feb 18, 2024 14:05:20 GMT
Wow - I missed this!Fri, 16 Feb 24 : 13:52 : MD2 Bosnia and Herzegovina (0) 0 Wales (2) 4 Goals : Henry Kasvosve, Elliot Myles, Jake Davies, Oliver Bostock That's why you should check the dragonsoccer website twice a day ;-)
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Post by surge on Feb 18, 2024 14:23:18 GMT
Brayden Clarke, is it interesting that he's listed as unattached but has played both games (so must be rated somewhat) or is this quite normal at youth level where sometimes better to be unmatched so easier to move into better youth system for you?
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Post by dragonsoccer on Feb 18, 2024 15:04:24 GMT
has left Wolves
did play for NUFC U18s about 3/4 weeks back
interesting to see which club he will go to
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Post by surge on Feb 18, 2024 16:19:53 GMT
has left Wolves did play for NUFC U18s about 3/4 weeks back interesting to see which club he will go to Thank you/diolch.
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Post by dragonsoccer on Mar 9, 2024 8:35:36 GMT
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Post by dragonsoccer on Mar 12, 2024 14:18:07 GMT
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Post by fiveattheback on Mar 14, 2024 13:23:55 GMT
Any news on the u21 squad?
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Post by dragonsoccer on Mar 14, 2024 13:36:16 GMT
Any news on the u21 squad? Out this afternoon (made a mistake i thought it was out wednesday afternoon )
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Post by vaulksthrowfanclub on Mar 14, 2024 14:08:47 GMT
Any news on the u21 squad? Out this afternoon (made a mistake i thought it was out wednesday afternoon ) Any word/reasoning on Joe Taylor’s omission? Thought he’d be nailed on. A glaring mistake not to involve him, given the scarcity of strikers in our player pool. Unless it was his decision, of course. I’d have sooner called him to the senior squad over Cullen, if I’m honest.
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Post by iot on Mar 14, 2024 14:16:41 GMT
Not as strong as we've had previously given the senior callups, but should be good enough for the Lithuania game. I think we'll probably go for something like:
Beach Hoole Baker Ashworth Stevens King Crew Beck Harris Koumas Popov
He'll probably go for someone like Hammond ahead of Crew and Pat Jones or Ashford ahead of Koumas. Most of the team have had lots of minutes in League 1 / SPL this season which is pretty encouraging.
Taylor's the only obvious omission. He didn't do well last time he was called up, but surely he would have been given another shot after his club form. I can only assume that he / Lincoln (and potentially us too) decided that he's better off developing with the club during the international break, like Savage has done a couple of times
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Post by surge on Mar 14, 2024 14:19:09 GMT
Still a bit gutting to see Oli Hammond start his senior career from such a low position.
A reminder that it's such a long way to senior football career with many steps along the way. Mind you, stories like Jamie Vardy and a few of the Luton town lot show how things can also change when the senior career starts and Oldham are only just outside of the play-offs at the moment.
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Post by dragonsoccer on Mar 14, 2024 14:25:30 GMT
Wasn't at the U21 press conference so no info on Joe Taylor
also missing are Ed Turns and James Sweet
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