For those of you that may be interested, Fulham's opening game in the 2026/27 EFL Trophy, against a Leicester side that is allowed to use its senior players is kicking off at 7.00 pm on Sky Sports+
Fulham U21 starting XI
1. Michael Allen — GK (39)
2. Bradley Slade — DEF (40)
3. Logan Cooke — DEF (42)
4. Nazim Benchaita — DEF (43)
5. Chibby Nwoko — MID (34)
6. Markuss Gomins — MID (41)
7. Seth Chingwaro — MID (45)
8. Jayden Quashie — MID (46)
9. Dan Casey — MID (47)
10. Jonah Kusi-Asare — FW (18)
11. Macaulay Zepa — FW (35)
Substitutes
* Matthew Bagot — GK (54)
* Archie Taylor — DEF (56)
* Jose Sani — MID (48)
* Alfie White — MID (49)
* Maddox Zaidan-Jones — MID (53)
* Marley Clarke — MID (57)
* Tom Olyott — FW (50)
Decordova Reid starts for Leicester.
::cry::
1 down... 14 minutes...
2 now... could be a long night...
All over before halftime... 3-0
..and that's 4...
I would have liked to have seen Manuel Angel given some game time, don't see how it could have hurt,
Provided he's eligible.
They are far too experienced for our young lads. Alsomas usual we cannot match them for size.
3-0 now men against boys
There's an enormous gulf between adult football and youth football, and we've taken a huge gamble signing three young, inexperienced youth players to play in the Premier League.
5-0 match should have been played at the oval,Cricket score on the cards tonight.
::scarf:: 5-1... could be the biggest comeback since Lazarus??
🎶 Six-five, we're going to win six-five 🎶😂
6-5 special, coming down the line.
I know we like to play the ball out from the back but today we get to the half way line play the ball back to the edge of our area find ourselves under pressure then lump it up field losing it on the half way line.
As others have said it really is mental against boys tonight, with the result not in doubt I would hope we decide to be brave on the ball and play the football the team can produce, in the defence we have been sloppy when we have tried to play out 1 2's not coming off but I would rather see us trying to play rather than aimlessly lumping the ball upfield.
Quote from: C Block on September 22, 2026, 07:16:34 PMI would have liked to have seen Manuel Angel given some game time, don't see how it could have hurt,
Provided he's eligible.
Manuel Angel is 22.
In my point of view the defence last year was stronger their missing eddy nsasi he must be injured,slade,Cooke gomins haven't proved themselves.Also the young defender on loan to Portugal ex Brentford plays for England and Wazim the little winger scored A few and I'm not sure about Jonah kudu all the hype he drifts in and out of games 5m+3m loan has a long way to go maybe the women's team.
Quote from: cwindsor on September 22, 2026, 08:09:25 PMQuote from: C Block on September 22, 2026, 07:16:34 PMI would have liked to have seen Manuel Angel given some game time, don't see how it could have hurt,
Provided he's eligible.
Manuel Angel is 22.
Fabio Carvalho is playing for Brentford tonight and Sunderland are fielding a 25 year old.
Quote from: C Block on September 22, 2026, 08:17:54 PMQuote from: cwindsor on September 22, 2026, 08:09:25 PMQuote from: C Block on September 22, 2026, 07:16:34 PMI would have liked to have seen Manuel Angel given some game time, don't see how it could have hurt,
Provided he's eligible.
Manuel Angel is 22.
Fabio Carvalho is playing for Brentford tonight and Sunderland are fielding a 25 year old.
I had to ask AI:
"For the 2026/27 EFL Trophy, an invited Premier League U21 side has a specific allowance for over-age players.
* At least 6 players on the matchday team sheet must be U21 under the competition's age definition.
* The club may have no more than two players on the team sheet who are 21 or older AND have made 40 or more appearances in a First Team Fixture as of 30 June 2026."
So Angel and Palacios would both be eligible.
expect the ref tonight to be fast tracked to officiate in the premier league.... Bradly Slade was being pulled by a Leicester player, he shrugged him off only to be tripped he managed to stay on his feet turned inside with the ball was about to pass the ball to a teammate there were no other Leictet players nearby and at that point the ref decides to blow his whistle, great job ref (not).
Maybe a BCD game during the International break?
Quote from: keithh on September 22, 2026, 08:00:21 PM6-5 special, coming down the line.
Did Don Lang score to make it a frantic five? ::smile::
I know fabio scored late the other day for Brentford 1st team as a sub and as you say played for their 21s but remember he had acl during last season he is trying to get up to scratch.You can see why we are looking for young players the 3 Spaniards unfortunately are better than ours.3of our 21s we're released by Chelsea.1 from arsenal.And 3 from the boys club elite near Croydon which our coloured coach Colin helps run and where Rowe comes from.And tony found our young swede thanks for the memories it looks like he is not training with the 1st team we don't seem to have a forward playing as a number 9
Quote from: C Block on September 22, 2026, 07:39:10 PMThere's an enormous gulf between adult football and youth football, and we've taken a huge gamble signing three young, inexperienced youth players to play in the Premier League.
What are you going on about? All of them have played for the RM first team and in the Champions League so they're hardly comparable to some of our 18/19 year old academy players
Michael Allen in goal was sensational last night before going off with an injured shoulder. It could have been 8-0 in the first half. They were bigger, quicker, more physical and pressed a lot better. I thought Daniels was very quiet on the touchline when the team really needed his support and encouragement.
Our pressing from the front was really poor and lacked co-ordination. JKA was totally ineffective and is nowhere near first team level with that performance. Zepa looked decent going forward but didn't work hard enough for me & our right back Benchaita had a couple of 2 on 1's to deal with in the first half due to Zepa's lack of support.
They hit the crossbar and post numerous times so it could have been a cricket score and we created nothing.
Based on that performance there is nobody close to the first team atm but at least it showed the boys the level they need to get to just to play pro football.
Quote from: Birmingham White on September 23, 2026, 07:58:05 AMMichael Allen in goal was sensational last night before going off with an injured shoulder. It could have been 8-0 in the first half. They were bigger, quicker, more physical and pressed a lot better. I thought Daniels was very quiet on the touchline when the team really needed his support and encouragement.
Our pressing from the front was really poor and lacked co-ordination. JKA was totally ineffective and is nowhere near first team level with that performance. Zepa looked decent going forward but didn't work hard enough for me & our right back Benchaita had a couple of 2 on 1's to deal with in the first half due to Zepa's lack of support.
They hit the crossbar and post numerous times so it could have been a cricket score and we created nothing.
Based on that performance there is nobody close to the first team atm but at least it showed the boys the level they need to get to just to play pro football.
For a balance of fairness, we've got a lot of U21 players currently away on loan and we've also got a few away on international duty, so it wasn't our strongest U21 side,
And we were up against an opponent whose manager is under enormous pressure (Russell Martin) , so this morning now, im sure there are Leicester City supporters thinking they have turned a corner because they put 6 past us, when in effect they haven't.
Luton 6-Ipswich 0
Crewe 4- Villa 1
Plymouth 5 - Palace 1
It serves no real purpose other than showing what mens' football is like for kids and giving a shot in arm to lower league players who need a confidence boost.
Hopefully they learnt something last night, there were quite a few poor performances (and players missing!)
Quote from: Birmingham White on September 23, 2026, 07:58:05 AMMichael Allen in goal was sensational last night before going off with an injured shoulder. It could have been 8-0 in the first half. They were bigger, quicker, more physical and pressed a lot better. I thought Daniels was very quiet on the touchline when the team really needed his support and encouragement.
Our pressing from the front was really poor and lacked co-ordination. JKA was totally ineffective and is nowhere near first team level with that performance. Zepa looked decent going forward but didn't work hard enough for me & our right back Benchaita had a couple of 2 on 1's
to deal with in the first half due to Zepa's lack of support.
They hit the crossbar and post numerous times so it could have been a cricket score and we created nothing.
Based on that performance there is nobody close to the first team atm but at least it showed the boys the level they need to get to just to play pro football.
Decodova-Reid scored with a quality volley but that showed the experience of he team they were up against.
By far and away the worst I've seen our U21s play in a long time
However - it was against a recently relegated now league 1 team in Liecester. And it's an u21 team now without
Josh King
Ridgeon
Ali Wahid
Sam Amissah
Lapulo-Bi
Luc DF
McNally
Hard pressed to massively critique our forward line cos they were feeding on absolute scraps in all honesty with out midfield so disconnected and deep from them.... Although thought Zepa was pretty wasteful and sloppy when he finally did get a touch, and the usually decent Casey and Quasie were bullied really. JKA was completely isolated and our midfield and back 4 were entirely dominated start to finish resulting in the game looking like an attack v defense training session. Literally boys against men with defense being carved through relentlessly
No suprise really with Leicester playing 5 players who started their last league game so plenty of their first team present. But our back 4 were an absolute mess. Don't really agree that the GK was having a blinder either, he made a couple good saves for sure but they were already like 3 or 4 down before he went off.
Ultimately you still can't really sayfor certain if some of the players in isolation would or wouldn't be able to play mens football on that viewing. For example switching over and seeing someone like ALB playing for Fleetwood he had much more opportunity because he was 1 young guy playing surrounded by grown men, so his team weren't just getting bullied off the pitch and he was able to get a little more time on ball with support (didnt score but put a good shift in)... put JKA in that situation and I suspect it'd look different for him too. Really JKA is wasting his time being in the youth team though - he should be on loan for his development.
So yeh, whilst no one stated a claim in this match to be in the first team, difficult to be sure that none of them could offer something if surrounded by better full grown teammates
Quote from: Birmingham White on September 23, 2026, 07:58:05 AMMichael Allen in goal was sensational last night before going off with an injured shoulder. It could have been 8-0 in the first half. They were bigger, quicker, more physical and pressed a lot better. I thought Daniels was very quiet on the touchline when the team really needed his support and encouragement.
Our pressing from the front was really poor and lacked co-ordination. JKA was totally ineffective and is nowhere near first team level with that performance. Zepa looked decent going forward but didn't work hard enough for me & our right back Benchaita had a couple of 2 on 1's to deal with in the first half due to Zepa's lack of support.
They hit the crossbar and post numerous times so it could have been a cricket score and we created nothing.
Based on that performance there is nobody close to the first team atm but at least it showed the boys the level they need to get to just to play pro football.
Bit harsh on Zepa and JKA when the team got dominated - if they don't get much services or chances they are hardly going to look good.
JKA has proved he's too good for U21 football, last season he had 4 in 5 apps, and this season he's scored 1 in 2.
6'5, was featuring for Bayern in pre-season before his spell with us, technically good and has a lot to offer.
He needs a loan spell. Zepa looked good for us in pre-season when he got the chance too.
Quote from: Bronaldinho on September 23, 2026, 11:29:56 AMQuote from: Birmingham White on September 23, 2026, 07:58:05 AMMichael Allen in goal was sensational last night before going off with an injured shoulder. It could have been 8-0 in the first half. They were bigger, quicker, more physical and pressed a lot better. I thought Daniels was very quiet on the touchline when the team really needed his support and encouragement.
Our pressing from the front was really poor and lacked co-ordination. JKA was totally ineffective and is nowhere near first team level with that performance. Zepa looked decent going forward but didn't work hard enough for me & our right back Benchaita had a couple of 2 on 1's to deal with in the first half due to Zepa's lack of support.
They hit the crossbar and post numerous times so it could have been a cricket score and we created nothing.
Based on that performance there is nobody close to the first team atm but at least it showed the boys the level they need to get to just to play pro football.
Bit harsh on Zepa and JKA when the team got dominated - if they don't get much services or chances they are hardly going to look good.
JKA has proved he's too good for U21 football, last season he had 4 in 5 apps, and this season he's scored 1 in 2.
6'5, was featuring for Bayern in pre-season before his spell with us, technically good and has a lot to offer.
He needs a loan spell. Zepa looked good for us in pre-season when he got the chance too.
In the main I think the summary by Birmingham White is pretty accurate and is along the same lines as how I saw the game, yesterday there were an awful lot of times when the pass or lay off was just out of reach of it's intended target putting us under pressure, Zepa was one of those who was a little slack in his passing but by no means the only one but perhaps I and others picked up on this due to the drop in his normal standards, I also thing he could/should offer a bit more support to the fullback, JKA was disappointing in as much as he found himself getting pinned by the defenders this may be as a result if the poor balls up to him, but I thought he would have found a way around this.
Overall it was a disappointing performance, though having watched a fair bit of the 21's we do create a lot of chances but do give up a lot of chances last night was an extreme example of this, it was a night were our regular creative players couldn't get a foot hols and we found ourselves on the back foot constantly.