Top game from young Longelo
Emanuel Longelo was the talk of the night after a performance against Dinamo Zagreb which would have done credit to Aaron Cresswell.
We forget sometimes just how important the 31 year old is to the team and for years we have been talking about bringing a support left back.
Don’t accuse me of getting carried away on the back of one performance – this kid has the lot and at the age on 21 on December 27 has all that’s required as far as I can see.
Against a good European team needing a result for second place in the group he defended well and showed all the enterprise in the world as he attacked them down the left side.
He had 87 touches and not one of them was wasted. The lad is ready for the big time and should Cress not be available for Burnley…who knows. Harrison Ashby on the other side and central defender Aji Alese also caught the eye in particular.
This was a great night and heartiest congratulations to all academy staff, past and present who have had a hand in developing this amazing crop of youngsters.
I too was very impressed with the soon to be 21yrs old Emanuel Longelo. I remember his debut for us against Hull and although understandably nervy at the time, you could see that he was brave in his movement down the left.
Last night he showed that he is closing that gap between the Academy and first-team football and I was particularly impressed with him. I’ve watched videos of his performances for the Academy, and I have noticed that he has an eye for a defence-splitting pass too. All he needs now is to build his core strength to play at the first-team level. Harrison and Aji also impressed me and U23’s captain Aji was very unlucky not to score a late equaliser.
What Moyes did last night was to give our youngsters a massive development boost on steroids. This game will be the catalyst, not only for the players that took part last night but for the WHOLE of our Academy as this will give these youngsters the push and encouragement for what is achievable and the performance levels needed.
I’d like to add that composure is a big asset to have for a youngster and I thought that young Freddie Potts had that calmness about him which bodes very well for the future.