It was a tangle, the the usual untanglement leading to pushes and shoves and a bit of clouting and walloping. Others swarmed. The referee cleared the decks and gave both players a jolly good talking to.
did he wag his finger at them, and tut, and stamp his foot?
Dixon clearly has the most upside of the u21s. Way too lightweight but a clinical finisher and has pace.
He’s the most eye catching with his goals, pace and flair, but I think that downplays the potential others have. He’s not a clinical finisher yet, he misses chances that in time he’ll hopefully start taking.
Enslin is a good all rounder, very versatile and can create and score goals. Being left footed will only help him
Laqeretabua is big, strong, mobile and comfortable on the ball, everything you want in a young centre back. Zach Mitchell who’s out on loan has similar qualities and potential.
Fullah is an u21 regular at only 17. So two footed that he doesn’t know which is his stronger foot - he can rifle in a long range shot with his right or left. Another versatile player who’s good on the ball and can score and create goals.
Reuben Reid who came on is from the year below Fullah so only 16/17. I’ve only seen him in a few cameos but he looks mobile, uses either foot and I noticed in the goal celebration was one of our tallest players. Scored a nice finish as a sub recently. He must be rated to be involved in the u21s so early.
That’s not to write off others I’ve not mentioned, our u21s results this season show we have a good team at this level.
Been so impressed with the U21s this season. So many of them are so young and are playing in a very slimmed down squad compared to previous seasons. Despite that they get results and show quality. Would imagine the % of this cohort going on to play pro football will be higher than average if they continue to develop well. Just in the post game discussion 10 players names have been mentioned. I know we're biased fans but that seems unusually high even for us!
I love catching the under 21s live when I can - good football and I don't feel the pressure of "we must win" like I do with the 1st team, so I really enjoy the matches. We have been blessed with some really good footballing youngsters recently.
Dixon clearly has the most upside of the u21s. Way too lightweight but a clinical finisher and has pace.
Hardly clinical. He missed the goal several times in the two games this week.
For yesterday's goal he got the tip of his boot to the ball which bobbled over the line.
The player who changed the game was Manu Wales.
That's a really harsh take on his contributions. He didn't have a lot of service and only one other sniff on goal as he was tightly marked
But he didn't stop running all game and showed a real poachers instinct for the goal nipping in between the last defender and goalie. It wasn't the tip of his boot and it didn't bobbble over the line. It was a very decent run, good anticipation and a really calm finish which, when you consider was in the dying minutes of a game he'd spent 90 minutes being manhandled, was more than acceptable in my eyes
I actually went to the game and watched him pretty closely. His feet are absolutely outstanding. This week I've seen a few times where he's controlled a ball on his chest, done a couple of keepy-uppies to avoid a defender and then brought it down so slickly. You cannot coach that stuff - that's a kid who just loves the ball and who has spent years playing and doing tricks.
He's gained a lot of weight since joining and I expect he'll be in the gym over the summer to toughen up a bit more - much like TC. He's nowhere near the finished article but there is definitely a diamond in there worth polishing up
Dixon clearly has the most upside of the u21s. Way too lightweight but a clinical finisher and has pace.
Hardly clinical. He missed the goal several times in the two games this week.
For yesterday's goal he got the tip of his boot to the ball which bobbled over the line.
The player who changed the game was Manu Wales.
That's a really harsh take on his contributions. He didn't have a lot of service and only one other sniff on goal as he was tightly marked
But he didn't stop running all game and showed a real poachers instinct for the goal nipping in between the last defender and goalie. It wasn't the tip of his boot and it didn't bobbble over the line. It was a very decent run, good anticipation and a really calm finish which, when you consider was in the dying minutes of a game he'd spent 90 minutes being manhandled, was more than acceptable in my eyes
I actually went to the game and watched him pretty closely. His feet are absolutely outstanding. This week I've seen a few times where he's controlled a ball on his chest, done a couple of keepy-uppies to avoid a defender and then brought it down so slickly. You cannot coach that stuff - that's a kid who just loves the ball and who has spent years playing and doing tricks.
He's gained a lot of weight since joining and I expect he'll be in the gym over the summer to toughen up a bit more - much like TC. He's nowhere near the finished article but there is definitely a diamond in there worth polishing up
There is great potential with Dixon but there is the same with a lot of our youngsters.
Not his fault but the club and some fans have heaped too much expectation on his young shoulders EG showing only his goals from the nine the team scored v Leyton Wingate, that was disrespectful to the other scorers and players.
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https://www.watfordfc.com/news/2025/march/07/under-21-charlton-athletic-2-1-watford/
Hardly clinical. He missed the goal several times in the two games this week.
For yesterday's goal he got the tip of his boot to the ball which bobbled over the line.
The player who changed the game was Manu Wales.
Enslin is a good all rounder, very versatile and can create and score goals. Being left footed will only help him
Laqeretabua is big, strong, mobile and comfortable on the ball, everything you want in a young centre back. Zach Mitchell who’s out on loan has similar qualities and potential.
Fullah is an u21 regular at only 17. So two footed that he doesn’t know which is his stronger foot - he can rifle in a long range shot with his right or left. Another versatile player who’s good on the ball and can score and create goals.
Reuben Reid who came on is from the year below Fullah so only 16/17. I’ve only seen him in a few cameos but he looks mobile, uses either foot and I noticed in the goal celebration was one of our tallest players. Scored a nice finish as a sub recently. He must be rated to be involved in the u21s so early.
That’s not to write off others I’ve not mentioned, our u21s results this season show we have a good team at this level.
But he didn't stop running all game and showed a real poachers instinct for the goal nipping in between the last defender and goalie. It wasn't the tip of his boot and it didn't bobbble over the line. It was a very decent run, good anticipation and a really calm finish which, when you consider was in the dying minutes of a game he'd spent 90 minutes being manhandled, was more than acceptable in my eyes
I actually went to the game and watched him pretty closely. His feet are absolutely outstanding. This week I've seen a few times where he's controlled a ball on his chest, done a couple of keepy-uppies to avoid a defender and then brought it down so slickly. You cannot coach that stuff - that's a kid who just loves the ball and who has spent years playing and doing tricks.
He's gained a lot of weight since joining and I expect he'll be in the gym over the summer to toughen up a bit more - much like TC. He's nowhere near the finished article but there is definitely a diamond in there worth polishing up
Not his fault but the club and some fans have heaped too much expectation on his young shoulders EG showing only his goals from the nine the team scored v Leyton Wingate, that was disrespectful to the other scorers and players.