Mehmet Ali shared his thoughts on our under-21s’ 2-1 defeat to Lincoln City on Saturday afternoon.
“I think we were very good in the first half,” he said. “The performance was solid and the way we got up the pitch was good. We dealt with direct play really well and had a couple of opportunities. As the half went on they started to get a bit of momentum and we didn’t deal with it well for the last five to ten minutes of the half. They had a couple of opportunities and Brian pulled off some good saves.
“In the second half, we wanted more from our boys. They got momentum and pressed more aggressively. We have to better with our build-up and get the ball into advanced areas and we weren’t clinical enough to do that. That caused us the problem that led to more throw-ins and set-pieces.”
Asked about the nature of pre-season, in which many academy players went away with Mikel Arteta’s first-team squad to the US, Mehmet said it has been a great learning experience.
“We’ve had 11 away with the first team and it’s been unbelievable experience for them to pick up the language, terminology and demands of the first team,” he explained. “The intensity and tempo they train and play at. For those 11 it was a great opportunity.
“Four of those lads were desperate to play and get minutes in their legs after flying back from USA and I was really pleased with that. They took on board some of the stuff they’ve implemented from there.”
Stoke City are up next at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Saturday before Premier League 2 Division One begins against Manchester United on Friday, August 16.
“We’ve had a real mixed pre-season which his expected due to the Euros and due to the first team taking a lot of players but that’s bred opportunity for a lot of the under-18s to be exposed to under-21s football, so from a development point of view it’s been brilliant,” Mehmet said.
“In terms of the team, we rely on the first-team, the 18s and the academy to make sure our playing style is consistent and the principles and demands of what we expect from the players are the same regardless of what age group they’re with.
“The boys have had a really good pre-season in terms of training and we’re looking forward to Stoke next Saturday.”
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