Manchester City's Under-21s were eliminated from the EFL Trophy after a 5-0 defeat at Port Vale on Tuesday night, a result that underscored the gap between academy football and senior competition.
Just a week after Floyd Samba, Ryan McAidoo and Kaden Braithwaite featured in a Champions League victory over AEK Athens, the young Blues were outclassed at a sparsely populated Vale Park, where a vocal away following from Manchester provided the only noise.
A Harsh Lesson in Senior Football
Manager Oli Reiss had spoken before the contest about the excitement and challenge of playing at a Football League ground against seasoned campaigners. However, City could not cope with Vale's physical superiority.
The EFL Trophy offers the next generation of Blues a chance to prove they can compete with League One and League Two opposition. While the youngsters showed their capabilities in a fine victory at Mansfield in their opening group contest, this defeat in the Midlands was a harsh lesson in the realities of facing first-team players.
City can be excused for coming up short against an experienced XI, but they defended naively as Vale played to their aerial strengths. The visitors lacked determination and desire in a first half that saw them ship four goals as the game emphatically got away from them. Late in the first half, a lengthy stoppage allowed the majority of City players to gather for a mid-match meeting as they sought to stem the tide.
Second-Half Improvement Offers Hope
There is always a balance in academy football between results and the development of players. City must hope those who took to the field in the Midlands benefit from the experience and grow and learn as a result.
All of those in blue will be dreaming of a chance at City and targeting a professional career. Vale showed them the standard required to make it in a cut-throat profession that often has a fine line between success and failure.
City, helped by a triple change at half-time, were much better in the second half, even if Vale had perhaps taken their foot off the gas given their healthy lead. The Blues were brave on the ball, carried more intent and impetus, and displayed some character and confidence that offers a baseline for what they can achieve in the game.
It didn't yield a comeback, with Vale adding a fifth, but it did offer a glimpse at what these young players are capable of. There is always plenty of talent coming through the City ranks, but for the fifth season in succession they have failed to make it out of the group stage in the EFL Trophy.
Learning Experience for Young Blues
Those five years of failure haven't hindered the pathway from academy to first team, given Rico Lewis and Nico O'Reilly have broken through, and Samba, McAidoo and Braithwaite are now following in their footsteps.
Reiss was not too downbeat when he spoke to the Manchester Evening News on the Vale Park touchline. While he was disappointed with the result and the missed opportunity of more games against Football League clubs, he believes his young charges will take plenty from the contest.
"This is first of all a learning competition for us although we want to win every game," said Reiss. "In this game you get the feeling of what you need to be competitive, and to be where they want to play. It is not just learning to do things better but as well to give them the feeling of 'wow, this is what I need more, I thought I was good but this is what I need to do more.'"
