George Dobson would love to score a first Barclays U18 Premier League win of 2015/16 when the Hammers face his former club Arsenal
West Ham United midfielder George Dobson was left with mixed feelings after the Hammers settled for a 0-0 Barclays U18 Premier League draw with high-flying Leicester City at Little Heath on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers were the brighter of the two teams throughout the game and could have won the game by converting one of several golden opportunities, but Dobson, along with striker Idris Kanu and midfielder Marcus Browne failed to punish their opponents.
However, holding a Leicester side that entered the game with a 100 per cent record, Dobson said the squad were pleased with a point.
“We are obviously glad that we got the draw but we definitely feel like we deserved more from the game,” admitted Dobson. “For the majority of the game, I felt like we were the much better team and were on top of them quite a lot so it does make it slightly disappointing that we only managed to draw.
“Having said that, we came up against a really good team in Leicester so you have to be pleased with the result and we can take positives from this performance into our next league fixture on Tuesday at Arsenal.”
The Hammers are yet to taste victory in their four U18 Premier League South matches so far this season and Dobson, who joined over the summer from Arsenal, believes the squad are playing well but struggling to put the ball in the back of the net.
“The whole team have been working hard in training and you can already start to notice a difference,” continued Dobson. “As the season progresses, the results will improve as the players get better and fitter.
“At the moment, we seem to be struggling with taking our chances when they come round and the thing is that, when we do start taking our chances more, I think we’ll be able to start beating teams comfortably.
“Sometimes in football, you have to just keep working hard and as soon as a couple of goals start going in, then loads of goals will start going in.
“We are playing well and taking positives from every game into the next fixture. For example against Leicester, we dominated the whole game against a team that have started the season really well with three wins out of three and probably should have actually won.”
The Hammers were the brighter of the two teams throughout the game and could have won the game by converting one of several golden opportunities, but Dobson, along with striker Idris Kanu and midfielder Marcus Browne failed to punish their opponents.
However, holding a Leicester side that entered the game with a 100 per cent record, Dobson said the squad were pleased with a point.
“We are obviously glad that we got the draw but we definitely feel like we deserved more from the game,” admitted Dobson. “For the majority of the game, I felt like we were the much better team and were on top of them quite a lot so it does make it slightly disappointing that we only managed to draw.
“Having said that, we came up against a really good team in Leicester so you have to be pleased with the result and we can take positives from this performance into our next league fixture on Tuesday at Arsenal.”
The Hammers are yet to taste victory in their four U18 Premier League South matches so far this season and Dobson, who joined over the summer from Arsenal, believes the squad are playing well but struggling to put the ball in the back of the net.
“The whole team have been working hard in training and you can already start to notice a difference,” continued Dobson. “As the season progresses, the results will improve as the players get better and fitter.
“At the moment, we seem to be struggling with taking our chances when they come round and the thing is that, when we do start taking our chances more, I think we’ll be able to start beating teams comfortably.
“Sometimes in football, you have to just keep working hard and as soon as a couple of goals start going in, then loads of goals will start going in.
“We are playing well and taking positives from every game into the next fixture. For example against Leicester, we dominated the whole game against a team that have started the season really well with three wins out of three and probably should have actually won.”
We had a disappointing result at The Emirates recently, losing 5-0 in the U21s but for me, the most important thing now is for us to head to Arsenal on Tuesday looking to get our first U18 win of the season
The U18s’ next league fixture is against Dobson’s former club Arsenal and, after featuring for the full 90 minutes in the Development Squad’s 5-0 defeat at The Emirates just over a week ago, the 17-year-old is focused on helping the U18s pick up their first victory of the season.
“We had a disappointing result at The Emirates recently, losing 5-0 in the U21s but for me, the most important thing now is for us to head to Arsenal on Tuesday looking to get our first U18 win of the season.”
Since joining the Hammers back in July, Dobson revealed that he is enjoying every minute representing the club that he supported as a boy and hopes to one day progress through the ranks and become a first-team regular for West Ham.
“I have loved every minute of my time at West Ham so far and really couldn’t think of a better place for me to be playing my football at the moment.
“I enjoy coming into training everyday and working on my performances and fitness as a player so that’s the immediate target for me for the near future.
“My fitness has been a big thing that I’ve been trying to work on because I’ve noticed previously that during games when I get to the 65-70 minute mark is when I seem to hit a wall. It’s in those last 20 minutes when players can get sloppy because they are tired and give the ball away so it’s something that I’m working hard on and as I get more game time under my belt, I’ll become a fitter player and cut those mistakes out of my game.
“As a player, you don’t just want to settle for playing U18s football the whole time because although when selected for the U18s, I’d always give 100 per cent, any footballer would want to be progressing and playing at a higher level.
“I’ve already featured twice for the U21s this season so hopefully I can keep myself performing to a high standard and get quite a few more games before the end of the season.
“The opportunities that players like Reece Oxford have had to play at first team level show any Academy players that if you’ve got the ability and regularly perform well, the chance is there that you could progress and be called on one day.
“For me, the dream is to be playing regular first team football for West Ham in the future and that’s what I’m always constantly working towards. I’m not expecting it anytime soon but you never know what the future holds.”
The Hammers travel to London Colney to face Arsenal U18 on Tuesday 8th September, with kick-off scheduled for midday.
U18s: T Brown, Sylvestre, Pask (Rice 46), Akinola, Neufville, Carter, Browne, Dobson, Diangana (Henry 68), Borg, Kanu
Subs not used: Eggleton, Lewis, Boness
“We had a disappointing result at The Emirates recently, losing 5-0 in the U21s but for me, the most important thing now is for us to head to Arsenal on Tuesday looking to get our first U18 win of the season.”
Since joining the Hammers back in July, Dobson revealed that he is enjoying every minute representing the club that he supported as a boy and hopes to one day progress through the ranks and become a first-team regular for West Ham.
“I have loved every minute of my time at West Ham so far and really couldn’t think of a better place for me to be playing my football at the moment.
“I enjoy coming into training everyday and working on my performances and fitness as a player so that’s the immediate target for me for the near future.
“My fitness has been a big thing that I’ve been trying to work on because I’ve noticed previously that during games when I get to the 65-70 minute mark is when I seem to hit a wall. It’s in those last 20 minutes when players can get sloppy because they are tired and give the ball away so it’s something that I’m working hard on and as I get more game time under my belt, I’ll become a fitter player and cut those mistakes out of my game.
“As a player, you don’t just want to settle for playing U18s football the whole time because although when selected for the U18s, I’d always give 100 per cent, any footballer would want to be progressing and playing at a higher level.
“I’ve already featured twice for the U21s this season so hopefully I can keep myself performing to a high standard and get quite a few more games before the end of the season.
“The opportunities that players like Reece Oxford have had to play at first team level show any Academy players that if you’ve got the ability and regularly perform well, the chance is there that you could progress and be called on one day.
“For me, the dream is to be playing regular first team football for West Ham in the future and that’s what I’m always constantly working towards. I’m not expecting it anytime soon but you never know what the future holds.”
The Hammers travel to London Colney to face Arsenal U18 on Tuesday 8th September, with kick-off scheduled for midday.
U18s: T Brown, Sylvestre, Pask (Rice 46), Akinola, Neufville, Carter, Browne, Dobson, Diangana (Henry 68), Borg, Kanu
Subs not used: Eggleton, Lewis, Boness