Precisely this. For a young player to improve, he needs to come into a team that has good senior players. Last night was, besides Skrtel, Aurelio, Maxi and Doni, all lads under 24 who have, more importantly, hardly played together, if ever. You get found out at PL level. With all that in mind, losing 1-0 to Fulham is hardly as bad as some of the ****e in the papers are making out, is it? They didn't even score against us.
Spearing actually frustrates me because he thinks he can pick a pass! He tries to force the forward pass all the time rather than taking the simple (and correct) option. Henderson I think will become a good player but agree with the passing part. I can't make my mind up about Shelvey. He definitely has promise but there is something missing for me. He doesn't seem to have the desire to put the work rate in, he even looks slow and sluggish at times but that will hopefully get better with age. I like that he wants to get forward and I like that he looks to create something from a pass if the option is there. However, like with Gerrard, I don't think he should be part of a central two man midfield. Can he and Gerrard play in the same side? Well, one could be pushed out wide or we could play with just one holding midfielder and make the two wide players drop back a little to help out more.
Sell Spearing? Hope that's a joke? Why sell a player that is committed to the club, is happy to be a squad players and is not on high wages...? Look at Man Utd and players like Nicky Butt, Wes Brown, John O'shea, etc. They were all squad players that Fergie could call upon when needed, they make good foundations to a strong squad!
Yes I agree with the Spearing comment, hence my 'which isn't always a bad thing', attacking wise and creativeness spearing has none, but u could also argue that is not what he's in the team to do. As you point out though the worrying thing is that he thinks he can pick out a pass when he really can't Also agree that Spearing shouldn't be sold for your exact reason, I believe august to december Spearing hardly had a chance in the premier league but you never heard any discontent on his part which shows you how inportant a player like that can be Back on to Shelvey, I genuinely believe played with gerrard and lucas, in the 'Alonso, Adam' role shelvey could really shine cos his eye for a pass is very similar to Alonso's and like I said he has a great footballing brain ... He would also offer more of an attacking threat, a more of a box to box player too, that something different that we desperately need!! ... With his work rate i believe this has much improved from pre-season, although against Fulham he dint have the best of games he still chased down players and worked hard, the desire was definately there...
I wasn't meaning Shelvey's workrate from last night, I meant is workrate in general. I have watched every game this season and the ones he has played he has looked slow and sluggish. Not always a bad thing, if you are tactically aware then you can be in the right place at the right time (first yard in the head and all that), Alonso wasn't exactly quick but he read the game well and closed the space/gaps. Shelvey needs to learn to do this better. His passing is okay but again, it could be better. End of the day, he is only 20 years old and will get better. Same goes for Henderson. Spearing is 24 (I think?) and should be approaching his better years, hence me saying he is a good squad player, nothing more IMO.
I generally agree with everything there mate, although i think his passing is much better than ok, definately the strongest part of his game ... (a bit off topic) Henderson for me has been a dissapointment this season and his first half showing against fulham may have been one of the worst i have seen by any player in a red shirt. I'm not one for criticism and i am a fan of henderson's but u can't defend that type of performance, he will IMO improve and be a useful players for us in the coming seasons and obvioulsy with Spearing we have already discussed our views on him and agreed nothing more than a squad player but mostly very reliable and has a good attitude!
The boy has got a lot of potential, he seems much more attacking minded then Hendo, Spearing Adam etc and he seems confident (even if he missed a sitter against Norwich) Bright future for the lad great signing he'll turn out to be in the near future.
I've said it quite a few times now but Henderson reminds me of Lucas and Kuyt when they first joined. Neither looked world beaters, they both looked like lost puppies in the red shirt and got plenty of criticism from the stands. However, they both worked hard and put the effort in during games, they provided the side with much needed energy. Henderson has done this this season IMO. I think he has been unfortunate to not have a big named player alongside for most of the year like Lucas got with Alonso and Mascherano and Kuyt with Gerrard (although Kuyt was also older). IMO, Henderson has the making to be a very good player for us. You can't teach a player to work hard and you can't beat natural ability (Henderson has this in abundance) but you can teach them where and when to run and you can work on their decision making, two areas of concern for me.
