The way I see it, the player roles are as follows: Guys who start most of the time: Pelle, Mane, Tadic, Clasie, Wanyama, Davis, VVD, Fonte, Cedric, Bertrand, GK Players who should be playing a lot and starting at least some of the time, either depending on opponent or in case of injury/need for rest: JWP, Yoshida, GK Players with potential who need a look because they could be potential starters: Juanmi, Romeu, And then Ramirez and Martina. So that leaves one space on the subs bench. Let's add Reed. That's your lineup. Who do we downgrade from one tier to another or remove from the list altogether, and which youngster do we add? I would agree that this game was a good chance to add an extra young player to the bench who could have been used as a second half sub if things had gone well (or had they gone really bad early, I suppose). But the way things transpired, they wouldn't have gotten any playing time anyway, so while I could quibble with Koeman's bench selection it really made no difference in the end. IMO, we can perhaps junk Ramirez and Martina. That would give us two more spots. Seager and Targett?
Part of the problem may be that roughly half of our team options want to be starting in the same three positions in the middle of the park, heh. We've used JWP/Davis/Ramirez wide at times, but it's not their natural role by any stretch and it shows. Unfortunately, many of our youngsters are also up-the-middle types; perhaps a nice, compact 4-6-0 with six central mids/AMCs should be explored...
This is what I think is the case. Maybe RK doesn't think any are good enough? We've been spolied since return to PL with Chambers, Shaw & JWP coming through. They won't always come through at that rate. That's never been the case even with us who have arguably best academy in the country.
Interesting thread Beefy. The one area Ron hasn't delivered for us (and I believed he had a reputation that suggested he would) is playing the kids. I can only deduce he doesn't think they are good enough. The one that baffles me is Reed. He had a great game against Everton and although I think some on here seem to recall him as being awesome in lots of games, he didn't really have many other long appearances. I am surprised he hasn't been given more time. I wonder how Les and the hierarchy feel about this. Targett is good back up and I wonder what Hesketh is doing seeing as he had a chance last season but not since.
I'd quite like to get a look at this Mugabi. Presumably Ron doesn't think he's good enough yet, but how good does he have to be to at least equal the current options at RB? I also agree with some of the comments about Reed, but it's not like we're short of options ahead of him; He would surely benefit from more game time but he probably wouldn't make a huge difference to the way we play. I'd like to see more of Targett too, but I wouldn't have him ahead of Bertrand. And Ward Prowse is proof that Ron is not actually averse to playing to the youngsters.
I think we could "allow" Wanyama to leave in the summer which would open up a potential spot for Reed. But that is the other part to trying to utilize the academy. Is everyone okay if, over the summer, Wanyama and Mane leave and we do not get replacements but rather insert Reed and Seager/Gallagher? into the lineup. Similarly, can we bench Davis and play JWP? Or sell Bertrand for a lot of money and roll with Targett? It's a big risk.
Yes probably, yet Jordy spent a long time out with no sign of Reed. Jordy is a far better player IMO, but Reed the ideal man to have had on the bench while Clasie was out.
Not sure about anyone else but I thought Romeu was at least as effective as Vic today, so yes, you could be right on that front.
I think it would be too big a risk. I don't see Reed as a replacement for Vic as I think he's more of a chaser and harrier.
Hesketh is a really strange one ... Koeman threw him into his starting XI, he got injured and he's barely trained with them since!
I wonder if he didn't come across strong enough in that one? I am trying to recall the game in my head.
I'd have Seagar on the bench at the moment (especially with Pelle out) to bring on as a poacher if chasing a goal at the end. Not to play up front on his own for majority of a game, but to win 2nd balls in the box and put them away if a chance falls to him.
I think if/when Wanyama goes, there will be a meltdown if his replacement was to be Reed. Not sure if that is what you meant, (and I think Reed deserves some game time,) but our midfield hasn't recovered from Morgan leaving, yet, so a big signing will be needed, IMO.
I'm just laying the situation out there. If Wanyama's first team place is filled by another starter, then Reed won't have moved up the totem pole any. It would likely be Newguy and Clasie starting, and Romeu and Reed fighting for playing time as backups. I think it is not that difficult to find a spot on the bench for Reed and others. But if they aren't playing, I don't feel it does any good. If Stephens or McCarthy are going to play as infrequently as Caulker does, I'd rather have Caulker on the bench and those two out on loan.
IMO, as Beefy has suggested, we may need something of a clear-out in the summer, not because the players involved are bad, but because we have finite resources and we need to balance the squad. Letting Wanyama go and simply not replacing him because we have too many midfielders isn't the answer, because I'm not sure that any of our internal options are likely to be standouts. Then the question shifts to who is essential, who fits and who is likely to develop beyond where they are now. Which leaves us with: Romeu's decent enough; is he much better than Reed? Is he likely to be the high-end starting DM that we'll desperately need, or is he a solid-enough-but-replaceable good backup/okay starter? Davis is decent enough; is there too much overlap between his tidy-but-unspectacular play and that of JWP? Is he betwixt and between positionally, not defensive-minded enough to play alongside an anchor, but not incisive enough to be ideal as the most advanced CM? Does he offer enough at other positions (say, when deployed wide on occasion to provide solidity) to compensate? Speaking of JWP...what exactly is his future? He's still absolutely young, but where's his development going? What aspect beyond his set piece ability will stand out in the future? Is he creative enough to be an attacking mid; will he come along enough physically to be a deeper-lying playmaker? Does his crossing offset his lack of threat carried down the flanks if played wide? And what's Juanmi's role? Most in Spain consider him to be a second striker who'll become an out-and-out striker in time; can we fit him alongside a Long or Pelle in a starting role without opening holes between the more defensive mids and our forward line? Can he instead grow into more of an on-ball playmaker either centrally or wide rather than one aiming to get on the end of things? If not, should we see how he looks as a striker now, in a smaller, more agile front line?
That is why I think we need to play Juanmi and Romeu over the young players right now, so we can make these decisions in the summer. If we hadn't crashed out of Euros so badly, and now we are out of a domestic cup as well this would have worked out better.
