Because they're not v good? Target can stand in at a push, reed hasn't done much wrong but there's nobody ive seen that can challenge the senior players. We've been spoilt with llana, Shaw, chambers etc. I think we are seeing that we were lucky with these players and the academy doesn't churn them out as default.
Well, it'd help to know how the likes of Reed stack up against Romeu, as well. Regarding Juanmi, I don't disagree...but to find out what we have, if anything, we need to actually start him. There's only so much we can learn from a bunch of ten-minute appearances; all of those cameos amount to less than a game and a half played in the league through the midpoint of the season (Caulker has seen more of the pitch, to date). And if we don't feel that he brings enough to play more than he has, that perhaps helps to answer the question.
Indeed. I wouldn't at all be surprised if we'd have never signed Juanmi had we not been in Europe. He screams a Europa League signing for me. But given that we failed to make the group stage, we've found ourselves stuck with Juanmi both struggling for game time and blocking the path of youth. But as you allude to, until Juanmi gets more of the former, we can't really make an informed decision over whether the latter is justified. Constantly getting fellow PL sides in the cup games hasn't helped either. Oh how we could have done with home to Fleetwood or someone next month.
Looks like we'll have to beat Palace and go on a cup run to get everybody playing. And maybe salvage something from the season.
I'd get everyone playing for that Palace match. If we're reticent about starting Juanmi, Reed et al in the league, a cup match against a pretty good PL side is probably our best chance to see them against representative competition.
I'm surprised to see JWP being touted as the option for Davis. For me JWP's main strength is his delivery and I would suggest on the right of the midfield/forward 3 would be his position with Mane playing more central to make way for him. I've been impressed with Romeu since he came and would prefer him over Clasie in most games. He is a solid DM and seems to be able to pass forward as well which is a bonus. The problem I think is quite simply we built for more games this season and therefore we have 'depth' that has to play games. I think if Wanyama is out then Reed would be the better option over Clasie and Romeu for the deeper of the 2 DMs but he isn't a destroyer and is not going to be that part time CB that drops inbetween Fonte and VVD when needed. Whilst it is pretty obvious that we can't say that 'x' player will not make it or will make it without giving them a chance we can't really give many much game time at all. Bilic tried a player out of the blue in his first game but that is one player. We can try one player here and there and if we had made a better start to the season we might have had the option to 'test' the water. Koeman would be ripped to shreds if he started playing some youngsters and we slipped closer to that dreaded bottom 3 in that period. We are after all only 7 points above the dropzone, just the same amount as we are away from the European places. In the current position he has no choice but to try and play his best 11.
Want to preface this by saying that I'm not casting doubt on any of the items below (I agree with a lot of it); just asking these within the context of what I posted above, because I'm curious what people think. Also, I've exhausted all of the productive things I can do at work hours ago, and thus will annoy people here, instead. Does JWP's delivery offset what he doesn't bring...namely, that he's not a threat to get in behind, and isn't likely to ever stretch defenses in wide areas? If not, do we benefit from moving Mane to a central position to make way, or would we be better off aiming to either keep Mane wide and bring in a more varied attacking mid (or bring in a conventional winger and play Mane behind the striker, for that matter). Looking forward to next year, is Clasie/Romeu/Reed adequate for those two DM positions? Beyond that, are they likely to make that position a strength of ours? Central midfield was probably our most consistent plus until this season...if it's merely decent-to-good rather than excellent, can we shore up the rest of the team to compensate, or should we aim for top-end talent there again even if it means moving on solid players?
Whilst not wanting to put JWP down I don't thing he gives us anything over any player he would replace. No he wouldn't get in behind defences, he isn't ever going to stretch defences, he isn't that quick creative No10 either. His only strength really is his delivery that we hear so much about yet hardly ever see. However if Pelle is the main strike threat I don't understand why we never put crosses in from deep. If JWP can (like the payer he supposedly models his game on) cross the ball in from deep without needing to beat his man then surely Pelle would benefit from this. Does that option offset Mane beating men? It is hard to say because we don't see many of our players other than Tadic when he is on the left actually trying to beat men out side. Mane will get the ball and then drive straight toward goal, not necessarily cutting into the centre first but he isn't the sort to get to the byeline and put the ball in. As for Mane's position I think he would work anywhere in the front 4 and be equally as effective after all he isn't just a speedster waiting for the ball to be played in behind like Long would be. He can pick the ball up and beat the defence. If we had a better option out wide I could see Mane taking Davis' position, however if he is likely to be gone soon should we do that? Whilst I agree with the sentiment that Davis is not going to get into the top 6 teams in his position I don't see many options in our team and certainly not JWP. I think Romeu, Clasie and Reed are all similar players. Reed probably the more combative, Romeu the more destructive but with some ball playing skills and Clasie more a ball player. None of them are the brick wall that Wanyama is and next season we will need to bring a replacement 'stopper' in or change our style. At this moment in time I haven't seen enough from Clasie that would suggest he is good enough for the supposed ambition of the club however he needs time and he hasn't had the best of luck with injuries. This is a tough league and players that are excellent in other leagues can fail so easily in this league. It is much more physical and faster than other leagues and stamina and strength are key qualities. Some players who do well here fail in other leagues and vice versa. Time will tell. At the end of the day and with all the clamour over academies I can't see the point for a team like ours. It is becoming obvious that if our youngsters are at the level that we want to aim for then they go and we will be left with those who are only good enough for mid table. It was fine when we were the bottom half new comers and Shaw could be given a chance. If we are now upper mid and aiming for higher then we can't afford that time and unfortunately that is the way things are now. I can't see any of our youngsters coming through because we cannot afford to give them time.
Yes, we need to start Getting Juanmi much more playing time. But this is again why I really don't care about young players merely making the bench. They need to play. I'm willing to write off this season and do what it takes to set us up for the future. I have always been a fan of the rebuild. Harder to do in European Leagues with no draft or salary cap and relegation.. But still, this side is not going to cut it. Need to move out some players and look towards 2018. And Krueger needs to market the crap out of the team and generate revenue. That is the path to long term success. Not whether we finish 8th vs 15th this season.
I'm 100% in agreement on all of that; we should be able to steer clear of relegation with room to spare this season, but I'm scared stiff about what'll happen next year and beyond if we don't move pretty aggressively. I like all of the players mentioned (though the jury remains out on Juanmi, simply because he hasn't played all that much), but as a collective there's too much solid and not enough genuinely good, and it has a whole host of potential complications...cuts off chances for the youth, will clog the wage bill over time, might make us reticent to sign higher-calibre players for those areas because we already have a lot of positional depth, etc. All things that would be problems even if we were free spenders, but which can be entirely fatal on a less robust budget.
Really ? He has played for Saints 18 times and has 1 goal, played 10 games or so on loan to MKDons and is yet to score, maybe I am missing something. With regards to Mugabi, I thought he is injured as he is out of the u21 team
Agree with most, but not this. Spurs have the youngest squad in the Premier League; against us they fielded a lineup that was on average 24 years old, and a whole host of young players have seen to pitch for times ranging from 'short cameo' to 'now nailed-on starter'.and everything in between. That's a team aiming for Champions League...and potentially with Poch's job riding on that fact, actually, because Levy is not a patient man. If they can afford to, so too can we, if the kids have talent.
You are right and I wouldn't expect anything from him. But we need bodies who can play there. I would have preferred him to come on yesterday than Gaston, for example. I don't get the impression that the loan is going as well as it could have.
Look at Messi and Xavi. About the same height as Seager. Not quick. Neither was Sheringham. So the only way we will find out if he can make he grade is by him playing matches. I am sure RK is monitoring the situation so don't panic folks.
I think we will finish comfortably safe, but I think things will have been learnt from this season. I'm sure all our purchases were done in hope and good faith (and bearing in mind our need for numbers if we had progressed in Europe), but both Koeman and Reed will have seen our weaknesses and where we need to strengthen. The only downside is that they won't have the limitless money that fans have.
Oh god, can you imagine the barracking Ronald would get on here if he dared start the likes of Juanmi and Reed and not a full strength side....
The thing I like about Seager is that when he shoots he generally hits the target, we have had games with 25 attempts with only 3 on target, which is a really poor ratio
Sure can, but it's always silly when it comes to the cups, and it's even more so when we're starting to feel an injury crunch and have two pretty important home matches in the week following. Fun though cup runs are, it's not the top priority.
