I think maybe people are overestimating the quality coming from the Academy and the impact it might have had.
Pochettino was excellent about playing the younger guys. That was my favorite thing about him. But when I think of him giving players opportunities, it's more about giving brief appearances to Gallagher, Rowe, McQueen and Sinclair.
Shaw and Chambers were somewhat pressed into duty. Also, they were the cream of the crop. By the time Koeman got here, they were already gone.
IMO, Targett got a chance early this season and was somewhat exposed defensively. When he got to play later in the season, I think it was mostly when we used 5 at the back. Which left Koeman in a no-win situation. If we play 5 at the back, then he gets heat for not playing the way Saints are supposedly set up to play. Plus, it forces Bertrand to the center and it takes away a spot that could go to someone else who needs playing time. If he plays 4 at the back with Targett playing over Bertrand, then he's not playing our best 4 and that is a defense that looks a little soft.
JWP honestly just didn't shine enough. His playing time would have come at the expense of Davis. I like Davis less than most here, and even I think Davis is better than JWP and it's hard to take Davis off the pitch because his "glue" role in the team. JWP got a lot of time off the bench, and a decent amount of starts. I've got no problems with how he was used.
The only player I wanted to see play more and that I might criticize Keoman for not using is Reed. But then, Clasie and Romeu needed time as well. I don't see too many people complaining that those guys suck or were terrible purchases. In fact, the prevailing opinion now seems to be that we can go ahead and sell Wanyama, and it's okay. So even then, it's hard to complain about Koeman.
That period after the bad spell where it looked like there was no danger of relegation and the team wasn't a disaster, but where it also looked like we were out of Europe and would finish 8th? That's when you would go ahead and semi-punt the rest of the season and develop the youth. Koeman opted not to do that, and instead we went on a tear, qualified for Euro, finished 6th and had our highest points total.
I'm not going to criticize the guy for that. He saw something to play for, and went for it, and it worked. Moreover, by qualifying for Euro, he basically opened up more playing time for the young players next season.
How he allegedly treats the U-21 players or whatever during training could be a problem. I'm not saying Koeman might not have some issues there long-term, I don't know. But this whole "doesn't play the youth" thing to me is unfounded. It comes out whenever the team isn't playing well, or when we want to find something to criticize about Koeman. It's sour grapes in this case. No one was complaining when we were benching our best young players and winning games.
