he actually shows an interest - he attends u23 matches, he has them training with the first team ... He uses them when the opportunities arise.
Exactly. It is a good start. But we should wait and see how Puel actually ends up using the academy players over the course of the season and how well those players do before claiming that Puel is good with youth and Koeman was crap.
Just back from danube cruise...though not home. Three wins in 6 days...unbelievable. made my holibobs.
Anyone worried about Charlie's penalty style. I know they have both gone in but his style seems so casual, with the ball seeming to eventually cross the line. Maybe it's just how it appears on tv. Really like a good thumping penalty, as long as it goes in, not row zzzzz!
I remember people on here saying almost exactly the same about our greatest striker in the last 6 years - Rickie Lambert. Charlie has a way to go before he gets near SRL's record for us, but he has been banging them in in the Premier League for other clubs, and he is still younger than the great man was when we first bought him.
People said he was just rusty? Just saying, cos I already retracted the not a natural goalscorer a few pages back...
No, not that, but Rickie had a lot of criticism because of all the goals he scored from free kicks and penalties.
I fully accept the "not scoring from open play" criticism (whether a team or a player) because, as we all know, free kicks and penalties only count as half a goal. Vin
Everyone?.......not sure that everyone has been saying that. However it is true that in the short time Puel has been here he has shown more interest in the youth set up than RK did in the whole time he was here. Also he has played the promising players in the European game and the League cup exactly what you would expect. It is too early yet to make comparisons in the league perhaps but you cannot deny Puel's obvious enthusiasm for the academy players when comparing him directly with RK.
I've quite forgotten the buzz from when Rickie was stood over the ball before a free kick - seems the premiership has too (apart from maybe Payet - no silly fouls 25 yards out on Sunday boys!)
No. He didn't. In fact, Reed, Hesketh, etc. didn't even make the bench. Starting XI: Forster; Yoshida, Martina, Van Dijk, Targett; Romeu, Tadic, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse; Long, Austin Subs: McCarthy, Clasie, Fonte, Davis, Rodriguez, Bertrand, Redmond The only two young, academy players in that line-up are Targett and JWP... who people have already said didn't count when Koeman used them because they were no longer young players but senior back-ups. The same should apply to Puel. But if you want to give Puel credit for starting Targett and JWP, then you need to give the same credit to Koeman starting those two against Midtjylland last season.
A bit selective there don't you think? It is obvious that you think RK gave the youngsters a chance, but a lot of us don't. As for starts and playing youngsters as I said it is early days. Wasn't it five youngsters the other night? You cannot surely deny that Puel has shown more interest in his short tenure, than RK did in the couple of years he was here
I have never claimed that RK gave the youth a chance. All that I have said is that Puel so far has not given the youth more playing time than Koeman has. Reed and Hesketh have played exactly 0 minutes in PL and Euros. YOU said that Puel played our "promising players" in Europa League. I simply pointed out you were incorrect about that. How am I being selective when YOU were the one who picked the game?
Why are we only selecting the PL and Euros? The EFL cup is a competitive competition that Koeman never played the youth in either. So far, Puel has shown more interest/willingness to play them, regardless of competition, than Koeman did last year.
Welcome home, Fran. You were missed - honestly (look at the thread!). Hope you had a marvellous time!!
