A little disappointing that Yang and Abbott didn't get a few minutes, but a tidy performance even if a couple of players looked noticeably rusty The one noticeable thing is how we've tightened up on little things, for example a throw in wasn’t a momentary pause before conceding possession like it regularly was last season
Scrappily edited highlights: I wonder what the plan is with Vuskovic this season? Big aerial threat, but it's a big ask at the back.
One game for an 18yr old against a keen, but limited Championship opposition, is difficult to make judgement on, but from what I have seen he looks more than ready. We only have 3 good CB's in Cuti, VDV and Danso (This jury is out on Dragusin and Ben looks like he will revert to LB). I'd be inclined to keep the lad in the squad, rather than loan him out.
Reading aren't even that good they are league 1...I would have a good look at him in pre season games when we are coming up against the better sides and wait and see, we do need 4 reliable centre backs maybe 5 if we do sometimes play with 3 under Frank. I would be very happy for him to be the 5th and hopefully get some game time in cups and from the bench.
Vuskovic is surely going to be the fourth for the first half of the season, given Dragusin is out until December
You would ask : 1. where you would rank Westerlo 2024-25 in the English leagues 2. whether the boy is deemed to be English league "hardened" (pace and physicality) If the objective answer to either is : not PL / no, then a loan to a club in the league below would be safest. The coaching staff over the summer may see Dele Alli precociousness (in which case he may similarly rise) .
1. The Belgian league can roughly be equated to the Championship, so 2024-5 Westerlo can be placed somewhere between the mid table pack of Middlesbrough/Swansea/Sheffield Wednesday to the playoff chasing pack of Bristol City/Blackburn/Millwall/West Brom, so let's split the difference and call them 8-10 in last season's Championship 2. The two loans Hajduk gave him likely answer both questions: his loan to Radomiak Radon in the back end of 2023-4 was to physically toughen him up as the Ekstraklasa is a physically intensive league based on strength and fitness (and Croatian clubs do often loan prospects to rougher leagues for this reason, i.e. Dinamo Zagreb loaning Luka Modric to the Bosnian league) while last season at Westerlo was to speed up his reactions and muscle memory as the Belgian league has a faster pace coupled with boosting stamina given how gruelling the schedule gets at the end of the season
