Had a blinder today for the U21's, freezing cold, blistery against a physical West Ham side and he completely bossed the game, scoring two brilliant goals. I know it's only U21's, but he looked a cut above any player, some of which included Sterling and Shelvey. This lad is such a prospect and I'm very surprised he hasn't featured more for the first team, especially when he's been shifted out wide he's still done a decent job.
Gerrez has said it many a time, but tat he was one of the ones who mentally needed to get it together according to Rodgers.
Yeah Sterling scored a beauty, top right from 20 yards on the half volley Rest assured, our U21's can't deal with set pieces either
Simple. We can petition FIFA to promote more set pieces as the future of the game. Surely they will then use their logic to ban it. Then we're all set. On topic, I feel that Suso isn't one of those selfish divas or a cocky, arrogant youth player. I think his mental issue is only maturity. He's 18 and still a kid. While he is a gem of a player, he needs to develop mentally and physically. He thinks very quickly on the pitch but he's got to transfer that to his training methods. In other words, he's not a slouch, he just doesn't put extra effort in and that's what has stopped BR from playing him. I'd like to see him go on loan to a club that plays like us, like Swansea.
Just watched the highlights. We're awful on corners. West Ham literally created nothing in open play, and benefited from 3 free headers in the six yard box. It looks like we mark zonally.
The youngsters have all tasted first team football and have been returned to U21 duty for their own good. However a consequence of that is that they will be even more desperate to have that taste again!!
Its a tough position to play at the top level but I still think he is one of our best prospects. There's something a bit special about him but the step up is massive so it's always very difficult to judge. When he's played first team he's done ok especially as he's been in a position that doesn't get the best out of him. I have a bit of a thing with loans though that tends to go against the grain a bit. When we loan players out I don't think we should send them to teams that play a similar style. Just the opposite. We send them out to learn and develop surely? What a lad like Suso needs is to learn how to make the most of the ball when he doesn't get it every five seconds. Send him to somewhere like Swansea (just as an example) and he doesn't develop anything different than he would at Anfield. Send them to a Bolton for example where he'll learn the dirty, gritty stuff, he'll learn to not expect sympathy when he gets a whack and he'll learn the stuff he won't learn here.
I think Suso has great mental strength. Some players when going back to the reserves chuck their toys out the pram and there performance level drops. Suso keeps stepping back upto the mark in the face of relegation from the first team and it is this along with his superb talent and potential that will make him a massive player for us in the future. The guy is not the finished article, but the finished article is going to be a joy to behold
But if he goes to Bolton his technical learning takes a huge hit. He has a long way to go before he is Messi or Ronaldo or Silva or Alonso or Iniesta. I'd rather have a maestro on the ball who needs to toughen up than a player who isn't really **** at anything but not great either. I agree with the special tag. There's something about Suso that I don't see with other graduates. He's smart on the pitch. He sees things that others don't. Its as if the other kids are on autopilot but he takes time to think about every move. When it doesn't compromise his speed and reflexes he looks a class above the rest of the Academy. Hopefully BR doesn't select him for a Henderson-esque conditioning at RB or something.
I think comparisons with those players is stretching it a bit but I know what you mean about his technical learning taking a hit. However when you're already years above your peers in that sense will 6 months elsewhere learning the nitty gritty really hurt? One of the biggest things between his current level and first team football is the speed of the game right. When he did play in the first team his touch looked great, dribbling skills good etc so his technical side already looks up to the job anyway. His problem was how quickly he was being closed down and how much less space there is to play in. Its that pace he needs to learn to play at, it's things like using his arse to back into a player before he gets the ball. He doesn't need to learn the technical stuff at a team like Swansea because surely we should be capable of teaching him those things better anyway. Just a thought
