Hey all, so I was reflecting upon Smalling and Jones in the centre of defence this evening and the not-too-distant retirements of Ferdinand and Vidic. Obviously this would leave us with Evans (just gone 25), Smalling (23), and Jones (20). Evans has obviously staked his claim and earned his spot as a first team regular, so we have an experienced head when the day finally arrives that we are without both Ferdinand and Vidic. I still sense that Smalling needs at least another season of development before he becomes a reliable first teamer, as many will be aware he spent a lot of his youth career in non-league football and so just needs a few more games under his belt at the highest level. Phil Jones is highly talented but fairly error prone - probably another 2/3 seasons of development needed before we start to see close to a world class product. Also good to note is that they're a tall and physically strong group. It all looks like it has been planned rather well - when Ferdinand hangs up his boots it would seem Smalling will be his replacement, and when Vidic calls it a day it will be around the time that Jones will be ready to take his place. How do you think these players will ultimately pan out? To make up a group of 4 central defenders, who do you think we should be looking to sign/ develop from the youth to join the group of 3?
I know you're wanting us to chat about the youngsters in our reserves like Wootton etc, just a note on one of our opponents last night that I was impressed with. I wouldn't mind Jordan Spence as a future prospect, he's got a good future ahead of him if he works hard. He would cover centre back and right back (if I'm not mistaken centre back is his more common position), he has good height and he's athletic, and once he's filled out he'll be a monster, he's still lanky as he's so young. He showed good defensive awareness, he contributes when he gets forward and he's comfortable with both feet. Apart from the handball he had a very good game.
