lots of chat on here recently about our kids, why the hell we have 7 CBs for example and why we have so many strikers, why we got rid of Stokes and the McKay brothers, Billy Whitehouse let go after only a few months.... So can anyone whos seen them recently pick some individuals out who PH will give a chance to. I can think of Jack Clarke and at least 2 of our new CBs the Fin and the kid from Ajax, theres also Tom Pearce who some say is the best player in the academy, a left back. At some stage with all the investments we put into the kids you would hope we see some results, like DoL got, they were young but good enough. We also have young Roberts at 19 but straight into the first team?
It's really difficult for us to predict if someone is ready or not. Even the coaches can only guess if they'll adjust mentally on the first team or not. They wouldn't be the first to fail. As for skills, that's the difficult bit. We only see them played out of position, different formations etc., but we don't know what the coach is looking for. For instance, a midfielder being played as striker might look awful to us as he doesn't have the killer instinct, but what if the coach was playing him there so he could be on the other end of a midfielders passes, to understand the folly of some of his bad habits, for instance? He may have had a stinker of a game, but in the post mortem, he might tell the coach what he's learned from the outing, and what he's going to start working on to provide a better service to a striker. Just a frinstance, and may be wildly off the mark, but who are we to guess what a player needs coached out of him or in to him? Could also be just getting a tryout as a striker, as perhaps in training he showed promise. Who knows? The one thing glaringly obvious to me is that despite the sheer numbers we've signed, we don't have a big hitman to lead the line coming through. Deliberate? Or so far unavailable? Or not part of future plans? Anyone's guess. Taking all that into consideration, and bearing in mind that Grot shone in a u23 match I watched, my personal pick is Sarkic. Seen him play twice this season & he's been very good both times. Very. Reminds me of Antonsson in many ways. New Polish keeper looked very assured the one time I watched him. I liked the look of the new Dutch LB we've just signed (whose name I've forgotten - think it's about 8 letters, with 4 'j's & 3 'i's in it ). Tbh, I think he's a CB, but played LB when I watched him. There are quite a few that are promising, and I'd put Jack Clarke on that list, but I'm not sure they're ready yet. But WTF do I know? Ask @BillysStatue - he's a better talent spotter than me!.
WJ thanks for that and you talk a lot of sense especially about them always being played out of position. I watched the LB Pearce playing a striker last week and he scored a great goal. I understand that plenty of kids who are thought of as world beaters but then never make it. We also know of plenty of players who start out as a Striker end up as CB, midfielders who end up as great full backs, and that can only be because a coach sees something in them, so yeah I get it a bit. Would be nice to hear from Orta, PH or Corbiere what his plans are, what hes doing etc as many like me think hes cracked at times. I had a look yesterday at the kids data as somebody posted on another thread that we only have a couple of players over 1.8mts which means we get battered. Well with all those CBs we have plenty in the U23s and even many of the other outfield players aer on the1.8 mark or over?
There are myriad examples of youngsters being 'blooded' in first team games. Wasn't George Best very young when he started, Jimmy Greaves was another, and the WONDERFUL Tim Cahill was also only a kid when he started for Millwall. Give 'm a chance.
Correct mate and Leeds have plenty of history with the likes of Milner, Lennon, Delph, Woodhate, Harte, Batty, Speed, Smith, Kewill, Carson all went onto be full internationals and regular prem players. Lewis Cook is the best of the latest batch, but Byram and Taylor obviously not as good as they thought they were. For me there is no point in having players who are 22, 23 or 24 stall in the U23s, if they aint good enough by that age they should be moved out
Didnt O'Leary blood the young kids back end of the season he took over? Woodgate, Batty, Kewel to name a few, i remember being at Forest and had the chance to see a young Woodgate, who the fck is this kid i thought, i definitely knew who he was after the game, so yes if they are good enough then put them in i say.
Batty was blooded by Sgt Wilko as was Speedo, but yeak DoL brought them in and they were brilliant all working for each other, all wanting to show so called top players who was boss. They had an arrogance about them that was awesome, and the way he brought in older heads with more experience worked well. We now know Sam Byram and Taylor are not all they were cracked up to be, Delph was the last one who we knew would make it big, and he did but got held back with a cruciate ligament, but got his England place back and a move from Villa to Man City, where he played a big part last season, not sure about this season. Lewis Cooke will be atop player and he is actually playing well in the prem. But do we have any more ready yet as the cupboard has been bare for a while We thought Phillips had made it earlier in the season but lets remember hes no kid any more he's 22 now and his form for the most part this season has been shocking. Viera looks like he could do it but after a brilliant last term this term hes up and down with more down
I think Viera could do with some quality beside him. He's a ball winner but tends to give too many back. I always thought Batty and McAllister were an ideal pair, Batty wins it and gives it to McAllister. Maybe Viera would be better with Forshaw.
I used to watch Leeds City boys with a friend of mine who's lad was in the side with Phillips who stood out purely because he clogged his way through a match, i remember him going over the top on an opponent and hurt the lad bad, the lads father grabbed Phillips and shook him like a rag doll, they subbed Phillips straight away.
