You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but the academy makes them as good as they can be. The step up for most will be outside Saints..only the best or the earliest maturers will get the chance here. Some will not even make a living on the field...they can learn from Adkins that there are other careers in football and sport. The insistence on education and character building will serve them well in ordinary life as well.
I'm surprised the conspiracy theorists on the board haven't noticed this and likened it to the footballing equivalent of the Stepford Wives, or the Midwich Cuckoos. Cortese's Kids anybody?...
I agree in that I haven't quite seen a spark that makes me think he will be a world class top-of-his-game player. I do think he could be a very good player for us, a solid and reliable above-average Premier-League performer, but not sure he'll be a huge star outside of Southampton. That said, he's a 18 year old, there's a long way he could go yet. Who knows?
Nothing wrong with being a good reliable PL player...the one you never worry about seeing on the team sheet.
Of course not, I still think he will be an important player for us, I wasn't trying to use solid and reliable to downplay him. Just the kind of player I think he'll be, great lad for us, not a highlight reel player that everyone will be talking about as one of the great talents, but that's not always a bad thing.
I reckon he should be modelling his game on fabregas, they are similar sizes and similar styles. Fabregas isn't exactly athletic or powerful but he still can dominate a game.
I feel completely the opposite. Luke Shaw is the one who strikes me as a dependable but non-star defender, while I think JWP has star quality. His passing game and vision are already top-notch, and his understanding of the flow and tempo of the game as far as when to go for the pass, when to slow things up, etc. are way beyond his years. I think he is already as good Schneiderlin but for one thing.... his defense. His tackling skills need improvement and he is too small to win the aerial challenges pr muscle people around. But at just a few weeks over 18, he will get stronger and perhaps a little taller. Against Man U., He completely outplayed Cleverley.
I agree JWP's potential is far greater than being 'a good reliable Premier League player'. He wants the ball, doesn't hide. Isn't just about continuity but has an eye for the killer pass. Gaining experience and having the intelligence to use such experience productively will lead to a dominate midfield force in the Scholes mode. He can, in my view, be that good.
He is clearly very highly regarded and can only improve. Can see him becoming a fixture in the Nick Holmes, Steve Williams mould. A massive plus is he has had a very good scoring record for a midfielder!
Against man United Schneidlerlin destroyed Kagawa a much better player than Cleverly, scored and was instrumental in Lambert's first. Schneiderlin is streets ahed of JWP who to my knowledge hasn't scored or assisted any goals and has, to be frank, been a bit part player in the games he has played. Of course a bit part player as a 17 year old is outstanding but I can't recall him playing key passes or last ditch tackles. In fact if Cork had have played instead of him I could have seen us beating Man City and United. If Shaw plays well up until January I don't think we will bring in a LB leaving him to play week in week out in the premier league, JWP on the other hand won't get a look in as long as Schneiderlin, Cork, Davis, Ramirez and Lallana stay fit. And while I have only seen highlights of Shaw in the youth sides he looked very dynamic dribbling, running at defenders and putting dangerous balls into the box. If you've got saintsplayer watch the most recent game against man united u21s to see his quality on the ball. Shaw will play for England before JWP I predict.
It may well be that Shaw will gain international honours more swiftly than JWP. However playing wide with the game in front of you is not, in my view, as technically demanding as playing central midfield where skills on the turn, aligned to periphery vision and mature decision making are needed together with the basics if talent is to be realised. There seems to me to be ample evidence that JWP has all the skills, or potential to develop all the skills and quality decision making will come with experience.
Personally I've seen more in Shaw than I have in JWP, not to say JWP isn't a very good player but Shaw has impressed me more. But, what I've seen of them has been a grand total of about bugger all, so who knows. They could both be future England stalwarts, they could both end up working in a Tesco Express.
He certainly seems eloquent for an 18 year-old footballer. Definitely got more between his ears than Shaw, goodness me that boy is dim
As stated on OS, chance to see next generation play Everton at SMS in 3rd round youth cup on 10/12 (ko 7 pm). Tickets £3 and £5.
