How are we gonna fit all of these into our first team!? Hopefully this is our champions league squad in a few seasons time
From what I've heard/seen - Ward-Prowse, Omar Rowe, Luke Shaw, Jack Stephens and Sinclair are brilliant prospects.
hopefully the comparison that you make with scholes is that they have a great motor, good passing and shot- not that they tackle like a baby elephant on ice. also when are the next games available for the internet
Not all of them can make it unfortunately. They won't all go to Arsenal either, especially when we're beating them in the premier league. Also it depends what sort of player they are. Because Lallana wasn't blindingly quick or built like a tank, he slipped under the big clubs radar and was allowed to develop into the beast he is now. If we breed the right characteristics, we can make good, mature players that make up a big part of our team. A few exceptional ones will move on, but we get crazy fees foor them. It's well worth having the academy if we make use of it.
I think once we get into the Prem, it will be much easier to keep our younger players, especially when we're able to establish ourselves properly.
I admire your optimism, but the majority of youth players don't actually make it. One gem every two years seems to be our ratio. And thouroughly worth the investment.
I am 100% with Dyslexic on this one! I believe some peole think because we have a brilliant academy, all of the players in it are going to be future stars. This is not the case. 1 every 2 years is a fantastic record and one to be proud of. It is unlikely that the majority of these lads will make it though to the first team. As you can see I've highlighted what I believe will happen to them. That is just my brutal honest opinion, just because they have professional contracts it doesn't mean they'll make it. It's just the club insuring that if they do develop then they have them under contract so other teams can't snatch them.
1 every two years? are we forgetting all the lads we have dotted around the premier/football league??
i never said all of them would make it, I said they were on the fringes of the 1st team and they have a potential - ive seen them all play, know some of the people who house them and know how they play - this scholarship year is the best for a while, A LOT of people have said that to me you really are underestimating the intake this year, believe me
Not that Cortese is ever biased! Like a true fan, Nicola has an inflated idea of our position in the football world. That's why he gets offended and goes off on one if he thinks we've been dissed. That's why I love him.
If they're not pushing for the first team by 17/18, it seems less likely that they will make it with us unfortuntely. As we get better, we need to make more use of loans to give the youngsters a fairer crack at first team footballl. Should be more straightforward in the PL with the status and a far more competitive reserve league in which to show the kids off. For every kid that makes it, there will be loads that don't and we need to emphasize that none of them are born to be stars, not just because we don't want an army of Puncheons who think they're better than they are. Some players who show a lot of promise as youths never make it professionally. This latest crop may be good, but its safer to reserve judgement until they are playing in a first team shirt, ours or someone elses.
Its the players that get "blooded" at the start of the season in the league cup that are usually the ones who develop into god players - Lallana, And AOC were both blooded then. Also Chris Baird was another who came in (albeit the FA Cup final).
To give JWP his due though, the testimonies on Saints player from Jamal Branker, Callum Chambers and Will Britt have him down as hardworking, very committed and someone thiat everyone looks up to. Let's not forget that many of the best midfielders around are not the most physical of players - Wilshire, Xavi, Iniesta, Modric etc. Even Lallana is 5'8" and only beefed up in the last couple of seasons. He fell over in a gust of wind in his early days if I remember rightly. Now he's been here so long, he loves it here, is an awesome player and presumably earns a hefty wedge too. In some ways, I think a lack of physicality is a blessing if he's treated properly as it meanss he's less likely to have Wenger stalking him early days and he can develop at his own pace. If AOC wasn't fast and strong, would Arsenal have paid £15m for him? Of course not!
