Play the youngsters now?

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lamby

lamby

Needs a cold shower
Oct 3, 2011
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Had this discussion with some mates yesterday. They felt strongly that we were not giving our fringe youngsters enough game-time so I thought I'd canvas your views.

Their argument was that It's looking increasingly likely that we wont buy in this window. We look realtively safe in mid-table and are probably too far back to challenge for a UEFA cup place this season. In these circumstances should we all accept that and blood a few more of our younsters in our remaining games so that the squad is a lot stronger next season?

Players like Reed, Isgrove Gallagher etc are spending a lot of time on the bench but seeing liittle actual game time. Is now the time to find out if they have what it takes or should we continue to always play our strongest side?

Personally I feel we already have a very young first team and I think we have the balance about right.

What do you all think?
 
Strongest team for the WBA game,need to get the winning feeling back.....and maybe blood one or two against Yeovil .
 
As I am not the manager, the coach or the owner what I think doesn't matter in the least however that doesn't stop me having an opinion and I would say that the way our young players have been brought through so far has worked very well indeed and I would not change a thing.

How about that for a load of deferent claptrap?:)
 
Interesting. If we are going to do it we need to start now, as, with the exception of Chelsea, we have to play everyone. Therefore there should be no results that distort the league table. But not even this is simple. Say we play this bunch of youngsters against West Brom and Sunderland and lose both matches heavily. Teams in trouble could legitimately claim if we lose our nerve and field a stronger team against, say, West Ham and Fulham resulting in wins that we have "favoured" the other two clubs. But even if we don't lose our nerve, and Reed et al develop into a superb team within weeks (unlikely but stay with me) and on this rapid learning curve start to take points from the likes of Norwich et al might they still claim that our team was weak against West Brom and Sunderland.

On another note, could we avoid buggering about until a) a Europa place is impossible b) we are out of the FA Cup and c) mathematically safe from relegation. This latter comment comes from being a fan still haunted by the freefall of 1974.

Good post, Lamballana.
 
It's a poser. How are we ever going to discover whether players like Isgrove and Stephens have what it takes if they just get the odd cup run out or a place on the bench. I still think we have the balance about right and it's probably hard to do anyway when you already have three teenagers regularly starting.
 
We are already setting the pace in the Premier League for bringing academy players through. For example, in the first game of the season at West Brom we fielded 3 18 year olds from the start, which was a new record for the Prem. I am confident that there is a long-term plan for bringing through the likes of Reed, Gallagher, Isgrove, and all the others, but there is no hurry. Yes, if we have another injury crisis the plan might have to be accelerated, but there is absolutely no need to rush things.
 
Certainly not. We have had a poor run of results (granted this is likely due to the large number of injuries and the tough schedule) and we need to get in the points again. As a manger with so few points from the recent run Poch shouldnt be taking any chances by fielding extra youngsters right now. Also it is mentally draining on the players if they fail to win week after week.

Sure with Shaw we were very fortunate. Good player and better than what we had in the position. Chambers did ok when he came in, but not great. Clyne is clearly the better player at the moment now for right back. If the youngsters happen to be better than what we currently have, then sure put them in, but I'm gonna trust Saints to play them when they are ready rather than just for the sake of it.
 
I think we'll see a lot more of them early next season or late on in this one. No point bringing them into a team which is finding it a little tough right now unless you are sure they can handle it. The staff have been pretty good judges of when to put them in so far. It's exciting to see new youth get a chance but there's no rush!
 
Also, I really fail to see why so many on here seem to think our season is pretty much done now. It's January 10th for ****s sake! There is a long way to go and 10-15 point swings are going to be perfectly reasonable in the division this season.
 
We have to get wins while we can....remember those hard games will come back round again. A few more losses and the team's confidence will be hit and Nicola will be unhappy (and we don't want Nicola unhappy<yikes>). Mauricio has to play our best side which already includes youngsters. If we are in a similar position at the end of the season, he could give some youngsters a few minutes. Better experience for youngsters to get familiar with a winning team in front of happy fans...as their mistakes will be better tolerated.
 
No.

We have three teenagers from our academy who are well established first team squad players now: Luke Shaw, JWP Callum Chambers. We have Sam Gallagher and Harrison Reed who seem to be the next likely to have chances and are getting chances. We have Adam Lallana as first team captain.

Not many clubs can boast that and I am sure there will be more coming through in the next 1-5 years.

The most important thing is momentum. I don't mean momentum within one month, I mean over a season. Take the last five seasons including the current one: League one 7th; League One 2nd and promoted; Championship 2nd and promoted; Premier League 14th and a bit of adaptation time; Premier League currently 9th (after a slump) and playing progressive football.

I would not even consider our season to be any where near 'over' or 'safe'. We have 18 games left; which is 54 points. There is much to play for.

Keep developing the youngsters, but only play them when right to do so, or absolutely necessary because of injuries and suspensions.
 
No. When players are good enough, they play. We've seen that with Shaw, Chambers and JWP. We don't need to play kids just to see what they've got, because the coaching staff know already.
 
I always love to see the nippers coming through into the squad? I know Dejan has been magnificent this season but I am less convinced by Osvaldo and Ramirez in both attitude and ability, so I think on balance I would go for home grow every time.
Haven't really seen Chambers put a foot wrong since his introduction, whereas if you compare Ramirez to Ward-Prowse, I know who I'd plump for?
 
Having Talent is one thing.......Having experience is another. The youngsters need to be brought in slowly along side the more experienced players. It doesn't matter what team in the world you choose......your Barcelona's, Man U's or Man City's, they all will use a blend of youth with experience. Bringing them through as we do is the correct way slowly and gently. The odd twenty minutes here or there the cup matches or friendlies not that we have many of those anymore. Sadly we don't use the reserves system any more as a way to see what they can do as that used to be the way to gage their talent. The way we do it at the moment is, in my opinion, spot on.
 
I have no quibble with the way our young players have been streamed through to the 1st team squad. A point for discussion might be should we make more use of the loan system to get players more first team experience.
 
tiggermaster said:
I have no quibble with the way our young players have been streamed through to the 1st team squad. A point for discussion might be should we make more use of the loan system to get players more first team experience.
Click to expand...

Counter to that, is we might trust our coaches more than other teams. First team experience is nice, but it's not experience playing the way we want to play.
 
Yes good point Tigger. We only seem to do it with players like Reeves and Hoskins who are destined to move on. I seem to remember one MP interview when he talked about other clubs training regimes and cultures being a negative influence. Maybe that's why?
 
I take the point but it's a bit early at the moment. Last season after we won three in a row to confirm staying up, we probably started our summer holidays a bit early. In the end instead of pushing for 10th like we should have, we ended up 14th. We should really aim to be finishing as high as possible even though there's not much difference between 10th and 8th.

Anyway pushing players in when they are not up to it can be damaging, they are doing well enough in the U21s. All in good time. :)
 
I can see the point about other clubs possibly being a bad influence, although there are exceptions. He may never come good anyway but I still think Gazzaniga would learn more playing some games at a lower level than he will as our 3rd choice.

On the general point I agree with Dan and flt. We already have 3 teenagers in the squad and starting some games, and two others on the bench fairly regularly. If we go 3 or 4 goals up in a game then maybe one of Reed or Gallagher should come on for 20 or 30 minutes rather than 5 minutes but that's about as far as I'd go.
 
When the time is right the coaches will make the right decision, but maybe against Yeovil there's a thought?

Good discussion.
 
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