And important to keep players moving through the Academy...test them at senior level (either here or on loan) and make room for youngsters to move up to the U18 and U23 teams. Seeing an earlier Academy player succeed is the carrot the youngsters need.
You don’t get better at any sport or competition, unless you are taking on people who are already slightly better than you are; no player arrives from the training ground fully formed. Of course you don’t want to over face people or there’s a chance they’ll go backwards, but at some point you have to throw them in at the deep end. Only time Valery has ever looked remotely out of his depth was at Cardiff.
Ref Valery, am I right in thinking that the academy, from age 7 upwards, taught 4-3-3 (was it 4-3-3? It certainly wasn't 3-5-2). In light of that it's entirely possible that Valery hasn't been trained heavily in wingback work. Hence his qualities in defence and deficiencies in attack. My view is that for his age, he's terrific in defence so he's probably a good learner. I have no doubt whatsoever that the Hütt has noticed he lacks a little going forward and is addressing it. Good learner plus attention from Ralph makes me very optimistic for the future. Vin
