Having seen him for the first time "live" yesterday he does remind me of Wiltshire and Cleverley and would put him in that company however needs a season of games in the cups and off the bench before we can really judge his potential Problem is Wenger will want him sooner or later!?!?!?!?!
How do you decide when a player is ready? Walcott was thrown in straight away while Bale and Chamberlain only made fleeting appearances the season before breaking through. Didn't do them any harm. A lot of top clubs stall the development of their young players by not giving them enough game time. Lots of us have criticised Arsenal for doing that to Walcott and I'd hate for us to do it to JWP. He's good (anyone who saw him against Palace, Coventry, Arsenal or Ajax can vouch for that) and he needs games to come on as a player. Deserves at least a place on the bench against City IMO.
I think that JWP will be ready to start when he is a better option that what we have in CM. I think that Cork, Schneiderlin and S Davis are all better options at the moment even without seeing Davis play as why would you sign a player if he dosen't improve your team. The difference between oxo, bale and walcott was that they were better than what we had in their respective positions or offered something different. We are in the prem now not the champ or lg1 when the other talented players started their soton careers.
This. The lad stood out against Ajax having already made an impact in the previous (admittedly friendly) games. He is quality, and as soon as he shows himself to be a better option than our other midfield players he should be in the team, regardless of his age. i would be surprised if he is not in the 18 to face Man city.
The more match experience the lads gets, the better. His game will develop through learning how defenders move and how to place his passes to beat that, through learning where to position himself off the ball, through sharpening up decision making, on top of normal technical development to allow him to place 40 yard passes on a penny. All of the mental side of the game surely can't be hindered by putting him up against Premier League defenses?!
I'm more worried about what happens if he plays against Yaya Toure and gets destroyed. Martin Cranie played against Chelsea as a 16 year old and arguably never recovered. To quote an example from another sport, in 2005 England picked a highly promising 18 year old centre called Matthew Tait against Wales. Most experts say he has never really recovered from being dump tackled by Gavin Henson in that match.
Dont think he'll start against City but might get a chance gainst Wigan. Nigel will bring him on gently. Expect Davis, Cork and Morgan in our first game.
Fair point, Jack Wilshere is a recent high profile example. Same for Aaron Ramsey who went from being very promising to pretty ****.
I'd say both of those are more down to injuries, but playing 40 odd games in 2010-11 can't have helped Wilshere. I'll be amazed if he ever reaches the same standard again, let alone comes anywhere near to fulfilling his potential. At the moment he can't get out of bed without getting injured for another three months.
Ramsey broke his leg and that won't have helped. Wilshere got badly crocked too. Although injuries happen, we have a very good medical team to prevent unnecessary injuries and NA as a former physio can sniff out when players need a rest or have minor knocks that they shouldn't play on. The kid is in good hands.
