I would argue that most sane people with their nuts on the chopping block would go with known quantities. This isn't revolutionary stuff. But in your Rumsfeldian wisdom are you saying you'd prefer known-unknowns or unknown-unknowns? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Listen Professor Todd Rumsfeld, those academy players aren't unknown quantities to their managers/head coaches. In our case some were kept back by the manager, prevented from going on loans for three years, presumably because the manager rated them, whilst we signed the known known turds you go on to speak of.
It's not so much the known part that is the problem, I get that, any head coach should know what he's got in his academy, one of the reasons Pochettino was explicitly hired was because he promised academy integration. The bigger problem for us has been knowing the quality of the experienced "turds" the manager has been signing off on instead of giving his home grown turds the same chance for a polishing.
Would appear Pochettino biggest unknown unknown was himself.
I know what I'd prefer, talent. Like Gio Reyna who came into BVB U19s as a known-unknown this summer and rocketed his way to the first team. Do you know why he did that BC? It wasn't because he was given games or because he had experience or whatever. It was because he was fucking good, too good to keep out of the side. No loans to get games etc etc etc just pure talent. We got any of them in our academy? Any of them tearing it up BC? You know, in a way that says I'm ready for the step-up. I have been dutifully informed by one of your comrades in academy arms that we lost tons of world class talents that will soon be tearing it up in leagues throughout Europe because of Poch and his stupid face...and manners...and methods. But now that he's gone I'm assuming we got some that are gonna make Reyna look like Kyle Naughton. Got any names for me?
Well, we've definitely got a player from the academy is who would be better than Sissoko as CM/DM's, yes.
We've definitely had academy players that were at least as viable for first team minutes as Njie, Nkoudou, Foyth, Gedson to name a few.
You mean the Gio Reyna that of his 1700 minutes so far has only played 343 first team minutes? The Gio Reyna that hadn't started a single first game all season until the last two of the season ? What he's had is a gradual but continual exposure to first team football. Was that because they actually didn't trust him or because it's just a smart way give a young player a chance to get used to it?
We've definitely had players ready to get this kind of gradual exposure to see if they can earn a start by the the last game or two of the season of the season.
Jadon Sancho didn't have to wait as long as Reyna in his BVB career for starts.
What's wrong with loans? Would Kane have been Kane without the loans - where he also looked pretty meh on some of them - Leicester fans laughed at him.
And as I've said earlier the disconnect isn't identifying that a certain academy player ain't got it since (paraphrasing your own words) most are shit. The problem is the identification of new, external talent. That is where the waste is so perhaps you should focus your keen insights on that instead of championing the non-orgasmic turds in the academy. We could have tried for Gio this summer...it would have cost Levy actual Pounds - you know, those things that he is loath to spend on actual academy players since the risk is so high and it doesn't go on a balance sheet. Then we'd be on to something.
As you well know, I've had/got plenty of issues with our identification of external talent. very few have got me excited in the last 10 years. Which is why I find it very annoying that we could be filling some of the meh/turd quota for free, using some young players that would have been at least coached tactically for a few years in the way of the head coach, and therefore could at least provide a tactical function. They could then be sold for decent money that could be added to the fee we have saved instead of wasted on an external turd and give us more money to spend on, hopefully, a better quality external player.