This is a peculiar standpoint.
Because Lionel Messi exists.
What you're saying is unless a 16 year old bursts through better than Messi, it's not worth hyping about?
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Player Mikey Moore
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Because Lionel Messi exists.
What you're saying is unless a 16 year old bursts through better than Messi, it's not worth hyping about?
This is the Mikey Moore thread.
... He made his first team debut at 16.
... He has scored a first team goal.
... He has dominated in England teams at all levels.
... but there are a lot of comments along the lines of he'll never make it, is he all that, playing in a farmers league etc. Meanwhile people are wetting themselves over an Woolwich player who has no more on his CV than Mikey.
There is going to be irritation.
And to be brutal, he didn't really amount to much.
My issue is more the logic than the individuals being spoken of.
I see a world where both play for England.
But the fact that an impressive 16 year old "isn't new" doesn't mean it isn't impressive.
If the boy was at, say, Barcelona instead. No one would have a problem discussing.
P.s. I called for Mikey to be made captain when he returns, if not Archie. So I definitely rate Mikey.
I’ve seen very little but praise for Mikey Moore over the last couple of threads. And overwhelming optimism. Which there should be, he’s doing extremely well.
I feel like people are acting like it’s a comparison between the two when it isn’t and there isn’t one to be had. One is a good bit older and doing different things elsewhere. We don’t need to compare them.
Dowman is just an easy go to due to his current age as an example of someone of this age breaking out being so rare. He’s broken records FFS.
Moore is also a very quick developer, just not quite as quick, and he’s seen difficulties as well and bounced back very early. Dowman might have the same stuff happen.
Oxford is a very clear example of a youth player who developed physically very early and then there wasn’t much behind that. With Dowman you’re looking more at punching above his weight because the technical quality is exceptional rather than because he’s physically incredible.
Rooney was all of it - pace, power, technique. A unique monster.
Initial Dowman convo came about because people were insinuating that just because Dowman was starting to show signs of breaking through at 16 that Moore should essentially be further along. Moore is also ahead of the curve, not many 18 year olds could go off to the Ibrox and have the impact he's had, really happy with where he's at, no real need for further comparisons.
Yep and there are plenty of examples of players who've dominated youth football, only to fall behind when everyone else catches up physically.
In fact, Micah Richards was exactly that, big, quick, powerful and bursting into the scene before his lack of actual football ability saw him slip away.
It does appear that the only things that will hold Dowman back is mentality or injury but again, as we've seen ourselves with Edwards, sometimes it just doesn't quite work.
That's again why it's nice to see that we've got some good technical players coming through the academy, with Mikey and LWB being prime examples.
It's their skill and intelligence that's got them playing up levels, not their physicality.
Exactly, comparing youth players is folly.
Dowman is gash.
Can't believe people are soiling Mikey's thread with his name.
Can't believe people are soiling Mikey's thread with his name.
Messi didn’t burst through at 16
There would have been plenty of 16 year olds at La Masia that probably got more hype than Messi until his body caught up.
Being ahead at 16 isn’t the point. The final destination as an adult is the point. Rooney at 16 was different because he was physically an adult
Being too far ahead at 16 can actually be a negative .. too many minutes too early on a developing body, too much pressure on a mind which hasn’t developed yet as well.
Owen’s body was finished so early because of it. I think nowadays there’s more caution over it but I won’t be surprised if Yamal for all his talent is struggling when he approaches 30 because of it. Minutes in those legs.
I think most footballers get around 10 years of peak fitness at the top level. Some will get lucky with genetics or injuries, some will look after themselves to help with that, both of which can extend it greatly. Of course position matters too.
But a lot of 16 year old prodigies are usually done by 26-27 years old and retired on or before 30, so I think it really depends on Yamal's attitude towards those things.
Chances are he'll be a billionaire by that time and won't care
And this is why English football dominance doesn't translate on the international stage.
Fear.
Samuel Eto'o was chucked in the deep end at a World Cup. Went on to have a great career.
Didn't Milner debut at 16 though. He's lasted okay
I think it’s more to do with an over focus on physicality at academies and various other reasons (some of which have been fixed now) but hey ho ..
I have no issues with players being chucked in at the deep end at all. But when you have a 16/17 year old starting every week then there’s a solid chance it might impact their career.
You can of course find exceptions to that. English football isn’t the issue - we did it with Rooney and Owen - it’s the same all over.
Sometimes a player is just too good not to do it with I.e Yamal.
Its not fear. The cultural pressure is totally different as is the mentality of an African child like Samuel Eto, you can't compare his life experiences with some cosseted English child. His mentality in that day an age would have been totally diffrent. Its why I think its even harder now for English talent. Youtube scouts at every game, followers blowing smoke up the from game one. Its being denied here but there was a real downer on Moore after his initial spell under Martin and folk were very quick to call him over rated and write him off. On this and other boards.
Aaron Lennon, Francis Jeffers, Harvey Elliott, Micah Richards, Luke Shaw, the lad at Liverpool who scored the other day ... once you start looking there are quite a few 16 year old debutants that did OK or better than OK.