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Transfers World cup 2022 scouting

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Airfixx said:
Modric is a veritable lifetime away now..... We were a very different club back then (I'd be curious if you could recall whom he was played at the expense of.... Myself, I can't recall).

Spence v Emerson isn't a young v old thing (they've less than 6 months apart in age).... It's a case of Conte having a preference for what he sees/seeks in that position.

Gil: Conte obv preferred to go 352 rather than rely on a player who's still failing to eleviate his concerns on the training field (also see Spence).

Without wanting to do a deep case study for each player you mentioned; again, I am just as frustrated as you, but for the best part, the niche we currently occupy doesn't afford us that kind of patience. Classic conflict of theory vs practice; not a mere "disconnect" (as you describe it). You honestly think fans would have just choked down lost points each week and dropped league positions whilst Foyth (eg) clocked up red cards and fatal errors each week in hope that in 6/12 months things would click?

Besides, most of what you listed still doesn't constitute a 'run' in the team.... Just a one-off opp that a player needs to grab (which is exactly what my first post said)......
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You’re pretending not to see the issue and you’re doing all you can to avoid scrutinising the club.

I am saying we need a genuine commitment to giving young, talented players with a high ceiling as much playing time as possible. Some of your points are high on detail and low on “the point”.

I don’t buy the “we’re in a different place now” argument. Let’s ignore Barcelona who happen to have two generational talents playing in CM. And let’s ignore Woolwich who have seen playing time for young players pay off.

Let’s look at a bigger club than us. Liverpool.

Liverpool (league and CL minutes)
Harvey White - 1214
Curtis Jones - 272
Nathaniel Phillips - 66

Tottenham (league and champions league)
Skipp - 161
Bryan - 47
Sarr - 0

Do you see a huge difference in talent between those players? If anything I’d back ours.

The difference is a genuine commitment to giving young players as much playing time as possible.
 
LeParisien said:
You’re pretending not to see the issue and you’re doing all you can to avoid scrutinising the club.
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No I'm not..... I've repeatedly said I feel the same frustration.

There's a very simple question at the route of all this which is; how far are you (or whoever) prepared to drop off in order to move forward in this manner? Cos it WILL be necessary to whatever extent... Just like Liverpool are learning.... Just like Barca & Arse have had to.....

The stone cold fact is that our losses are tolerated far less than they were in and before the HR & Jol era.


I have a far higher patience threshhold than most here..... I won't be the one shitting myself at the thought of our best (or most promising) players being plucked away if we can't boast CL, but you and i both KNOW plenty will.
 
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Qatari goalie looks like a talent to keep an eye on



Feeling Silly Season 3 GIF by Living Single
 
bk_spur said:
He was one I was curious about as well. How did he do today? I saw the scoreline earlier at 2-0 so maybe kept a clean sheet? I'm just starting to watch on replay...
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Didn't have much defending to do. Will have see how they get on against Netherlands and Senegal.

He looks very 2 footed, happy to pass the ball with both feet. He kept doing this chip pass across his goal which looks risky.

Can't really say much though.. Let's wait for the next games.
 
Starks said:
Every single promising youngster we have in our team has stagnated since the summer. Sarr. Devine. Gil just to name three promising ones.

Because as a club we haven't got a clue when it comes to development. It's sad to see really.

If young players haven't got a path way into this first team then send them on loan to go and get minutes. Why did we send Scarlett out on loan and not Devine (who's a better talent)?

I'm pleased we didn't sign the likes of Kvara when linked. We'd only have ruined his development too.
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Not his biggest fan, but Ally Gold wrote a decent piece on it a few days back, how we basically don't give youngsters a real chance, if any. And so they bugger off elsewhere...or don't join us at all anymore.

It's pretty scary when you see how poor our academy has become...another defeat at the weekend for the younguns, who are bottom of their league. I hope Gretar, Yaya & co can kick into gear again cause that's really looking bleak as of now.
 
LeParisien said:
We disagree on that. Playing young players is an investment. It’s an investment in their talent (ie their talent will grow with playing time) and it’s an investment in their financial worth.

Are all talented young players worth it? No. But those who are extremely highly rated and have shown an ability to play in a top 5 league as an U21 deserve that investment.

We could do it. Conte (and his predecessors) is making a strategic choice not to.

Could we have started with Sarr, Gil and Spence against Forest? Yes. Would we have lost anything by doing so? No.

Does Spence have a higher upside than Emerson? Yes. Could we play him more often without losing too much? Yes.

Have we been short in the forward positions so far this season? Yes. Could Gil have been given more time to play? Yes.

Sarr is a bit harder (and the need is less great) but I’d argue starting him once every 7/8 games and giving him 15 minute cameos is possible.

We did that in the past with Alli and Modric and it was well worth it despite some teething issues.

The reason we are not doing this is because of a short term view of success which actually inhibits our long term success. It’s also a symptom of a strategic disconnect in the club between the types of players they will buy (for 15-25m each) and the expectations of the manager. That’s a leadership problem.
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Bravo Monsieur
 
deadleyledley said:
Didn't have much defending to do. Will have see how they get on against Netherlands and Senegal.

He looks very 2 footed, happy to pass the ball with both feet. He kept doing this chip pass across his goal which looks risky.

Can't really say much though.. Let's wait for the next games.
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You're better off judging him on how he fares at Leverkusen week in week out. This season? Not so good. Found him rather weak & clumsy in duels. But then again their whole team bar Diaby has been gash. See how they do post-WC with Xabi Alonso in charge and players fully focused on the league
 
Jaynola said:
Not his biggest fan, but Ally Gold wrote a decent piece on it a few days back, how we basically don't give youngsters a real chance, if any. And so they bugger off elsewhere...or don't join us at all anymore.

It's pretty scary when you see how poor our academy has become...another defeat at the weekend for the younguns, who are bottom of their league. I hope Gretar, Yaya & co can kick into gear again cause that's really looking bleak as of now.
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It's a joke tbh.

But when you have a manager that pretty much neglected development of youth in the latter part of his tenure in Pochettino then replace him with Mourinho, Nuno and Conte it's no surprise to see why.
 
LeParisien said:
We disagree on that. Playing young players is an investment. It’s an investment in their talent (ie their talent will grow with playing time) and it’s an investment in their financial worth.

Are all talented young players worth it? No. But those who are extremely highly rated and have shown an ability to play in a top 5 league as an U21 deserve that investment.

We could do it. Conte (and his predecessors) is making a strategic choice not to.

Could we have started with Sarr, Gil and Spence against Forest? Yes. Would we have lost anything by doing so? No.

Does Spence have a higher upside than Emerson? Yes. Could we play him more often without losing too much? Yes.

Have we been short in the forward positions so far this season? Yes. Could Gil have been given more time to play? Yes.

Sarr is a bit harder (and the need is less great) but I’d argue starting him once every 7/8 games and giving him 15 minute cameos is possible.

We did that in the past with Alli and Modric and it was well worth it despite some teething issues.

The reason we are not doing this is because of a short term view of success which actually inhibits our long term success. It’s also a symptom of a strategic disconnect in the club between the types of players they will buy (for 15-25m each) and the expectations of the manager. That’s a leadership problem.
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Top post- wish I'd been able to say it this way- very clearly put.
 
Starks said:
It's a joke tbh.

But when you have a manager that pretty much neglected development of youth in the latter part of his tenure in Pochettino then replace him with Mourinho, Nuno and Conte it's no surprise to see why.
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Yeah all starts at the top.

Poch, I'm not finding him excuses, but seen how things were going at that moment, I can sort of understand he relied on older, more experienced guys. It's like an automatic response mode for managers. We don't know whether things would've improved but...he did build his success on a young, hyper aggressive team...then didn't go back to his roots once the shit hit the fan. Weird. And sad.

As for Mourinho, I think Levy should take some of the blame too. First, he picked Jose, that despite knowing his poor track record of developing youngsters. He should've set him clear objectives too. But I guess he didn't, so all Jose did was give a few younguns a run in shitty games here and there.

Nuno, not even a point talking about him. Should never have been appointed. Dan Dan will never live that one down.

Conte - same as Mou really. They're just not that type of manager. They're need ready-made pros, big money signings...that's how they win. They're never at a club long enough to develop players anyway. So what's the point, they must think...
 
Jaynola said:
Yeah all starts at the top.

Poch, I'm not finding him excuses, but seen how things were going at that moment, I can sort of understand he relied on older, more experienced guys. It's like an automatic response mode for managers. We don't know whether things would've improved but...he did build his success on a young, hyper aggressive team...then didn't go back to his roots once the shit hit the fan. Weird. And sad.

As for Mourinho, I think Levy should take some of the blame too. First, he picked Jose, that despite knowing his poor track record of developing youngsters. He should've set him clear objectives too. But I guess he didn't, so all Jose did was give a few younguns a run in shitty games here and there.

Nuno, not even a point talking about him. Should never have been appointed. Dan Dan will never live that one down.

Conte - same as Mou really. They're just not that type of manager. They're need ready-made pros, big money signings...that's how they win. They're never at a club long enough to develop players anyway. So what's the point, they must think...
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It's pure short-sightedness in desperation for trophies that's stopped us developing youngsters for the future.

As evident by hiring Mourinho and Conte. Two managers who have a track record of winning things with experienced footballers in their very own systems.

I wouldnt even be shocked if Udogie got no game time next season despite us splashing 20m on him. At least we done the right thing and sent him back out on loan though instead of ruining his development here.
 
Starks said:
It's a joke tbh.

But when you have a manager that pretty much neglected development of youth in the latter part of his tenure in Pochettino then replace him with Mourinho, Nuno and Conte it's no surprise to see why.
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We had a manager heralded rightly for his “youth into the team, for intensity” work at Southampton then our early seasons, he/Levy then allowed our excellent youth management leave, who had given him 4-5 really good players, and allowed Edwards and KWP to stagnate to almost fatal career-coma, whilst we now utterly need what? RWB like Walker-Peters RWF/AM cover/addition Edward, both might not be quite good enough now, but likely would be had they an extra 60-80 games across 18-21 they were both denied…

We had Trippier and KWP as cover, both could have saved us how much since? All kinds of messed up, KWP earned the shot with his assist hattrick at Southampton, just needed more miles in the legs from real games Poch refused him.

Just horrendously poor forethought, Poch signed that rubbish striker twice (Espanol then Saints), clearly showed he didn’t have “the eye” for finer nuances of players to sign, or, youth development, but Levy threw the entire keys to him once he got CL (2).

Sad, as it soo appeared a virtuous cycle, but Poch got stars in his eyes.
 
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