EDS future opportunities and progression?

A young Hazard and a young Silva could have struggled in exactly the same way tbh and probably would have. Silva wouldn't have faced anything like that in Spain at 17.
Can we now all agree that out off the " fantastic 4 " that only nmecha at the present time is physical enough to push into the first team as a squad member. Foden hasn't played for the 23 s yet this year but gets on the bench for first team! Big PR stunt he isn't ready yet imo 2 years away. And it pains me to say it but sanchoo and Diaz got bullied in both the final games , please don't tell me it will be any easier in the prem . Two sip not directed at you just you last post .
 
Can we now all agree that out off the " fantastic 4 " that only nmecha at the present time is physical enough to push into the first team as a squad member. Foden hasn't played for the 23 s yet this year but gets on the bench for first team! Big PR stunt he isn't ready yet imo 2 years away. And it pains me to say it but sanchoo and Diaz got bullied in both the final games , please don't tell me it will be any easier in the prem . Two sip not directed at you just you last post .

I would agree with that but think Twosips has made a fair point regarding Silva or Hazard at that age, would have had evry bit as difficult a time.

I think what we would like to see now is a plan from City in how that gap is going to be bridged.
I don't think there is any denying the quality in the academy that seems to be getting better year on year.
However that alone is no guarantee of a kid ultimately making it. Certainly not at City. A lot should be able to make some sort of career out of it.

I think we as fans want to see tangible evidence sooner rather than later, that the next step of the way has been thought out and will be implemented.
I don't claim to know what is the best way to develop a seventeen or eighteen year old for our first team, but there is a wealth of talent there that would get a chance at other clubs. I would like to see the next step of our jigsaw materialise.
 
Can we now all agree that out off the " fantastic 4 " that only nmecha at the present time is physical enough to push into the first team as a squad member. Foden hasn't played for the 23 s yet this year but gets on the bench for first team! Big PR stunt he isn't ready yet imo 2 years away. And it pains me to say it but sanchoo and Diaz got bullied in both the final games , please don't tell me it will be any easier in the prem . Two sip not directed at you just you last post .
I agree about Foden, he hasn't even played EDS and is still 16, the kid has a ways to go but shows ridiculous promise.

I disagree about Sancho and Diaz, don't judge them on the one game, but on everything overall. They have played a year of EDS (which is why Foden isn't ready I don't think any youth player should go from U18 to first team), and are capable of being squad players and play 20 or so minutes.

Jurgen Klopp has done this for Ben Woodburn this season, the lad is extremely gifted and recently scored 2 goals to beat our EDS team, but was given a few tastes of first team to see how to raise his game. He has come on as a sub for like 20 minutes and didn't even look out of place, this even though he isn't that impressive physically, but it's because adding one youth player doesn't affect the first team that much, quality flourishes amongst quality.

Diaz will be 18 for next season, he is DEFINITELY ready to be a squad player. I think Sancho can as well and so can Nmecha. My only issue with Nmecha is whether we have use for more strikers, if Unal is coming back and if Nacho can't get many minutes than Nmecha isn't useful and should be loaned.
 
Thought it might be worth bumping this, as most other threads in this sub-forum seem to refer to individuals or particular games.

As the dust settles on the transfer window, I was wondering, particularly in relation to the original post, as to whether the pathway is now clearer for young players to progress to the first team or whether it is still perceived as littered with obstacles?
 
Thought it might be worth bumping this, as most other threads in this sub-forum seem to refer to individuals or particular games.

As the dust settles on the transfer window, I was wondering, particularly in relation to the original post, as to whether the pathway is now clearer for young players to progress to the first team or whether it is still perceived as littered with obstacles?
It is still littered with obstacles. We sold one promising striker (Iheanacho), loaned out a promising winger (Roberts) and sold a promising winger (Sancho), any of the 3 could have provided adequate depth this coming season.

I was always going to give Pep 2 seasons to judge him for his efforts on integrating youth, so we have to wait and see what he does with Brahim and Foden, and if he can integrate Zinchenko into the squad, that would be good enough (imo) to see those 3 come up.
 
When you look at 25 million for Kelechi, 8 for Sancho and 12 for Unal (2 of which with buy backs and the other would have gone for nothing next year and never played for us) then the Academy will at the least be a money spinner to help avoid any FFP problems.

The key obviously is getting players into the first team. It's difficult to find players who are ready though without numerous loans needed for them first and keeping them content and under contract. That level of talent is quite rare. United have got Rashford, Liverpool Trent Alexander Arnold and maybe Woodburn now, Arsenal and Chelsea haven't really had any. In the Spurs team Kane and Rose needed several loans first and Kane only got the game time in the Europa League and because Soldado was such a flop. Even Rashford only got a chance because they had no other strikers available and he took the chance.

We should be prioritising one every age group and keeping a spot in the squad free. For me, Maffeo could have been in the squad this year but we've spent huge money on two right backs which pretty much ends his hopes here. I'd have signed two left backs and one right back and kept Maffeo.

Goalkeepers, central defenders and central midfielders are always very difficult positions for players without the experience. These tend to need loans first.

I don't think it'd be a bad strategy either to sell academy players with buy back clauses but prioritise bringing them back if they do well. That way they know the club and have the affinity.
 
Last edited:
There has been so much talk on here about us being a man short at cf, & we put all our eggs into the basket of Sanchez as that extra player.

What should have been happening, is not sigining a 30 year old when we already have a team of attacking stars, but replacing Kelechi with another kid who scores goals.

Imo, we should have played Kelechi more last season & kept him, but he has missed so much football, it's a tricky situaton.

But the preceived 'weakness' of our squad, is, imo, entirely down to there being no real link between the academy & the first team.

If none of the academy kids were good enough, we should have replaced them with ones who are better.

The 3rd cf spot should not be Sanchez, it should be a kid.
 
There has been so much talk on here about us being a man short at cf, & we put all our eggs into the basket of Sanchez as that extra player.

What should have been happening, is not sigining a 30 year old when we already have a team of attacking stars, but replacing Kelechi with another kid who scores goals.

Imo, we should have played Kelechi more last season & kept him, but he has missed so much football, it's a tricky situaton.

But the preceived 'weakness' of our squad, is, imo, entirely down to there being no real link between the academy & the first team.

If none of the academy kids were good enough, we should have replaced them with ones who are better.

The 3rd cf spot should not be Sanchez, it should be a kid.

There was also Unal but he was sold as well. The problem is if you're going to be behind Aguero and Jesus then you're relying on injuries to get game time, barring the odd 20 minutes. Even Aguero is spending time on the bench. Then those players aren't being developed if they aren't playing.

What we need is players in the academy who can step up when there are a few injuries. That's what Rashford did, or Iheanacho under Pellegrini.

In future as well avoid signings like Rodwell, Delph and Sinclair when an academy player could be used. Unless you're getting Dele Alli who can be a big star.
 
There was also Unal but he was sold as well. The problem is if you're going to be behind Aguero and Jesus then you're relying on injuries to get game time, barring the odd 20 minutes. Even Aguero is spending time on the bench. Then those players aren't being developed if they aren't playing.

What we need is players in the academy who can step up when there are a few injuries. That's what Rashford did, or Iheanacho under Pellegrini.

In future as well avoid signings like Rodwell, Delph and Sinclair when an academy player could be used. Unless you're getting Dele Alli who can be a big star.

That's why the position should be taken by a kid, they don't mind playing occasionally, provided they do get some playing time.

We have, Aguero, Jesus, Sane, Sterling, KDB, DSilva & B Silva any of whom could play as one of a front 2, all of whom could play in a front 3. We were trying to add two more.

If we still need to sign 30 year old attackers to fill out a group like that, it means we have already signed the wrong players imo.

Each of those players, should be adequate for the job he's signed for & have a kid shadowing his position, not a 50 mil signing coming in.
 
IMO Guardiola won't take risks with young players up front unless they are absolute standouts like Messi. He admits that scoring goals is not part of his remit. It's up to the players to find their own solution to the problem. His work is to get them into the final third. Scoring is their problem. He says as much. He needs attackers who can make and take chances. So how is he going to play a young attacker even as a substitute unless this player is a star in his opinion? He's not a long term manager AFAWK. He's going to take the quick fix, hence Sanchez. A player whose scoring record is not a patch on Aguero's but who fits the coach's profile of an all rounder. How is a teenager going to develop those attributes playing EDS football? Again IMO, young forwards don't have a chance with this coach unless they're absolutely out of the ordinary. Like it or not, that's how I see it.
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.