By coming into a pressure free environment in a game that's already been won? Don't see what that'll teach him tbh.
I do.
It's a start. He can be mentored on positioning without worrying about the result being in jeopardy.
He can try the playing out from the back which he should be already used to in the academy,
with first team players that hopefully will be well drilled by then. He was thrown in against Chelsea last year and quite frankly was let down
by senior players who hadn't a clue where they should be defensively. He coped well for a half but really got nothing out of the second half.
Depending on how well he copes, then his involvement increases and the degree of pressure increases.
I'm sure we are going to buy big in the summer, but it would be nice to see some of the young lads eased into the first team 'playing' environment and all that goes with it, including bigger more hostile crowds.
The goal being that when we eventually have to play a youngster through injury or whatever, then we can rely on putting one in his natural position rather than trying to
make a senior player plug a gap in a position he is unfamiliar with.
It's not easy finding a way to transition academy players into our first team. Some prefer to loan them to a tough league where they will learn to play against men.
It has it's merits and most will end up being loaned. I would prefer us to hold onto what we consider our best talent in each area (as much as the squad could take) and try to teach them by giving them increased amounts of game time under the supervision of our own coaches/managers and senior players.
