I have this theory (that I literally made up one day), that almost any player who looks world class in the youth system is pretty much guaranteed to make the step up and be atleast very very good against adults, with 3 caveats that would have me questioning the player:
1) Shit mentality, Huge ego. They could still be class, but I have more doubts for players like this (Emre Mor is the one that comes to mind).
2) They stay small: Playing against kids when your very small, you can easily make up the difference and stand out, but if your not going to grow through the important years (14-19) then I question whether that kid becomes class. To be clear, I'm not saying they can't be, but I'm far less sure when I see it happens. For example: Angel Gomes (now 20 at United) and Brahim Diaz (20, 21 in August), might still be class (I have more faith in Brahim), I'm just not as certain.
3) They are dominating mostly due to their physique: Some kids just grow really fucking fast and becomes tall, strong and quick at a very early age. From this you can see why its easy to be hesitant about this kind of player because this advantage almost certainly disappears against adults, and they must have more to their game. For example: Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth now), and Lukas Nmecha (from our academy), both looked really good at academy level, but I had doubts because they dominated alot from physicality.
Those are my 3 rules, I'm actually really interested if there is a player who was world class in academy, didn't fall under these, and still turned out only an average player.
I bring this up because Phil, Sancho and Mason Greenwood (who has become popular lately) really showed why they are fulfilling their potentials (they have all made U23 football look like a joke at very young ages, that is the level of talent I am talking about):
1) They all seemingly have their head on straight.
2) They have all grown physically through their younger ages (even Mason whose now 18, almost 19 in a few months, looks bigger than I saw him 2 seasons ago).
3) None of them dominated due to out growing their peers, they dominated to due dribbling, finishing, decision making etc, and they had atleast decent physicality on top of that.
I actively think about these 3 things when I have the chance to watch youth players, and atleast over the recent years (selection bias for sure, this is why I want to know counter examples to the theory).
For example, I apply this thinking to Jayden Braaf, but I don't know enough about him.
1) Is their going to be a mentality and/or ego problem, need more info.
2) He doesn't look very small, so not an issue
3) Doesn't seem overtly big, and dominating his peers due to physicality through his younger years (looks about the average size of somebody almost 18), he has very good facets to his game unrelated to just he is quick winger.
Now he isn't on the level of mega talent of those other 3, I don't think he has made U23 football look like a complete joke, but at times he has.
1) Shit mentality, Huge ego. They could still be class, but I have more doubts for players like this (Emre Mor is the one that comes to mind).
2) They stay small: Playing against kids when your very small, you can easily make up the difference and stand out, but if your not going to grow through the important years (14-19) then I question whether that kid becomes class. To be clear, I'm not saying they can't be, but I'm far less sure when I see it happens. For example: Angel Gomes (now 20 at United) and Brahim Diaz (20, 21 in August), might still be class (I have more faith in Brahim), I'm just not as certain.
3) They are dominating mostly due to their physique: Some kids just grow really fucking fast and becomes tall, strong and quick at a very early age. From this you can see why its easy to be hesitant about this kind of player because this advantage almost certainly disappears against adults, and they must have more to their game. For example: Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth now), and Lukas Nmecha (from our academy), both looked really good at academy level, but I had doubts because they dominated alot from physicality.
Those are my 3 rules, I'm actually really interested if there is a player who was world class in academy, didn't fall under these, and still turned out only an average player.
I bring this up because Phil, Sancho and Mason Greenwood (who has become popular lately) really showed why they are fulfilling their potentials (they have all made U23 football look like a joke at very young ages, that is the level of talent I am talking about):
1) They all seemingly have their head on straight.
2) They have all grown physically through their younger ages (even Mason whose now 18, almost 19 in a few months, looks bigger than I saw him 2 seasons ago).
3) None of them dominated due to out growing their peers, they dominated to due dribbling, finishing, decision making etc, and they had atleast decent physicality on top of that.
I actively think about these 3 things when I have the chance to watch youth players, and atleast over the recent years (selection bias for sure, this is why I want to know counter examples to the theory).
For example, I apply this thinking to Jayden Braaf, but I don't know enough about him.
1) Is their going to be a mentality and/or ego problem, need more info.
2) He doesn't look very small, so not an issue
3) Doesn't seem overtly big, and dominating his peers due to physicality through his younger years (looks about the average size of somebody almost 18), he has very good facets to his game unrelated to just he is quick winger.
Now he isn't on the level of mega talent of those other 3, I don't think he has made U23 football look like a complete joke, but at times he has.