James McAtee

cleavers said:
Who do you seriously think he could replace ?

He's very good, but like many at the younger levels, getting a chance in the first team squad will be very very difficult, unless they are very patient.
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He doesn't have to replace anyone.

We need a succession plan in for Gundogan and KdB who are 30 years old and will be past it in 5 years time.

I think for McAtee and Doyle, next season we can just involve them in the first team more like we did for Phil at 17 years old. They only play to give others rest say in like Cup Games, or the occassional premier league game or dead rubber champions league game (again all things Phil did).

If they impress next year in their chances, then they stay and get more time the next year with more responsibilities as Phil got, if not, then loan or sell, a year with the first team and playing around them is enough time to know whether a player has what it takes with our team.

I suspect Doyle and McAtee would take their chances well though.

Similar with Palmer replacing Mahrez btw, and Delap replacing Aguero, its literally the perfect time next season to see if they can replace our starters down the road.
 
WallyA said:
He doesn't have to replace anyone.

We need a succession plan in for Gundogan and KdB who are 30 years old and will be past it in 5 years time.

I think for McAtee and Doyle, next season we can just involve them in the first team more like we did for Phil at 17 years old. They only play to give others rest say in like Cup Games, or the occassional premier league game or dead rubber champions league game (again all things Phil did).

If they impress next year in their chances, then they stay and get more time the next year with more responsibilities as Phil got, if not, then loan or sell, a year with the first team and playing around them is enough time to know whether a player has what it takes with our team.

I suspect Doyle and McAtee would take their chances well though.

Similar with Palmer replacing Mahrez btw, and Delap replacing Aguero, its literally the perfect time next season to see if they can replace our starters down the road.
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I've no problem with that, but it took Phil 4 years to "break through", and that is the point.

I'd love them all to make it, but there is no realistic opportunity that they will replace any of our first team at the moment (except in lesser games), no matter how good they are at EDS/U18 level, we have world class players in every position.

They need to be well nurtured like Phil was, and he's now established, I don't think some people are realistic about how quick they can come through. Some players will want it too quick and will leave, some will be patient like Phil has been, the patient ones will be the better rewarded.
 
cleavers said:
I've no problem with that, but it took Phil 4 years to "break through", and that is the point.

I'd love them all to make it, but there is no realistic opportunity that they will replace any of our first team at the moment (except in lesser games), no matter how good they are at EDS/U18 level, we have world class players in every position.

They need to be well nurtured like Phil was, and he's now established, I don't think some people are realistic about how quick they can come through. Some players will want it too quick and will leave, some will be patient like Phil has been, the patient ones will be the better rewarded.
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Oh I guess it comes down to what each person means by “break through”. I considered when Phil left the EDS to be part of our squad as even a part time player as breaking through.
But your right, if anybody is assuming a serious amount of minutes then it is unrealistic, and it will take a few years like Phil for them.
 
cleavers said:
Who do you seriously think he could replace ?

He's very good, but like many at the younger levels, getting a chance in the first team squad will be very very difficult, unless they are very patient.
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Pep would have to reduce the first team squad in order to integrate just some of the special talents we've got coming through. Whether we will or not is going to be interesting to watch over the next 2 or 3 years.
 
Centurions said:
Pep would have to reduce the first team squad in order to integrate just some of the special talents we've got coming through. Whether we will or not is going to be interesting to watch over the next 2 or 3 years.
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According to reports Pep is really keen on this lad. Think he will be involved in Pre-season and will slowly be integrated. As has been said this is about a succession plan and he does look the business.
 
Having so many good players who can potentially reach the first team is a great problem to have but realistically most will not get opportunities and will leave to seek them elsewhere. I do think the current crop is exceptional and would not be surprised if several of them go on to have good careers in the top flight.

I think that it would be worth lobbying for the "5 subs" rule that was rejected earlier this season but with the caveat that two of these have to be club developed players with less than 20 appearances. This would give young players at all teams in the Premier League more opportunities.

I am also surprised that more has not been done to market the EDS league. Some of the games I have watched have been great with some fantastic skill on display. In the US college football is massively popular with players around the same age as EDS squads. The setup differs in that the "teams" are basically universities rather than professional clubs and there is the whole NFL draft thing but my point is that two leagues playing the same sport can thrive.
 
cleavers said:
I've no problem with that, but it took Phil 4 years to "break through", and that is the point.

I'd love them all to make it, but there is no realistic opportunity that they will replace any of our first team at the moment (except in lesser games), no matter how good they are at EDS/U18 level, we have world class players in every position.

They need to be well nurtured like Phil was, and he's now established, I don't think some people are realistic about how quick they can come through. Some players will want it too quick and will leave, some will be patient like Phil has been, the patient ones will be the better rewarded.
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I think it's worth remembering one of the reasons it took 4 years is because he was literally a child for 2 of them. His body held him back.

Doyle and McAtee are already 18, and they've been training with Pep for 2+ years already.

Certainly someone like Doyle, I think Pep would chuck him in if we needed him, in a way he couldn't do with Foden at 16.


There's a practical reason for this too - if you want to have people like Messi, or Haaland (who'll be earning stupid money in 5 years time), you have to save money somewhere and the best way to do it is bring through some top level talent from your academy. Palmer, Delap, McAtee, Doyle and of course Foden could save us £250m+ in replacing Gundogan, KDB, Fernandinho etc.
 
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I didn’t see a thread for him anywhere so I thought I’d make one. The mods can delete if there is one.

I know the likes of Lavia, Delap and Palmer are being heavily spoken about with regards to training with the first team or more potential minutes but I don’t usually see McAtee’s name mentioned.

He has a lovely weight of pass and very calm on the ball; silky player. I’d say he slightly has the traits of ‘pausa’ that is inferred from Pep’s statements when talking about midfielders.

On BM, I know people mention him here and there, however, don’t others find him equally as talented as Delap and such? He could be special.
 
Josh_D said:
I didn’t see a thread for him anywhere so I thought I’d make one. The mods can delete if there is one.

I know the likes of Lavia, Delap and Palmer are being heavily spoken about with regards to training with the first team or more potential minutes but I don’t usually see McAtee’s name mentioned.

He has a lovely weight of pass and very calm on the ball; silky player. I’d say he slightly has the traits of ‘pausa’ that is inferred from Pep’s statements when talking about midfielders.

On BM, I know people mention him here and there, however, don’t others find him equally as talented as Delap and such? He could be special.
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forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

James McAtee

His dad was a rugby league player so may have had no interest in Football, he was released by rags at young age It was his brother that was released by Utd, he plays for Scunthorpe now. Apparently when he was released their dad took James out of the Utd set up and moved him to City.
forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

The biggest problem for McAtee is going to be his position is heavily covered. Lovely little player though.
 
Good player, has a kind of lazy on the eye style to his play. Likely end up on loan as I don’t think another academy midfielder will break in to peps team
 
blue61 said:
There are 4 young players that I have seen whilst still youth players that have the first requirement to be a top player. The 4 players are Paul Lake, Michael Johnson, Phil Foden + James McAtee

They all have great balance and the ability to create space when there is limited available. To make it to the very top requires graft, dedication and also luck.

There is always something special about talented left footed players in particular . City are truly fortunate thanks to Sheik Mansour that we are building and replenishing outstanding talent on a yearly basis.
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I’ve only been to one youth game, I wanted to watch Alex Nimley, as I’d probably read somewhere he was great (this was pre takeover and I was desperate for another SWP as we were shit).

It was at COMS, a rag I knew asked what I was doing and came along. Anyway, Nimley was shite, but we had a right back who looked amazing.

I said to my mate, I bet you that number 2 plays for England.
 
bluesteel said:
I’ve only been to one youth game, I wanted to watch Alex Nimley, as I’d probably read somewhere he was great (this was pre takeover and I was desperate for another SWP as we were shit).

It was at COMS, a rag I knew asked what I was doing and came along. Anyway, Nimley was shite, but we had a right back who looked amazing.

I said to my mate, I bet you that number 2 plays for England.
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Trippier?
 
The thing with James is that he isn't as "exciting" I suppose like Delap and Palmer who are more "forwards", and I think forwards who score goals tend to get most of the headlines.

For example, Palmer is an attacking midfielder too, but made the transition to winger, that James cannot.

In that sense, Palmer is more of a "forward".

What James has that is that more "David Silva"-like quality that even Palmer and Foden lack, who I would say are more dynamic or explosive.

In terms of that kind of player, we really only have Gundogan, even KdB isn't that kind of player, so in a weird sense, James might have one of the best chances in making it in our team, considering Gundogan is his only competition in terms of play style.
 
He definitely seems to have the right attitude - one of his biggest faults last season was his finishing and he’s posted lots of videos over the summer on Instagram of him having one to one finishing lessons
 
WallyA said:
The thing with James is that he isn't as "exciting" I suppose like Delap and Palmer who are more "forwards", and I think forwards who score goals tend to get most of the headlines.

For example, Palmer is an attacking midfielder too, but made the transition to winger, that James cannot.

In that sense, Palmer is more of a "forward".

What James has that is that more "David Silva"-like quality that even Palmer and Foden lack, who I would say are more dynamic or explosive.

In terms of that kind of player, we really only have Gundogan, even KdB isn't that kind of player, so in a weird sense, James might have one of the best chances in making it in our team, considering Gundogan is his only competition in terms of play style.
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Yeah as @Josh_D said earlier, he has that quality Pep refers to as ‘Pausa’ and like David he always seems to find space and time on the ball so he is different in that respect
 
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