Neville Kneville
Well-Known Member
Imo, the way it tends to work with kids is that irrespective of talent, some can do it & some can't.
It could be that most of the really super talented kids in the current older group, can't produce it when they get to the first team level & some of the not quite so talented ones actually thrive on it & therefore become top players. Some may find that their tricks don't work against adult defenders & they are squashed, but go away, learn some new ones, or to do them quicker & come back. Others may lose heart, lose their edge & slide into obscurity (that is the biggest reason some top kids don't make it imo).
One thing i am absolutely certain of, is that the theme often quoted on here, that there are people who can just look at these kids in training & go 'ah he will do it, but he won't' is absolute horseshit.
Of course if a kid really has not got enough talent, it's likely he isn't going to do it, but 95% of our kids have serious talent. The question is what happens when he tries to d it at firt team level. Then, & only then, you find out if there is anything to work on, & still even then, you don't know for sure. Some are a flash in the pan, some are late developers.
It could be that Brandon Barker ends up playing for Stockport & Kean Bryan ends up playing in a champs Lg final for City, even though Brandon is clearly more talented as a pure footballer. Or alternatively, he might end up the next Gareth Bale. It will take quite a while to find that out for sure. But the only way to find out, is time on the pitch at first team level. We are way way behind schedule on that & reading Stuart Brennan's piece in the MEN re Pep & kids, it suggests that the club are as disappointed in Pellegrini in that regard, as some of us have frequently suggested on here.
Chucking kids in now, when the shit is hitting the fan, is NOT how we should be operating, we should already know which ones are most likely to cope. We don't have the slightest idea on any of them.
It could be that most of the really super talented kids in the current older group, can't produce it when they get to the first team level & some of the not quite so talented ones actually thrive on it & therefore become top players. Some may find that their tricks don't work against adult defenders & they are squashed, but go away, learn some new ones, or to do them quicker & come back. Others may lose heart, lose their edge & slide into obscurity (that is the biggest reason some top kids don't make it imo).
One thing i am absolutely certain of, is that the theme often quoted on here, that there are people who can just look at these kids in training & go 'ah he will do it, but he won't' is absolute horseshit.
Of course if a kid really has not got enough talent, it's likely he isn't going to do it, but 95% of our kids have serious talent. The question is what happens when he tries to d it at firt team level. Then, & only then, you find out if there is anything to work on, & still even then, you don't know for sure. Some are a flash in the pan, some are late developers.
It could be that Brandon Barker ends up playing for Stockport & Kean Bryan ends up playing in a champs Lg final for City, even though Brandon is clearly more talented as a pure footballer. Or alternatively, he might end up the next Gareth Bale. It will take quite a while to find that out for sure. But the only way to find out, is time on the pitch at first team level. We are way way behind schedule on that & reading Stuart Brennan's piece in the MEN re Pep & kids, it suggests that the club are as disappointed in Pellegrini in that regard, as some of us have frequently suggested on here.
Chucking kids in now, when the shit is hitting the fan, is NOT how we should be operating, we should already know which ones are most likely to cope. We don't have the slightest idea on any of them.