82 | Rico Lewis - 2022/23 Performances

[doobyedoobye]

Well he captained the U18s to the title last season and always looked really good whenever I saw him play.

I wonder if Lewis’s performances will make Pep trust the academy a bit more going forward. He still seems to err on the side of caution at times and will only bring them on when we’re at least two goals up. But I think there are a few players in our academy who could do just as well if they were given a chance.

Who else should we be looking out for from the academy next season?

 

[OB1]

Well he captained the U18s to the title last season and always looked really good whenever I saw him play.

I wonder if Lewis’s performances will make Pep trust the academy a bit more going forward. He still seems to err on the side of caution at times and will only bring them on when we’re at least two goals up. But I think there are a few players in our academy who could do just as well if they were given a chance.

Pep simply picks players who are good enough and whether they are from the Academy or bought in is not relevant. He has some obligation to help develop young players but it's not his job to "play the kids", something a lot of supporters seem to obsess over.

Pep's job is to win things with the first team and he is not going to take big risks on young players when he has a relatively large squad of to notch senior profsessionals, most of whom probably want more game time.

Pep clearly thinks Rico is an exceptional talent who can be trusted to do a job now. The young man has done a remarkable job in the last two games playing the inverted full back role so well.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Look at the details.
42.02 in the match. He makes himself available for Rodri to have a simple out ball. He's the only one who is available who isn't actually behind Rodri. (Rodri has a wall of Leeds players in front of and across his line of vision, and it would be risky to play a forward ball). In short, Rico is in the perfect “launch” position that the deep midfielder should be in. He duly gets it, plays a very simple square ball to his right to, I think, Stones. But he immediately starts a run, even though Stones has turned away from him. He knows what's going to happen. Stones passes wide to KDB out on the touchline. KDB's being pressed, but up pops Rico at the end of his run, having lost his man, to give another out-ball option to a player. Duly gets it from KDB, and plays a simple one-touch to Mahrez in front of him who gives a one-touch return ball to KDB who started his own little run as soon as he released it, and who is now in space to do his stuff. KDB duly obliges by sending a superb cross field ball out to the man in acres of space, Jack Grealish. Now there is danger. 42.13 in the match.
Rico Lewis did simple things right through that process, but every time he made the right choice. He was never in danger of losing the ball, and pivotal to making things happen.
An astonishing footballing maturity for one so young.

 

[kun]

Everything about this kid is great, I really hope Pep continues to give him minutes.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

We have to be a bit careful. Akanji, for one, looked as though he could hardly put a foot wrong before the WC break. He looked downright inept the other night against Liverpool. No idea why.
But Lewis shows exceptional promise. Pep's got an eye for a player. Let's see how this plays out.

 

[blumoonrisen]

He loves City and never wants to leave.
I expect a new contract is on the horizon..

 

[moh]

Makes the game just flow on that side

Desperate for that assist as well if you watch the Grealish chance

 

[domalino]

Pep simply picks players who are good enough and whether they are from the Academy or bought in is not relevant. He has some obligation to help develop young players but it's not his job to "play the kids", somehting a lot of supporters seem to obsess over.

Pep's job is to win things with the first team and he is not going to take big risks on young players when he has a relatively large squad of to notch senior profsessionals, most of whom probably want more game time.

Pep clearly thinks Rico is an exceptional talent who can be trusted to do a job now. The young man has done a remarkable job in the last two games playing the inverted full back role so well.

Pep is not just here to win things, he’s here to bring about the vision the ownership have for the club, which they’ve stated dozens of times includes a large contingent of homegrown talent in the first team.

So it’s not supporters obsessing over anything, it’s them expecting the club to fulfil its own mission statement.

Its also not true that Pep simply picks whoever is good enough, he told us himself way back in 2016/17 that he loved several of the academy players but couldn’t trust them because they had got seasons of experience playing 2nd and 3rd division games in front of crowds for the B team like the kids he was used to in Barcelona. He also spoke at length about how reticent he is to ever drop a senior player out of the 18 to accommodate a youth player because he thinks it’s disrespectful. The bench going from 7 to 9 Has been massive for the academy for that reason.

I think he’s definitely learned how and when to trust kids from the academy over the last few years and Rico coming through will only add to that.

And I expect we’ll see Foden, Rico,
Callum Doyle, McAtee, Palmer and maybe more all a big part of the squad when he leaves the club.

 

[OB1]

Pep is not just here to win things, he’s here to bring about the vision the ownership have for the club, which they’ve stated dozens of times includes a large contingent of homegrown talent in the first team.

So it’s not supporters obsessing over anything, it’s them expecting the club to fulfil its own mission statement.

Its also not true that Pep simply picks whoever is good enough, he told us himself way back in 2016/17 that he loved several of the academy players but couldn’t trust them because they had got seasons of experience playing 2nd and 3rd division games in front of crowds for the B team like the kids he was used to in Barcelona. He also spoke at length about how reticent he is to ever drop a senior player out of the 18 to accommodate a youth player because he thinks it’s disrespectful. The bench going from 7 to 9 Has been massive for the academy for that reason.

I think he’s definitely learned how and when to trust kids from the academy over the last few years and Rico coming through will only add to that.

And I expect we’ll see Foden, Rico,
Callum Doyle, McAtee, Palmer and maybe more all a big part of the squad when he leaves the club.

Cheers but I didn't actually say he was here just to win things but, as he often tells us, that's what keeps him in the job. If he played lovely football, introduced lots of kids and won fuck all for a couple of seasons and dropped out the Champions League places, he wouldn't wait for the Board to sack him, but they would if he didn't fall on his sword.

The club does want to develop players from within: it's good business sens if nothing else but producing players good enough to be part of the squad is the Academy's / junior team's role. Pep wil then use them if they good enough.

 

[simon23]

Excellent performance

Wondering if Pep actually might see him as some sort of midfielder in the future? He kept the ball moving and the game ticking over so well last night in the tight spaces in the middle of the park.

Great tenacity as well