Manchester_lalala
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I'll be a bit annoyed if I see navas starting in the replay instead of Brahim. He's been consistently good for the past year, more than deserves his chance.
Brahim Diaz
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Totally agree that lopes should have had more time but you didn't think manu Garcia deserved a chance? I thought he was excellent for the academy and did well when he played for the first team too.
I kinda half agree with NK. Manu was clearly a prodigious talent, but in terms of performances he was rarely actually individually shining. There were many more in the EDS doing more (Byrne, Boadu, Celina, Barker, Ambrose...even Ntcham and Kean Bryan) that were putting in better midfielder/attacking midfielder/winger/whatever position a young lad can be shoehorned into a first team performances so on the surface it was a little odd that he was jumping ahead of the queue. He wasn't playing *badly* for the EDS/u18s, just not exceptionally. Perhaps he trained well, and I actually agree that he did well in the 1st team appearances, so fair play. Sometimes you can look at someone like Manu at 17 and think they'll rocket if you give them a chance, and perhaps that was the theory. At some point though, they have to warrant inclusion a little more with their performances, and its hard to argue that he was the standout for us at youth level. Far from it tbh. He blended in, despite his obvious talent. So the fact that he got many more than the rest of them does seem a little unfair - like he got there maybe cos he was a favourite, as opposed to the most deserving, on the surface at least...never had a problem with Manu getting a chance, but if it meant at the expense of some of those who did deserve it more, arguably, then yeah - then its a problem.
Fair argument. I must say, brahim, foden and sancho do seem to be on another level. Don't know if you were at the Middlesbrough game on Friday but Foden was at the centre of everything, honestly just seemed to run the show along with Patching. Exciting times ahead I think
Hart of the Matter
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Nelly's Left Foot
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Foden did look a class act v Middlesboro and he does every time I see him. Even when not at his best he still looks a player. I agree Patching helped him to run the match but I fear that possibly says more about Middlesboro than Will. Will Patching is a very talented player but there seems to be something missing which I can't put my finger on. He's tall graceful on the ball, good range of passing etc etc.I am just not sure whether he is a creative midfield player from deep or an attacking midfield player.
The two things i would like to see more of from him is aggression and a smile. He doesn't seem to enjoy the gamre as he should especially with all the talent around him and he does just seem to want to play the game at a leisurely pace and I think he needs to inject a bit of umph into his game.
Thought that myself when i saw the highlights of saturday. He's not the only one though, whilst the U18's were not as tall as middlesbrough i thought we looked bigger than them, more muscular and powerful. Even players of Fodens height have a good pair of shoulders and looked muscular and toned.
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Think he's just growing to be honest. He's still only 17 after all...
It's easy to worry about Brahim's height etc but then you consider that this guy was only 5'5, and I think Brahim was that last year and is possibly an inch taller now. He's getting that same barrel-chested physique. When you add that to the fact that he's an impossibly tough little son of a gun then i've got no doubts that his physique will ever substantially hold him back.
It's easy to worry about Brahim's height etc but then you consider that this guy was only 5'5, and I think Brahim was that last year and is possibly an inch taller now. He's getting that same barrel-chested physique. When you add that to the fact that he's an impossibly tough little son of a gun then i've got no doubts that his physique will ever substantially hold him back.
Think he's just growing to be honest. He's still only 17 after all...
It's easy to worry about Brahim's height etc but then you consider that this guy was only 5'5, and I think Brahim was that last year and is possibly an inch taller now. He's getting that same barrel-chested physique. When you add that to the fact that he's an impossibly tough little son of a gun then i've got no doubts that his physique will ever substantially hold him back.
I think Brahim is well past 5'5" already.
Sakho is 6 foot 2. I'm not great at guessing heights from photos but Id say that's 6 inches shorter at most - putting Brahim around 5'8 and more than tall enough for the modern game.
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