Brandon Barker for Navas?

[grim up north]

what harm could it do for the boro game.. We are playing a championship side. We can play barker and then the first team. He deserves a chance. If we can't give a player like him at least ten minutes then whats the point in the academy.

err, we could lose

If the club has that attitude then we will never play a young player. We could lose with our strongest team out. When would you play youth players then.

They will play when deemed good enough technically tactically and physically

 

[mosssideblue]

what harm could it do for the boro game.. We are playing a championship side. We can play barker and then the first team. He deserves a chance. If we can't give a player like him at least ten minutes then whats the point in the academy.

err, we could lose

If the club has that attitude then we will never play a young player. We could lose with our strongest team out. When would you play youth players then.

I posted earlier that I am not against youngsters getting their boots muddy but in my opinion now is not the right time.

Our first team have, if were honest, been quite inconsistent this year whilst still managing a decent run. (I accept injuries has played its part). Sunday showed me anyway, that the team are struggling with confidence and need to keep playing as a unit until that is restored.

Blooding in youngsters and changing the team significantly from Sunday would not afford our "core" to regain their mojo, which we need them to do before we go to the smoke.

I would like Pellers to start his strongest available squad on Saturday (and particularly those he will be earmarking for a start against the Chavs) to hone their team skills. With that starting line up you would expect to have a relatively easy ride and, if we get 3 or 4 up, then think about introducing a young dog.

Far easier to slacken off when your ahead than to try and catch up when your behind - as we all know

 

[dennishasdoneit]

If Barker doesn't get a chance then no one will

He is the exact type of player we've been missing

what type of player is that then?

 

[dennishasdoneit]

I would rather give my gran a go than watch Navas any longer. All this defending him because he works hard and gets in good positions?? His job is to beat a man, cause problems for a defence, score goals and create room for other players, he does none! his only move is kick it down the line and try and drill in across goal. fair enough we score from one or two but you expect that from 40 attempted crosses per game. im not having that he deserves a place in the team because he tracks back, we should be past that thinking process now. our wingers should be ripping full backs to pieces with skill and ability not just kick and run. if he wasn't fast he would be playing for a lower league side in spain. for me he cant cross, cant beat a man and has a poor shot. apart from helping his full back what does he offer?? for those who are going to throw assist stats at me don't bother, If I had the amount of opportunities to pass/cross a ball as he does I would get assists too.

Pmsl

Oh Danny boy..lol.

 

[cibaman]

Barker is not playing on the left side?

It doesnt really matter which side he plays on because Milner can play left or right.

And it wouldnt be a case of dropping Navas, he's due a rest.

It all comes down to whether Barker is ready yet.

Barker plays on left or right depending on Dilrosun and Ambrose. We play a three up top and Ambrose seems to prefer the right whilst Dilrosun is a proper left winger but not a starter.

We often have Celina through the middle, Barker on the left and Ambrose on the right only to swap mid match and see Ambrose go central and Barker go out to the right.

He's not our best young talent Barker, but he's direct, he's a proper winger, he's exciting, he's a Manc from a Manc family and defenders don't know him. I'd be fucking rocking to see him on the pitch and would celebrate one of his ditzy runs and smashing it into the top corner like a Cup Final goal.

I've read back my posts in this thread (and have to give it to Mister Appointment who could have handed my arse to me for being daft but chose not to), and I understand that it comes off as quite zealoted. It's true that I'm a zealot in terms of youth development because I personally feel a more emotional connection to people who I think give a shit about City and aren't just here to make up the numbers. I honestly couldn't care if Sagna fell over and broke his leg tomorrow but Zabaleta with his faux-Manc accent or Kompany with his Manc family and kids would devastate me. I identify my club with my city as one and the same thing, having the Brandon Barkers and George Glendons of the world come through the ranks is important to me. More important to me than it is to other people, I do understand this. We all want to see one of our own do well for themselves. Whether that's a Mancunian on the pitch or some City fan making something of themselves, we're collectively proud of them.

With that said, my zealotry aside still doesn't excuse our local record. It means more to me than others because it comes back to the very core of why I personally am a City fan but this over enthusiasm doesn't diminish the point that our conveyor belt has stopped and there are little to no indications that we're willing to gamble on the Academy to help make the numbers for the first team when injuries hit - a thing that the Academy is designed to do.

I just think you're a tad impatient. It seemed to me that it took City a couple of years to get their act together at junior level after the seismic impact of the takeover. We've been catching up in recent years and, from the outside, the signs look promising. I cant think of any players that have moved on and have embarrased us as a result of their success at other clubs. And when players like Lopez, Pozo and Rekik have appeared in the first team their performances havent made me wonder why they didnt get picked earlier.

It also seems to me that the gap betwen EDS and City first team is absolutely huge and creates a real challenge as to how to bridge the gap. It used to be that you'd get a few gnarled old pros seeing out their careers in the reserves who could test the promising flair players. Now it seems that you have young, talented but very raw creative players testing themselves against young, talented but very raw and physically still developing defenders. The standard of defending at EDS level, both individually and mainly collectively, appears to be miles away from PL standard.

 

[BillyShears]

If we're talking ideal - my ideal is that if Pellegrini's decision is to play the strongest available XI in any given cup game, then he should have to accommodate one academy player for the sake of one first team player. For me that's not a compromise. If you're a top manager, you can handle dropping one kid with a bag of potential into one position, if he's surrounded by first team regulars to guide him through. Also it's a realistic way to evaluate how a promising youngster integrates in a match situation with the first XI.

On that basis, I'd have no problem with Pellegrini taking the decision to play Barker (or Ambrose or Lopes if he wasn't on loan) for Milner (or Navas) this weekend. For me it's not a risk if the intention is to play the best X around him.

 

[mosssideblue]

If we're talking ideal - my ideal is that if Pellegrini's decision is to play the strongest available XI in any given cup game, then he should have to accommodate one academy player for the sake of one first team player. For me that's not a compromise. If you're a top manager, you can handle dropping one kid with a bag of potential into one position, if he's surrounded by first team regulars to guide him through. Also it's a realistic way to evaluate how a promising youngster integrates in a match situation with the first XI.

On that basis, I'd have no problem with Pellegrini taking the decision to play Barker (or Ambrose or Lopes if he wasn't on loan) for Milner (or Navas) this weekend. For me it's not a risk if the intention is to play the best X around him.

I accept your point, but only if the 1st team were cruising. The fact is were not and we need them to sort that pronto. To me that is a higher priority than blooding a youngster in a cup game against "lesser" opposition

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

err, we could lose

If the club has that attitude then we will never play a young player. We could lose with our strongest team out. When would you play youth players then.

I posted earlier that I am not against youngsters getting their boots muddy but in my opinion now is not the right time.

Our first team have, if were honest, been quite inconsistent this year whilst still managing a decent run. (I accept injuries has played its part). Sunday showed me anyway, that the team are struggling with confidence and need to keep playing as a unit until that is restored.

Blooding in youngsters and changing the team significantly from Sunday would not afford our "core" to regain their mojo, which we need them to do before we go to the smoke.

I would like Pellers to start his strongest available squad on Saturday (and particularly those he will be earmarking for a start against the Chavs) to hone their team skills. With that starting line up you would expect to have a relatively easy ride and, if we get 3 or 4 up, then think about introducing a young dog.

Far easier to slacken off when your ahead than to try and catch up when your behind - as we all know

I'm not saying change the team significantly though. I'm saying play our strongest team witth barker in it or coming on in the second half. We are playing boro surely he could play a bit, he deserves it, cos otherwise when is he gonna get a chance. If we can only play youngsters when we are coasting and 4 -0 up again they aren't ever gonna play. You never know he could improve us ...

Barker has been brilliant this year, he should get a chance. If Brendan Rodgers had your thought process then sterling would never play. Barkley stones would never play for everton. All the southampton academy players. It's not gonna hurt to try and give him a chance, we are never gonna know if he's good enough unless he gets a chance.

 

[Ray78]

The likes of Barker, Pozo, Ambrose et all haven't been training long with the first team. They have to gain the trust of both manager and teammates and get used to the team's pattern of play. The only way for that to happen is to integrate them during pre season. Not in the middle of the season.

 

[BillyShears]

If we're talking ideal - my ideal is that if Pellegrini's decision is to play the strongest available XI in any given cup game, then he should have to accommodate one academy player for the sake of one first team player. For me that's not a compromise. If you're a top manager, you can handle dropping one kid with a bag of potential into one position, if he's surrounded by first team regulars to guide him through. Also it's a realistic way to evaluate how a promising youngster integrates in a match situation with the first XI.

On that basis, I'd have no problem with Pellegrini taking the decision to play Barker (or Ambrose or Lopes if he wasn't on loan) for Milner (or Navas) this weekend. For me it's not a risk if the intention is to play the best X around him.

I accept your point, but only if the 1st team were cruising. The fact is were not and we need them to sort that pronto. To me that is a higher priority than blooding a youngster in a cup game against "lesser" opposition

I don't think it's about the first team cruising, it's about them being available.

Let me put it another way. If we play Barker this weekend we won't lose because we played him instead of Milner. All he needs to do is be a functional part of the first team and against lower league opposition, the rest should and 99 times out of a 100 will take care of itself.