markbmcfc said:
Never understood the obsession with 'throwing the kids in'.
Sure, it would be fantastic for some lad born on Kippax Street becomes captain of City and wins the Champions League 8 times. Every club would like that. However, you have to be realistic.
I watch our current crop with interest and our best talents nearest the first team are currently out on loan gaining valuable first team experience. A much better model than throwing them in for cup games or sticking them on the bench for a quick 10 minutes in the first team every 4 or 5 games. The ones still in the EDS or U18s are nowhere near ready in terms of physicality, mentality and ability. I don't know why people think putting these kids in the first team, to be shown up to be found wanting in areas of their game, does anything positive for their development or how it benefits the first team gain maximum points for the remainder of the season.
1. Provides a clear progression path and motivates young players both to sign for us and to work hard knowing they will get a chance at the big time.
2. Gives opposition defenders and managers an unknown quantity which they will not be prepared for tactically, leading to a dependence on thinking on their feet rather than executing patterns of play
3. Allows potential first team players to become used to City's First Team's patterns of play in a live setting which will be totally different throughout the age groups, aiding their ability to transition when the time is right.
4. Provides a benchmark for development for both the player and the coaching staff to highlight not just where they are now, but as you point out where their weaknesses are in comparison to the pace of the Premier League. A huge deal is that the pace of the first team is so much quicker that replicating this is extremely hard, and a "dipping the toes in" approach has shown benefits at almost every major club which has a good youth system.
5. Reminds first team players who might be a little complacent that although the transfer windows are shut, their place is consistently under threat from within and without working hard every day they could see themselves tomorrow's chip wrapping.
6. Motivates and excites fans which in turn makes them louder which in turn motivates the players to perform quicker and better. Ferguson once wrote that he felt that motivating the crowd was one the biggest plus points to this whole idea as his team works harder when the atmosphere is rocking, and you could often see many United players in their dominant period asking for more from the crowd in terms of atmosphere.
7. Challenges young players to develop the type of consistently only seen in senior football and allows them a clear progression path - 10 minutes on match turns into 15 minutes down the line then 30 minutes then a start then 3 starts in a row. Encouraging goal oriented behaviour in our youth players will absolutely definitely make them better footballers in the longer run.
Football is a results business. If our EDS players had a better chance of winning the Premier League than our first team players, they would play. It's as simple as that. No conspiracy theories, no bizarre paranoia that our manager just "doesn't want" to play them, they just either aren't good enough or not ready.
Why did Scott Sinclair and a 36 year old Frank Lampard come on in a game where we were 2-0 and 3-1 up and dominating rather than a young player? Why did Marcos Lopes get Man of the Match then one game later was completely dropped from the squad? Why did Pozo and Ambrose get dropped entirely and instead played a centre midfielder up front?
The manager isn't going to play youth. No bizarre conspiracy theories or paranoia, a very simple and consistent reading of events over the previous two years of his reign.
To touch again on this point, youth will NEVER be better than a first team player. NEVER EVER EVER. Even Leo Messi wasn't better than the first team players at Barca when he broke in. You break in youth team players because they have talent and need development with the hope that they turn out to be quality AFTER receiving first team action. A youth player will never be as good as a first team player because one is a youth player and the other is an established Premier League player. What you're suggesting isn't just an impossible situation, but it means that we would never bring through any player ever and the same system we've worked under for 7 years to the point where our youth progression in that time has been a bad joke.
Football is not JUST a results business, not any more. It's certainly the most important thing but the way you win is just as important as anybody who visits a Pellegrini thread will tell you (we're second in the league and going to sack the manager not because of results but because of the manner of those results). Integrating youth players is a part of the modern City manager's job whether they like it or not, we didn't spend millions on this Academy for no reason and progression is expected. The idea that a youth player must be as good as or better than a senior player is an incredibly stupid thing to believe for any club that is favouring its youth development systems in the way that we are.
We have a great coaching and management structure all the way up the age groups and they all communicate and watch these players daily. I trust their judgement that when the time is right, they will make the step up. People have a bizarre theory our Management team would rather better players not play just because they are young.
Maybe next season, Lopes and Denayer are integrated into the first team and a few of our EDS go on loan to competitive leagues and replicate what we've done with the aforementioned.
A far better model for City, and the lads themselves. This "throw them in" policy amongst fans is naive to the point of stupid.
Not really, your point boils down to "well we should not play them because they might cost us" and "the management knows what's best" which is the same post everybody puts on these threads without considering the flaws in their argument.
