English (Home Grown) Talent

[Anne’sCoats]

Re: English Talent

I'm going to get some stick for this but I'd have Walcott.

He's got one year left on his contract at Arsenal so wouldn't cost too much and he'd be one extra not only for the Premier League home-grown rules but the Champions League ones too (I think these are slightly different?).

His pace is ridiculous and we've seen over the past two years how well Mancini and his team can improve the technical side of a player's game so I think he'd be worth looking at. I think he's wasted out on the wing but if you improved his finishing a bit (wouldn't have to be too much, crossing is his main flaw, he can finish, just doesn't do it consistently enough) then playing on the shoulder of the last defender he'd be lethal.

People will say he's not suited to our style of play but we saw this season how the short-passing, patient build up style can be stopped on occasion (Barca vs Chelsea and a few of our games) and so sometimes you need something a bit different.

He is shockingly bad, over rated and over hyped.

 

[Anne’sCoats]

Re: English Talent

OK, just to put this to bed : There is only one decent English player under the age of 21, and that is Oxlade-Chamberlain.

A damning indictment of the English game, yes, but nevertheless the truth.

Walcott is absolutely shaft (sorry, Theo fans). A fantastic sprinter, yes, but a very, very average footballer. Same for Redmond and Zaha.

I've coached kids where i live (in Germany) and their technical level is infinitely better than i saw when I was growing up in Manchester (and, I suspect, now). In the UK we pick athletes and try to convert them into footballers, or pick footballers according to their physical size.

I mean, if we can have a midfield with Henderson, Milner, Parker & Walcott in (as would seem a realistic possibility for the opening game v. France) something HAS to be going wrong. Crikey, there were even calls to bring back a player who retired from football totally at the end of the season before last.

The UK game is in serious trouble, which is why we are trying to found our academy on players brought in from all over the place, why we seem to release most British under-18's, and why our most promising ones are Rekik, Suarez, Razak, Ibrahim & Rusnak (OK, you could put Henshall & Bunn there as well, but they'll both, IMO, have Championship careers).

The only world-class youth that we've brought through in the past 20 years is from the place I grew up, and unfortunately he was injury prone and had a bit of a fondness for the beer. He could have been a great (and I mean world-wide, not just a City great).

If Walcott plays under Mancini for a year or two, I can guarantee he will become a much better player, he's not hack it under Wenger, look at Clichy 7 years under Wenger, meh gooners fans we're happy to see his back, one of the most improved player just a season under Mancini, how much Clichy's value now?

We only got him for £7m because he had a year remaining on his current deal. I understand where you're coming from but Walcott is that shit even Mancini couldn't make him a better player, if he didn't have pace he wouldn't be in the premier league. People need to realise we are premier league champions and have more potential than any other club in the world. So, my names of home grown would be Bale and Wilshere. I think a fully fit Wilshere alongside Yaya would be immense with a huge selection of attacking options.

 

[Ray78]

There is a lack of genuine English Talent. We are thin on numbers, but I don't think Bobby can trust them even though it is rules.