Marseille (H) - CL | Post-Match Thread

[StillBluessinceHydeRoad]

Too many young players have been ruined by being played too early in elite fixtures.
I predict the likes of Rashford and Greenwood will not have long lasting careers. They are already showing physical and psychological stresses as a result of being thrown in at the deep end.
What Pep is doing is safeguarding the future of our young players by easing them into first team involvement. They train with the first team and get to be involved in match day squads which is the thing of dreams for them. They will also get occasional outings but relying on youth puts massive pressure on them at too early a time in their physical and mental development.
Pep has a lifetime of experience and has come through arguably the finest youth system himself.
I trust he knows what he’s doing more than some on this forum...

I think you make a good point about the rags. When we've stopped laughing at the ludicrous hype about that club it becomes clear that their reputation for bringing on young players, wherever they come from, is the opposite of the truth: they've ruined many more young players' careers than they've developed. The most obvious is the one for which they make the greatest claims: George Best was a washed up, burnt out drunk by the time he was 26. There are real concerns that Dele Alli - the best young player in the world not so long ago - is burnt out at 24. And the pressures on all players are intensifying, especially on the young. With advances in training, sports medicine, nutrition and consequent improvements in fitness levels the gap between the young and the fully mature is growing. Introducing the young to "elite level" football has to be gradually and with care. And we cannot rely on the authorities - FA, UEFA or FIFA, or the clubs - to give any player adequate protection: the attitude is "get the fixtures played, coin in the cash and bugger the players". This is an attitude shared by many fans. But not by Pep

 

[Doctor Jimmy and Mr Jim]

Some interesting comments on here about Phil Foden, how some feel he had a sub-par game (by his standards). It was noticeable last night on several occasions he seemed to get very frustrated with himself if he misplaced a pass, or his flick didn't come off, almost trying too hard instead of it happening instinctively. He obviously places very high demands on himself in every game, as he should. Hopefully he relaxes and doesn't beat himself up if something doesn't come off. I thought he played quite well last night. Sure not all passes were successful and a couple of shots a bit wayward, but he has real energy and vision, looks for the ball, makes some very intelligent runs for someone so young and always looks to go forward. It says a lot about the standards he's set so far that last night may be seen by some as a dip. Maybe it was, but that will happen occasionally. He's fine, he's learning well, he's going to get more game time and he's going to become more influential. Glad he plays for us!

 

[shemnel]

Some interesting comments on here about Phil Foden, how some feel he had a sub-par game (by his standards). It was noticeable last night on several occasions he seemed to get very frustrated with himself if he misplaced a pass, or his flick didn't come off, almost trying too hard instead of it happening instinctively. He obviously places very high demands on himself in every game, as he should. Hopefully he relaxes and doesn't beat himself up if something doesn't come off. I thought he played quite well last night. Sure not all passes were successful and a couple of shots a bit wayward, but he has real energy and vision, looks for the ball, makes some very intelligent runs for someone so young and always looks to go forward. It says a lot about the standards he's set so far that last night may be seen by some as a dip. Maybe it was, but that will happen occasionally. He's fine, he's learning well, he's going to get more game time and he's going to become more influential. Glad he plays for us!

i think he played alright for someone who played not very well (if that makes sense?). we hold each player by their own standards i guess. we need to see Foden truly dominate more games in my opinion, in the coming year or two.

 

[Cobra]

Too many young players have been ruined by being played too early in elite fixtures.
I predict the likes of Rashford and Greenwood will not have long lasting careers. They are already showing physical and psychological stresses as a result of being thrown in at the deep end.
What Pep is doing is safeguarding the future of our young players by easing them into first team involvement. They train with the first team and get to be involved in match day squads which is the thing of dreams for them. They will also get occasional outings but relying on youth puts massive pressure on them at too early a time in their physical and mental development.
Pep has a lifetime of experience and has come through arguably the finest youth system himself.
I trust he knows what he’s doing more than some on this forum...

Felix Nmecha is a year older than Greenwood and has played 20 minutes of first team football in his entire career. Doyle is the same age as Greenwood and has played about 160 minutes of football. And yet you’re genuinely suggesting that if they’d played an hour last night, or even come off the bench for 10 minutes then they’d have played too much football at their age?! Absolutely baffling.

Raheem Sterling played over 5000 minutes of PL football as a teenager - he seems to be doing ok for himself. James Milner was playing for Leeds at 16 and is still going strong. Gareth Barry started playing regular football at 17 and made more PL appearances than anyone else. Jamal Musiala has played more minutes for Bayern this season than Doyle, Nmecha, Palmer and Delap have for City combined. And he’s younger than all of them. Maybe you should drop Bayern an email to let them know they’re doing it wrong.

 

[Burtonblue]

Felix Nmecha is a year older than Greenwood and has played 20 minutes of first team football in his entire career. Doyle is the same age as Greenwood and has played about 160 minutes of football. And yet you’re genuinely suggesting that if they’d played an hour last night, or even come off the bench for 10 minutes then they’d have played too much football at their age?! Absolutely baffling.

Raheem Sterling played over 5000 minutes of PL football as a teenager - he seems to be doing ok for himself. James Milner was playing for Leeds at 16 and is still going strong. Gareth Barry started playing regular football at 17 and made more PL appearances than anyone else. Jamal Musiala has played more minutes for Bayern this season than Doyle, Nmecha, Palmer and Delap have for City combined. And he’s younger than all of them. Maybe you should drop Bayern an email to let them know they’re doing it wrong.

Opinions are opinions and there are always exceptions. You should also take into account what players are available in the rest of the squad.
By the same token you should drop Pep an email to tell him the error of his ways.

 

[trumpton]

Am I the only one who thought Ake was poor at left back?

His best bits yesterday were when he drifted to his normal position at centre half. I thought the concept of marking a winger as full back was to keep tight and not allow them to control the ball unchallenged. He allowed his opponent the time to control the ball and put him on his back foot by not getting within 10 yards of him.

 

[howfen blue]

Am I the only one who thought Ake was poor at left back?

His best bits yesterday were when he drifted to his normal position at centre half. I thought the concept of marking a winger as full back was to keep tight and not allow them to control the ball unchallenged. He allowed his opponent the time to control the ball and put him on his back foot by not getting within 10 yards of him.

He's never a left back in a million years. He looks like what he is a centre half playing out of position .

 

[Bodicoteblue]

Don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it, but I thought the ref, apparently on his CL debut had a good game.
He let a bit of physical stuff go and helped the game flow.
Wouldn’t worry if we got him again.

 

[IcriedwhenTueartleft]

Don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it, but I thought the ref, apparently on his CL debut had a good game.
He let a bit of physical stuff go and helped the game flow.
Wouldn’t worry if we got him again.

We said the same watching the game, he wasn't fooled by some of their theatrics.

 

[StillBluessinceHydeRoad]

Felix Nmecha is a year older than Greenwood and has played 20 minutes of first team football in his entire career. Doyle is the same age as Greenwood and has played about 160 minutes of football. And yet you’re genuinely suggesting that if they’d played an hour last night, or even come off the bench for 10 minutes then they’d have played too much football at their age?! Absolutely baffling.

Raheem Sterling played over 5000 minutes of PL football as a teenager - he seems to be doing ok for himself. James Milner was playing for Leeds at 16 and is still going strong. Gareth Barry started playing regular football at 17 and made more PL appearances than anyone else. Jamal Musiala has played more minutes for Bayern this season than Doyle, Nmecha, Palmer and Delap have for City combined. And he’s younger than all of them. Maybe you should drop Bayern an email to let them know they’re doing it wrong.

I accept your figures and I'm not questioning what you say about any of the players mentioned, though I would argue that putting a young player on last night was simply not a priority for Pep in last night's circumstances. And this brings us to one important element in the matter, and that is the individual. For every Gareth Barry there is at least one player whose career ends prematurely through injury or burn out, and so the decision when to use young players must be made by those who know them best - in this case Pep. This season is uniquely difficult, there are senior players who need minutes and in the short term Pep has to be sure that players coming back from injury are not being delayed simply to give young lads 10 minutes. That is when the club is sure that such players are actually ever going to be worth a regular first eleven place. How many "promising" young players make the grade?