Rony Lopes

[blue banks]

no way he would get in either of utd and arsenal's team imo
i keep hearing this playing time, when does he play?
he's not good enough to play regularly in a top 4 club at this moment in time, we can't afford to send him out on loan again as he will walk
denayer is a different kettle of fish, we have seen something in him to give him an extended contract so he can go out on loan to develop further

Happy to be proved wrong on this but I'd be very surprised if he becomes a permanent fixture in our squad in a year or two, despite him being well able.

 

[Neville Kneville]

no way he would get in either of utd and arsenal's team imo
i keep hearing this playing time, when does he play?
he's not good enough to play regularly in a top 4 club at this moment in time, we can't afford to send him out on loan again as he will walk
denayer is a different kettle of fish, we have seen something in him to give him an extended contract so he can go out on loan to develop further

No he wouldn't get in their teams regularly, not at all. And he plays 30 mins on Saturday if we are 3-0 up.

 

[blue banks]

The same way most of the rags' kids, Sterling etc did. They come on for a few minutes, get used to the feel of it, & we find out if they have anything to work with. If they do, then they repeat it again, then again. If they continue to look the part, they perhaps start in the cup, & then if they look the part, they start in a league game. If they do well there, they become regulars, then next summer or even January we move some of the lesser senior players on, whilst bring a couple more ikids into the picture.

And so on, until suddely we find that players suchas Navas, Fernando Demichelis, Clichy have been replaced by homegrown city kids.

This. This is how it should be working at this stage.

 

[tonea2003]

So he had his chances for City, played a blinder on most of those occasions, what is your point regarding that ? What is he supposed to do when picked ?

really a blinder, his last game was v a championship side who were beating us 2-0 until he got subbed and we ended up thanking sergio to bag a hat trick to get us out of the shit

the game before that was a dead rubber v west ham

think your mind is playing tricks on you mate

 

[pudge]

This was [most of] the post I made with regards to the academy when people were foaming at the mouth at Otamendi signing;

Given all the team predictions for WBA and expectations of individual players, some drastically need to scale back their own expectations of the EDS and academy in general.

There will not be an influx of graduates to the first team each and every season. Right now we seemingly have a "golden generation" to some extent, for lack of a better term. Lopes, Denayer, Iheanacho even the likes of Evans. That may not seem like a lot but that's more than most clubs can expect to bring up and realistically challenge for a first team squad spot. Even then "graduating" to the first team doesn't mean they've "made it" it's just another step in their development to train with world class players, not play every week.

The academy won't produce a superstar every season. You invest in youth be it a 10, 12, 14, 16 or 18 year old in the hope they'll make it never the expectation that they will.

Our academy is one of the best possible places for a player to develop and make it in football. Be that for us or someone else; Trippier, Mee, Facey, McGivern, Logan etc all have legitimate careers in football despite very little if any first team experience with us. Our youngsters won't just look at our first team and think "I'll never get in there, I'm off" because there's not a straight turn over of 11 for 11 from the EDS to the first team every year. They'll want to be in the best environment to develop and perhaps make it elsewhere, and take advantage of City's connections and go on loan akin to Denayer, Lopes and Rekik who all got a move to Champions League teams. How many youth team players around the league get those chances? They're realistic. Yes they will sign for us in the hope they can play for one of Europe's biggest teams but they'll also realise they're in one of the best possible to develop and carve a career out elsewhere.

I understand Denayer perhaps wanting to go elsewhere, on loan I would imagine if he's fifth choice this season. For most clubs they have one Denayer, that one prospect that they promote at a time. Plenty thought Rekik would be starting for us by now. However, those saying to close the academy (over dramatic on purpose I imagine but genuinely said today) youth doesn't stand a chance are beyond stupid and/or have ludacris expectations. If City can produce one legitimate first team player or squad player every other year or so we're laughing. If they can produce players capable of commanding decent fees for decent teams then even more so. This current crop are an anomaly that has seemingly skewed people's expectations.

In this instance I personally feel Lopes has shown more than enough to merit a chance and again believe that he's not only capable of getting a match here and there but also taking that chance with both hands. Which is why I find it disappointing, I don't find that an unrealistic expectation.

Yes he's gotten a great move but Lopes is/was one of our prospects primed for the first team imo and it's sad to see how it's played out.

 

[BlueDeadHead]

Was here before Begiristain so he is surplus to requirements because he will not get credit for signing him and bringing him through.

Ridiculous transfer, he's 19 ffs!

And by all accounts would have walked on a free at 20.

 

[tonea2003]

No he wouldn't get in their teams regularly, not at all. And he plays 30 mins on Saturday if we are 3-0 up.

that's my whole point the occasional sub appearance when the game is done and dusted is not good enough for him

 

[Matty]

The academy hasn’t just started, it’s been going for a long time. We’ve recently spent £200 million on a shiny new complex but I’m not sure why we couldn’t have been producing players in the meantime?

We have, but players of a lower calibre. The reason for that is simple, to produce the best young players in World football you need to have top class facilities, world class coaches, the best talent scouts around, and the pulling power of being a top club who can offer it's best players huge wealth, and the opportunities to play in the best competitions and win trophies. City, for a long, long time, weren't able to do any of that. The fact the first team increased in talent dramatically quickly doesn't mean the youth setup can do so. It's easier to improve quickly on the pitch, you spend huge sums of money on proven talent. The work involved, the planning etc to step the youth level up too is a longer process.

That's why it really pisses me off when lazy, ill informed TV pundits start bleating on about how we've got all this money, and we've spent £200m on a new academy "yet we've not produced any of our own talent" like it's something that happens overnight.

 

[cleavers]

Are you saying that progressing through to the first team and playing in a competitive game isn't development?

No, I was responding directly to NK about waiting till we are a few up to bring them on, that's not development imho, as its neither a challenge for the player, nor is it giving them enough time to develop.

Bringing players through is always a difficult business, especially when you throw money at a problem like we can, we'll get there, because the younger ones now, will know they have to get there earlier to stand a chance, the challenge is big, and none of those who have left us are yet playing at a top 6 European club, which suggests they were below the level we need.

And so on, until suddely we find that players suchas Navas, Fernando Demichelis, Clichy have been replaced by homegrown city kids.

Neither united or Liverpool seem to have really achieved that recently, nor chelsea or arsenal.

 

[tonea2003]

Happy to be proved wrong on this but I'd be very surprised if he becomes a permanent fixture in our squad in a year or two, despite him being well able.

that's why he's been given an extended contract to 2020 to give him chance to devlop