West Brom Post Match Thread

Neville Kneville said:
No actually, Foden & Diaz have done nothing yet in the first team.

The only bit of 'bearing fruits' is the fact they are on the pitch.

Loads of players could have been 'on the pitch'. Some would have done ok.

The 'bearing fruits' bit, would come later.

It isbn't a special thing for a kid to get on the pitch, even at a club of City's level. It just became a big thing, because it happened so infrequently.

Pep used plenty of kids at Barca, many of whome never made it. Same with Ferguson at the swamp.

But they were all useful, as loads of ours could have been.

The problem with this 'argument' year in year out, is that people insist on having one that isn't there.

People such as myself & twosips have never complained about kids not getting 'extended runs' in the team, just about them getting a chance to get onthe pitch here & there, when their performances merit it.

That has not happened nearly enough in the past. Hopefully, this is the start of it & eventually giving game time to players like Diaz & Foden will start to 'bear fruit'.
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Well we disagree about the past but agree about the present and both want the same for the future. It's going to be interesting to see whether the wider football world picks up on these kids as they develop, and starts to see our Academy as what it is: the best.

As an aside, they are still recruiting the real young ones very pro-actively indeed. And the progression of Diaz etc can only help the sales pitch. I manage a junior football team ad one of our lads has been given full Academy status recently, and I live in West Yorkshire. I've told this story before, but about a year ago my mate was walking his dog at the local high school, which has loads of pitches used by junior teams at the weekend. This was a Saturday morning. He came across a group of young lads with parents with football gear and asked them what they were doing. They were waiting for a bus to come from City to show them round the Academy. Now that's impressive. We have football clubs all over the region, many much closer, but City are getting the pick.
 
Neville Kneville said:
I'm so delighted we got Laporte & it is a great price in this market.

I thought we took a big risk not signing a cb in he summer.

I thought he looked a little bit lightweight defensively v WBA but he isn't lightweight, so it's just a setlling thing.

One thing early in the game which showed the teamwork in action, where I'm sat near the penalty area, I saw Zinchenko slightly overhit a pass at Laporte, early on, straight away I could hear ederson shout 'hey hey hey' to Laporte, so he knew he had an easy out ball & didn't have to control it & risk being caught out.

Little thing but it just shows how they are operating.
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I think you are spot on about how they are operating, this is so obviously pep at work, and, not just in defence, it throughout the team, I think we are blessed to have what we have, a well run club from top to bottom.
With the best coach I have ever seen.
 
Neville Kneville said:
Yes, but we also need players like Zincheko, who is doing a great job, but for all we know, may never be good enough as a fullback, or a midfield player.

Doesn't matter, he is there now.

That's the secret the rags have had compared to City. Not creating 'stars' just creating squad players to help the first team.

They haven't found a 'star' for years. Well they found one, sold him & bought him back for 100 mil.
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I agree but in terms of judging the quality of what's coming through from the Academy, I think having guys like Foden and Diaz (and Tosin and Maffeo) is an improvement on what went immediately before.

My impression is that the standards are rising and are signs of a long project coming to fruition.

The past is done, whatever one thinks. I hope we produce more and more kids who can help the first team and that some can become long-term members of the squad.
 
Walking down the steps from SS3 last night there was a little lad 5/6 years old with his parents who was singing the 'Never felt more than singing the blues' song and 'You've had your day out now gooooooo home' all the way down. It was brilliant, I was too far back to say anything to him/them but it could have been me in 1970...the future is blue. Lucky lad.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Well we disagree about the past but agree about the present and both want the same for the future. It's going to be interesting to see whether the wider football world picks up on these kids as they develop, and starts to see our Academy as what it is: the best.

As an aside, they are still recruiting the real young ones very pro-actively indeed. And the progression of Diaz etc can only help the sales pitch. I manage a junior football team ad one of our lads has been given full Academy status recently, and I live in West Yorkshire. I've told this story before, but about a year ago my mate was walking his dog at the local high school, which has loads of pitches used by junior teams at the weekend. This was a Saturday morning. He came across a group of young lads with parents with football gear and asked them what they were doing. They were waiting for a bus to come from City to show them round the Academy. Now that's impressive. We have football clubs all over the region, many much closer, but City are getting the pick.
Click to expand...

The profile of Foden & the inclusion of Diaz, is a good selling point for the academy, plus Pep has now officially promoted Nmecha as well.
 
Neville Kneville said:
I'm so delighted we got Laporte & it is a great price in this market.

I thought we took a big risk not signing a cb in he summer.

I thought he looked a little bit lightweight defensively v WBA but he isn't lightweight, so it's just a setlling thing.

One thing early in the game which showed the teamwork in action, where I'm sat near the penalty area, I saw Zinchenko slightly overhit a pass at Laporte, early on, straight away I could hear ederson shout 'hey hey hey' to Laporte, so he knew he had an easy out ball & didn't have to control it & risk being caught out.

Little thing but it just shows how they are operating.
Click to expand...

I thought Laporte was maybe a little too anxious to get his challenges in at times, in stark contrast to how he was on the ball. All in all, I think he will be a hell of a good buy. Even Alan Pardew was moved to comment on his cross field passes and wish the rest of the league good luck on coping with yet another weapon in the City armoury.
 
Cityfan said:
Seriously?
Trippier is a decent footballer with a sweet right foot, but as a defender he is not a patch on Walker.
Sane shredded him when we played Spurs
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Now be fair, Sane shreds most defenders, I dont think he is that far behind Walker defending and far better in the attacking role/delivering crosses (Mho, but then Walker has improved under Pep).

My main point was we had him from a kid and numpty gave him away.
 
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