Start of a great career at United. I hope so anyway.
Ethan Wheatley
- Thread starter top1whoisman
- Start date
Hope he gets more call-ups for England youth teams in the future.
How highly rated is he?
Very happy for him. Well done Wheatley!
This Kid can finish. Nice to see him getting fast tracked
Not particularly highly, but he's improved a lot this season.
Don’t we need a performance thread for him?
Great interview from Bruno. He's a weird guy but I think he's amazing, his brain is a busy place to be.
You could tell Bruno really wanted him to store. Even sacrificing shooting opportunities for a hat trick. Shame it didn't really pan out.
Not sure what the club thinks, I didn't think much of him at the start of the season but he's really impressed me in 2024.
Seems he’s more interested in getting Wheatley a goal than they have been Hojlund all season
He has a huge physical advantage at youth level, he looks likes he’s really improved this year, much calmer with his finishing.
Can finish with both feet, decent hold up play, good at running in behind, he has a lot of attributes, also makes the right runs in the penalty area.
I’m guessing here but he looks easily 6’2/6’3 and when he fills out at 21/22 if he keeps up his progress, he has a real chance.
Loves a panenka penalty just a little too much but other than that has an awful lot of pros and strengths.
It's weird because for me he is easily the current academy prospect I am most impressed by. He reminds me so much of Højlund. Big and fast but with a good technique.
He has really impressed me whenever I watch the U18s. Maybe he was not so highly rated as young players who grow so much so quickly need time to adapt to the growth spurt but his finishing has always been good. Hopefully we can develop a number 9 as I cant remember the last 9 we developed.
Which is just his height. He rarely uses his body to his advantage. Someone like Biancheri who is way shorter than Wheatley uses his body well to hold up the ball. It is one of Wheatley's criticism that he hasn't the strength and rarely uses his frame to full effect. Don't know if you can call that a big advantage.
Biancheri is another talent that looks really interesting
Watch the Liverpool Game and he bullies them all day long, he’s just turned 18 and has not filled out yet, the jury out on whether he’ll make it at United and he definitely needs work in the gym but he has a distinct physical advantage at under 18 level. Needs coaching on how to use his height body to his advantage but this is where he’s shown huge improvements in last 3 months. Plus we just don’t know how the growth spurts are impacting him until he finishes growing.
Agree with all the points you make and yes he has improved as the season's gone. Especially with his finishing and composure and I've said as much in my previous posts as well.
When I first watched his this season, I mentioned that he has some good attributes that can be worked on but no one expected him to make his first team debut already. So he's surprised everyone in that regard.
Just that at this point of time I don't see it as a huge advantage when he rarely uses it. Like you said, let's hope he hits the gym and puts on some muscle. He definitely has the ability to bully defenders more consistently.
Nice to see someone with just plain decent finishing. You get the feeling that if he can develop 15-20% more on every aspect he'll be a great forward to have.
Main thing for me is staying calm and keeping his nerve when he goes through. A couple of times this season he was put through onto the keeper and made it a fairly easy save. A striker who is going to make it at a big club needs to be scoring most of them. And he could score with his head as well as he's tall and I dont remember seeing many scored in the air
If he's only failed to convert a couple of one v ones this season then he is definitely scoring most of them.
MotM performance tonight against Crystal Palace
Unlike Hojlund he had a presence on the pitch as soon as he came on.
Looked lively - really should have passed though and made a run for the return instead. Ironically, against worse defenders at u18/23 level, he probably would have, but occasion (and unstructured, desperate 'gameplan' by that point) went to his head.
I mean, Palace didn't give a shit at that point. Was a good time to introduce him with no pressure. I don't think he'd have handled Andersen clattering through him, but was good to see physically he looks ready. After he spurned the chance to release Garnacho, when it panned to him, I was genuinely shocked at how young he looked considering the size of the boy.
Was a mixed bag today. Missed like 3 or 4 wonderful chances to put the game to bed but also scored a goal and played a huge part in the other.
Just hope he improves on his consistency in the final third(finishing and decision making). There's a potentially very good player in there.
Just hope he improves on his consistency in the final third(finishing and decision making). There's a potentially very good player in there.
Nice goal and very good performance but missed a few times when he went through onto the keeper. Should have had 2 or 3
Looked excellent apart from a couple of chances he missed.
A couple of absolute sitters but he worked his socks off for the team and scored another lovely goal in a final.
All in all, a very promising all-round #9 performance. Was a real handful up front all the match, and linked up well with the team. The only frustrating thing was missing 2 or 3 really good chances. But he's young and raw, and even the top strikers in their prime will have days like that. He still managed a goal and a half-assist while being a regular nuisance for the defence, so a pretty good effort on a day when his finishing was a little off.
What a season, congrats Ethan!
Nick Cox:
Congrats to the lad! He has worked hard this season and improved a lot as it ended up with his making his senior team debut. Here's hoping he continues to improve as there's lots of potential in him.
On a different note, slightly disappointed that Amass didn't win any of these two awards. Must have been hard to pick a winner as there have been so many deserving candidates this season.
On a different note, slightly disappointed that Amass didn't win any of these two awards. Must have been hard to pick a winner as there have been so many deserving candidates this season.
He's had a good season. Amass should have won the award though.
Well deserved.
Nice to see him get the national team call up. The more and higher level football he can get the better at this stage of his development.
Played 55 minutes against N.Ireland U18s in a 4-2 win. Scored one, missed a pen.
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Standard Wheatley. Both the goal and the miss.