Has really raised his game recently for the U21s.I have a feeling he will end up having a better career than some of the higher rated names.Always like CMs who can make runs and beat players from midfield.
Matty Willock
- Thread starter khoazany
- Start date
Yeah - he has gone from largely anonymous to driving force in midfield. It seems like he has grown a lot of muscles as well
Aye he outshone TFM against Southampton the other night.
Thought he was really impressive against Norwich, tenacious, tidy on the ball with great close control and distributes the ball very well. Seems a perfect fit for Van Gaal's system to be honest. He's stood out in midfield in the recent games that I watched, hope he keeps building on that.
Since the loan window has opened,I would loan out Harrop and Weir and make Willock the main figure on midfield to see how he'll handle the increased responsibility.
Sounds like a good plan. Redmond has also impressed me in recent months, what do you think of his prospects?
There are many midfielders in the rank that I rate higher than Redmond but he's tidy,distribute the ball well and improved massively under Joyce (I did predict that last year
).He covers the ground very well I must say and that's the attribute that will benefit him greatly when he steps up to senior football.Redmond's one of the proof that the coaches actually know a lot better than us since he looks pretty average in the U18s on most occasions but was rated by the coaches judging on how he was played ahead of some other players like Mitchell or Riley on his first year.As most of the graduates it's unlikely that he'll make it at United but he's one of those that you can't write off just yet.
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Could be a late developer like Lingard..There are many midfielders in the rank that I rate higher than Redmond but he's tidy,distribute the ball well and improved massively under Joyce (I did predict that last year
Taxi for their number 3...
Very impressive bit of skill. Isn't Willock the guy with a better, younger brother whom we were trying to lure from Arsenal a while back? Obviously that didn't work out.
Play him as striker made him look worse in the game than he actually is but hopefully it will develop his game further.
Don't know if we were trying to lure him here as he seems happy at Arsenal, but Chris Willock is very highly rated indeed. Even played for the first team last week against Forest.
Not sure if we signed Matty to lure his brother but yeah, his brother is very special! Amazing little player, watched him last season live and he was few classes above everyone else on the pitch. Cant wait to see him in the first team even though he is at Arsenal.
I really like Willock and always have. I see lots of similarities with Pogba in his game. He's not as creative though.
I think he has Premier League potential. With guys like Sissoko, Yaya, Pogba, Kouyaté, Wanyama and Kanté using their pace and power to full effect, there's no reason why he can't develop into an effective powerhouse midfielder.
Hopefully he goes out on loan after Christmas.
I think he has Premier League potential. With guys like Sissoko, Yaya, Pogba, Kouyaté, Wanyama and Kanté using their pace and power to full effect, there's no reason why he can't develop into an effective powerhouse midfielder.
Hopefully he goes out on loan after Christmas.
He hasn't progressed as much as hoped in the last few seasons though. Not entirely sure if he can make it at Arsenal. They have some other very good attacking prospects.
Cant say that i follow Arsenal youth closely but from what i saw he is on the right track. Played preseason with the first team and also got some minutes in cup game week ago.
From what I've heard he wasn't exactly playing that well for the U23s recently and they have Jeff and Nelson (Nelson is Gomes's age group but already played for their U23s since last season) who are rated highly as well not to mention the likes of Smith-Rowe or Coyle who are younger. Arsenal has a tendency to give cameos to promising youth players quite early but most of them weren't progressed as hoped (Akpom,Gnabry,Zelalem,...)
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Matty Willock has been called up to the #mufc squad for the West Brom game.
Awesome! Might be on the bench
Neato, he's on the bench. Fantastic name for a footballer as well.
@khoazany is Harrop injured? Amazed that Willock is ahead of him in the pecking order....saying that, would be great if we had a comfortable lead late on so kid can play a little bit.
Willock is more suited physically. He has Pogba-esque qualities; he can really drive forward when in the mood.
Willock has always been ahead of Harrop in the pecking order since last season. Has trained more with the 1st team and was on bench for our first pre-season game against Wigan. As I said in other thread Harrop's development has stalled in the last 2 seasons.
Even with stalled development Harrop is still easily better than
Willock. Just a shame we don't have an actual talent in the group to call up.
Willock. Just a shame we don't have an actual talent in the group to call up.
I agree with limerick, even a stalled Harrop is easily a better player then Willock....
As for his development, it didnt help that he had to play in worst U23 side in last 10 years probably. More often then not he was the only creative force in the team and not only that, he also didnt have a striker for most of the time.
Comfortable lead! Have you watched us in the league at home this season?
Not as a central midfielder he's not. Not sure Harrop has the temperament to step up either, and as has already been mentioned Willock is more physically development although that's obviously not everything but against a side like West Brom it would definitely be a factor.
Harrop has never really looked anywhere close to the first team so I would've been very surprised to see him involved. He needs to get himself a move in the summer and kickstart his career.
not sure if i should laugh or cry to be honest
I've been up 6 times this year, and seen us win once! That is horrendous!
Yea not as a centr mid but Blind is also miles better there so id rather have a better attacking option on the bench. I don't really see anything great about Willocks physicality either, sure it might be better than Harrops but hardly great or should be compared to Pogba like I saw before.
I don't expect Harrop to break through or get anywhere near the first team but I don't expect Willock to be either. He is about half the player of recent academy midfielders who never got a chance here. Harrop is still far more talented.
Like I said though, it's a shame there isn't an actual talent there who could have been called up who actually could have a future.
now at least we know where is the problem!
Don't want to appear to be cocky or anything but from what I've heard about Harrop's attitude I'm certain Willock will turn out to be a better player than him.
even if attitude wasnt an issue id agree with you, specially as there is no chance of Harrop going abroad so in england players like Harrop, Rothwell etc. are destined to fail which is a shame.
Harrop's one of my favourite players but I've been resigned to the fact that he won't ever get a chance in the 1st team, nevermind make it here, for a while now. A shame because, if given the chance, I think he'd take it with both hands and prove to be a good option for us.
By the way @Šjor Bepo , what do you mean about there being no chance of them going abroad? Like how most English talent prefer to play at a lower English team than a Spanish team that's better due to wanting to stay in England?
By the way @Šjor Bepo , what do you mean about there being no chance of them going abroad? Like how most English talent prefer to play at a lower English team than a Spanish team that's better due to wanting to stay in England?
At Harrops age he should be dominating the u23s league but he's never really had a consistent run of top performances partly due to his injury record, he has plenty of talent but hasn't done anything to force his way into first team reckoning not that Willock has either.
Nobody is talking about spain, i think its safe to say that england players prefer the safety and comfort of playing at home rather then going into unknown. How many england players we see abroad? Very little, its probably the smallest percentage of all major football nations.
Holland and Belgium would be a perfect place to start for those players, they would be appreciated for their footballing brain and technique and with similar players around they could shine. Luke Giverin was player of the year in belgium second division while at Antwerpen, if a player like him can dominate the second division there is no doubt that far superior players like Rothwell and Harrop would be able to play at decent level in first divisions.
I thought that was what you meant and completely agree. I just used Spain as an example as, for whatever reason, they were the country that came to mind! Probably because of Pereira.