Really exciting comments from Henry. Looking forward to seeing how he's come on during pre-season.
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He's got a strange running style, almost like he's tiptoeing
Aston Villa are desperate for an AM type player. Maybe a bridge too far for him at present but he could do a good job there.
So I hear he's hit double figures for Wigan, that's great news. I'm guessing he's been playing as AM for them? If it's by being in the centre then bring the kid back!
He'll win the balon d'or before Pogba.
Is there any chance he'll be back here by the end of the month if we sign nobody and lose Anderson? Not as a replacement exactly for Anderson cos he got no games but more because we would be really short of numbers in our most exposed area of the field
Stays on the balls of his feet. Jurgen Klinsmann had a similar running style, it's a bit like a sprinter. If you can keep it up for the whole match you will be first to every ball as it gives you a jump on anyone that's flat footed.
Really like how he is taking charge and not just playing a role, he is standing out. It's very positive. Still prefer him to stay at Wigan for the rest of the season.
If we don't sign a cm and we sell Anderson then Powell has to be in our squad.
mk dons a league below wigan in fairness but the boy has a bright future in the game for sure
If CAM or upfront is his natural position, I hope we don't disrupt his progress by trying to shoehorn him into a deeper midfield role.
Was he mainly played in CM in the U21s last season or higher up?
Was he mainly played in CM in the U21s last season or higher up?
Always forget he's still 19. Had him down as about 22 or so. Great prospect.
surely Powell has to be in our squad. simply quality.
Luke Chadwick in that video. 
Or he could just have an ankle equines or a Cavoid foot type!
I was reading a Wigan forum last night and the fans on there were saying things to the effect of 'I don't know where we would be without Powell this season, he has been our only consistent goal threat'. They were also praising his work rate highly. I think that many of them see him as their best player this year.
If you watch the goals that he has scored for Wigan this year he is a bit of a poacher too and he is also good in the air. It really is a bit of a mystery as to where his best position is.
Its how a sprinter runs.
I'd rather selfishly like him fast tracked into the first team just so there's something else other than Januzaj to get excited by this season. Adnan's so October 2013.
The hipsters amongst us may be quick to point out they were excited by him after his goal against Wigan rather than after his loan to Wigan
Indeed, but DO NOT try and slide on your knees on a heavy cut up pitch, Nick!
It is about confidence as much as it is about ability. Many young players have the ability but not many can step effortlessly onto a stage of high pressure like Januzaj has. Powell seems to have a nonchalance about him. I think that he will make the step up in a similar way and that he will look a lot better alongside top players.
Some of us have been excited about him since he scored a wonder goals at Wembley for Crewe! To score a goal like that in the biggest game of his career so far really says something about a player.
The last game I remember seeing him in was a Champions League away tie (Galatasaray?) where he looked like one of the best players on the pitch. I was baffled that he then seemed to play no part in the rest of the season.
Despite his (utterly deserved) legacy for bringing through youngsters, Fergie spent his last couple of seasons stubbornly resisting it. Drafting in all sorts of oddballs and retirees rather than playing the youngsters we had in the one position we really, really needed someone. I'm going to claim this was all down to him wanting to retire on a high note and playing it safe, but I have admittedly just completely made that up.
Despite his (utterly deserved) legacy for bringing through youngsters, Fergie spent his last couple of seasons stubbornly resisting it. Drafting in all sorts of oddballs and retirees rather than playing the youngsters we had in the one position we really, really needed someone. I'm going to claim this was all down to him wanting to retire on a high note and playing it safe, but I have admittedly just completely made that up.
Pff! I was already excited about him when his father scored in his mother to conceive him!
Dunno. He clearly retained his enthusiasm for youth in the market, in the latter years you have Smalling, Jones, Chicharito and Powell, and only the last of those didnt get much of a chance. Looking at our squad it has plenty of youth in it, just plenty of age in it as well, and not a great deal of players at their peak. The youth question does seem to be more specific to midfield, Cleverley got in there but not when he was really young. Maybe he thought experience was more important there (in his latter years, he obviously didnt feel that way in the 90s).
I forgot about this. What a fecking goal
Rumor has it the coaching staff was unimpressed by his effort at the training ground. Don't shoot the messenger but perhaps that had something to do with it.
Fergie mentioned in his book that Powell has a touch of laziness about him. Pretty sure he'll be a top player for us in a few years.
That lack of effort does sound like the most plausible explanation, certainly seems to link the experiences of Powell and Pogba if true, two midfielders that didnt seem to be given much of a shot in the first team. Perhaps the biggest crime you could commit in SAF's eyes, not taking training / reserve matches or whatever seriously. Its not enough to play well in the games themselves.
Pretty sure Powell was injured second half of the season for a decent portion. That whole thing about the virus and car accident?
I think the problem is Pogba and Powell are both too good for reserve football.
Some people find it hard to keep motivated when playing above their level.
Sure the old romantic's will say "you earn your place", but some people are just ready and need chances.
Could you imagine a 16 year old Rooney stuck in the reserves until he was 19? Just wouldn't happen.
Some people find it hard to keep motivated when playing above their level.
Sure the old romantic's will say "you earn your place", but some people are just ready and need chances.
Could you imagine a 16 year old Rooney stuck in the reserves until he was 19? Just wouldn't happen.
Most likely, neither of them will.
Yet SAF was called the master at a) man management and b) bringing through youth. So this begs the question, did he lose those qualities to a certain extent - as Mockney originally suggested, was it that as the end got closer he became more risk adverse, less willing to take a punt on a kid? Did he become more dogmatic with age, less willing to make exceptions? (Though he seemed willing to make exceptions for Rooney just a couple of years ago with the way he handled the transfer request.) Or was SAF just lucky with a crop of really talented, hard working, motivated kids earlier in his career, that gave him the reputation as a genius dealing with kids that was perhaps a little exaggerated?
He must have been through the same issues he had with Powell and Pogba many times before, yet we have still had youth coming through... Maybe there would have been a few who came through if he had been a bit more flexible. And maybe if he had it would have sewn discord in the dressing room and caused problems elsewhere. Nobody can know so I guess all we can do is be thankful for what we had.
I think it's fair to say maybe Fergie had less time for the youth players, and perhaps less passion as he got older.
He obviously knew in his head the end was within sight, and with Pogba's contract issues and agent trouble felt he was not worth the hassle.
Nobody can doubt the way he handled the class of 92. To get rid of experienced pro's like Kanchelskis, Ince, Parker etc was a big risk, but he clearly knew the boys were special and believed in it 100%. Without the passion and belief he showed in them it would never have been possible.
He obviously knew in his head the end was within sight, and with Pogba's contract issues and agent trouble felt he was not worth the hassle.
Nobody can doubt the way he handled the class of 92. To get rid of experienced pro's like Kanchelskis, Ince, Parker etc was a big risk, but he clearly knew the boys were special and believed in it 100%. Without the passion and belief he showed in them it would never have been possible.
Best case would be to give him a proper season on loan at another PL club next season
In reference to Adebesi's post, the Sir Alex of old was finished on that night at the Etihad. His sentimentality towards those he trusted, irrespective of the obvious that was staring the fans in the face, cost us a league title. He was certainly a lot more safe during his latter years, and I don't think his reliance on the individual quality of our better players, instead of settling on a cohesive style of play that would get the best out of everybody, has helped our new manager. I don't blame Sir Alex, but he was an overseer of a machine that won football games. He didn't care about the beauty anymore, and I think many of our players, particularly younger ones, have suffered as a result of his sentimentality, bloated rotation and inability to get the team playing with some modernity. When over half the squad has been individually out of form for about two years, yet they still win matches, problems run a little deeper than the "our players are shit" rhetoric that gets bandied about.
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