bb8
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How would you rank our U21 players as long term prospects? You can include Mainoo and Garnacho, and also the top youth players (Obi Martin, Amass, Kone, Fletcher, etc)
I would have to compare them to all the other players at other clubs in England and possibly Europe to do it properly and to be perfectly honest....who has got time on their hands to do that.How would you rank our U21 players as long term prospects? You can include Mainoo and Garnacho, and also the top youth players (Obi Martin, Amass, Kone, Fletcher, etc)
Why do you need to know players at any other clubs? I'm only asking to rank our top prospects haha.I would have to compare them to all the other players at other clubs in England and possibly Europe to do it properly and to be perfectly honest....who has got time on their hands to do that.
See this is where people get it wrong on here.Why do you need to know players at any other clubs? I'm only asking to rank our top prospects haha.
Yeah, but I'm not asking how good they are compared to other clubs' prospects.See this is where people get it wrong on here.
Some get so worked up about the prospects of our youngsters not knowing there are just as good if not better at other clubs and then are surprised when they don't make it....and this is before they have even gone out on loan to a league one or Championship side![]()
Who's in the top tier or two for you?I agree with those above who say it’s really difficult due to the level of talent across the board. As I’ve said before I don’t think a 1 to 10 can be defined but I do think there’s tiers.
Two things with this though, form means theres constant movement between levels and those in the 3rd/4th tier can make it on work with hard work and attitude just as much as those with top technical talent in tier 1 for me. Be interesting to see people group them as such.
in a 3-4-3 this is my combined U21/U18 - in terms of potential and for fitting in that system
Vitek - Kukonki, Munro, Kamason - Scanlon, Devaney, Either of the Fletchers, Mantato - Ibragimov, Obi Martin, Wheatley
I pick Scanlon over Amass simply because of Scanlons ability to score.
And there still wouldn't be room for Harrison, Kingdon, Amass, Kamason, 1xFletcher, Thwaites, Moorhouse, Biancheri, Williams, Ennis, Fitzgerald, Baumann etc etc
We have a scary amount of talent
Really useful write up. Thanks. A few questions, if you’d be so kind to answer -
1) You’ve mentioned Kamason twice. Who did you mean instead?
2) I’m less familiar with the players in bold. Anything you can tell me about them?
3) Notable omissions would be Kone (too early to judge?) and Armer. Any thoughts on them?
4) Who do you think will be Amorim’s first debutant?
I’m really hopeful about some of these players but fear the first team set up is too rotten to bring them into right now. I also understand that Amorim is giving some of our potentially unwanted players a chance to put themselves in the shop window rather than excluding them completely.
1) Just a human error I imagine
2) Devaney is probably our most talented defensive midfielder - really hard-working, good tackler, good at keeping the ball - not very creative. Probably the player we have who the most reminds me of Keane (not anywhere near his class of course)
3) Kone looked much too raw - he will need a lot of coaching. His skills with the ball were superb the little I saw of him - but it's like he never was taught how to behave before he got the ball, so he made some strange choices. Armer is big and strong - but maybe a bit too much of an 80s or 90s defender to play for a top club in 2024.
4) Depends what we need - but realistically someone who is mature and physical enough to play at the highest level. I don't think it will be a central midfielder because of the position and because we have quite a few players who can fill those rolls. Eriksen, Mount, Bruno, Ugarte, Casemiro, Mainoo etc - and because it's a very important position. Normally I would say not a defender - but due to our injuries, it could be a defender. In which case i believe Kukonki
But most likely, it's an attacking midfielder or a striker - and then my guess is Scanlon, Obi Martin or Ibragimov
Aha, cheers.
I've barely heard of Moorhouse and Baumann (also bolded above). What sort of players are they?
Interesting you say that central midfielder is the area least likely to filled by Ruben's first debutant. I'd have maybe considered it the most likely. Partly due to the likes of Jack Fletcher and Jayce Fitzgerald being on the bench recently for RVN/ETH. Also because it feels like Casemiro and Eriksen are the first players really being phased out by Amorim. He clearly feels they aren't mobile enough. I'd have thought this is the most obvious opening in the team besides LWB and Amass seems more raw than some of the young central midfielders we have. I think if we sell Casemiro and Eriksen, replacing them with two central midfielders is unlikely due to the cost involved and the other areas required. Therefore, signing one and promoting another makes the most sense. Having said that, though, Amorim only relied on 3 players in central midfield for Sporting - Morita, Hjulmund and Braganca.
Looking forward to seeing what Amorim does with the youth. I hope it's the one area of the club where we're currently one of the world leaders.
Apologies on the delayed response but I’d pretty much agree with the above right ups but I’d put Thwaites in the tier 1 group, and maybe Munro and Fitzgerald between group 2 and 3. However you have someone like Tyler Fletcher who has for me been as impressive as his brother Jack who is also highly rated.Who's in the top tier or two for you?
Strikers -
I think Obi is our brightest striker prospect. Wheatley is just too inconsistent with his touch and finishing. Biancheri is a good player but Obi just edge him on physicality and also overall play in my opinion (I can see Biancheri easily make it on some other European leagues, great poacher).
Wingers -
Lacey and Mantato are those with the best chance, although Lacey has been struggling with injuries alot and also his size might become a problem at senior level in England.
Williams and Ennis are dark horses - both are great striker on the ball and has their own weapons, but both are realistically a level or two below.
Mather I think is not quick enough for the highest level. Missin needs to immerse himself in the game more.
Midfielders -
We have plethora of them at all levels, even the U16s and below so I think we gotta be more strict about who realistically will have a chance.
Currently Jack Fletcher looks like the closest among the U18s/21s batch - with both Gore and Collyer are already 20 so not having much time left. Kone obviously have great raw materials - we just need to allow him more times to settle in. I think Fritzegald has a chance, albeit we might not be able to play him as a 6 at senior level so it's quite limited for him in terms of position.
Ibragimov is very interesting especially if we stick with Amorim going forward as he's perfect for the two AM roles behind the striker. He can easily play on the wing as well but I think AM is the best position to bring the best out of him.
Thwaites, Baumann and T.Fletcher are probably the tier below. But Thwaites hasn't have that much time with the U18s/21s yet so he can easily go up a gear or two soon. I would pick Tyler Fletcher has the dark horse on this tier because he has great stamina and physicality along with his talent so I think he can easily "do a Toby Collyer" moving up the rank, whilst being more well-rounded than Toby himself. Baumann needs to immerse himself in the game more to stand a chance.
We also have Devaney, McAllister,... but with the amount of talents we have I don't think we should mention everyone
Worth noting that the U16s group is just as strong in this position with Ibrovic-Fletcher, McEvoy, McCormack and the Nkoto brothers are also very much with this group full-time
Purely in terms of footballing abilities I would put Gore very high on this list, but as mentioned time is not on his side right now.
Defenders -
I think everyone knows that Amass and Kukonki are the two that are closest to the first team at the moment. I have confidence for Amass to break in as soon as he's filling out a bit more physically. You just need to be patient for it and I think that's what the club is doing as well. Kukonki is a good bet as long as we stick with 3 at the backs, he's ideal for that formation. Otherwise I think he can do a job as a LB in normal formations, as he is smooth and quick enough on the ball despite his size.
I think Fredricson has a good future in the game, too but similar case with Gore (and Kwambala before them), I think the club might feel that they lost too much time through injuries to reach the potential at the club. I think he shall find a new home soon to kickstart his career on a Mengi/Kwambala manner.
Kamason has been developing very well this year, has does have the physicality to adopt to the higher level better than someone like Amass at the moment. He's the dark horse that you can't just write off in my opinion.
Munro seems to have gone through his growth spurt and became a totally different player this season. He's now strong and quick on the Mengi/Tuanzebe manner, but has not been really tested at U21s level to see how he fares. He might surprise people as well as a candidate for RCB as he's been played as a RB quite a bit this season and did well going forward surprisingly.
Amer might gone a little bit off the radar compared to Kukonki but I would say he's been one of the most impressive players at U18s level this season, and it's not a surprise to see us conceding so few goals at this level with him being the ever-presented. Along with his size/physicality is his great composure (very noticeable on the ball, but also on defending).
Same with the midfielders, we can't forget that we do have talents at U16s level and below as well. The CB duo at U16s level Jacob Watson and Ngwashi looks great from the brief I have seen, and both of them are already capped by England at U16s level.
Goalkeepers -
I like the look of Byrne-Hughes. Otherwise I think our best prospects at this position are all currently on loan (Harrison and Vitek).
Overally I think our first year U18s group actually have the best chances, with Obi, Kukonki, Mantato, Ibragimov, Thwaites and Amer. Might have something to do with our timing of manager's transition.
Our u18 side is. Our u21 side isnt.So is our u21 side one of the best in England/Europe?
Sounds like we might be better off doing this in 12 months time then.Our u18 side is. Our u21 side isnt.
Sitting quite low in u21 league and out of UEFA youth league so as a team no, but some good individuals with plenty of time to develop which is what matters most.So is our u21 side one of the best in England/Europe?