Agree. I've seen a lot of U23 football the only positive last year was when the promoted Chong from the U18's where he immediately was our best player. The other thing about him was he was the best player on the pitch even when we played the top U23 teams too.
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Agree. I've seen a lot of U23 football the only positive last year was when the promoted Chong from the U18's where he immediately was our best player. The other thing about him was he was the best player on the pitch even when we played the top U23 teams too.
Needs to put on a good 5kg or more, his physique is definitely under developed. If he does so he will be a force but it cant be done overnight so it will probably be next season before he's ready.
Some of the posts in this thread would make you believe that Jose Mourinho criticised Chong last night. 
Where is the criticism?
All Jose said was Chong's not physically ready. Nowhere did he say Chong will never be ready. In fact he used one of his favourite phrases about Tahith: 'personality.'
On the whole Jose was extremely complimentary about the kid (rightfully so if you ask me!) He does not speak of many players having tactical understanding that often. It just seems like some people are determined to attack anything the manager says.
Where is the criticism?
All Jose said was Chong's not physically ready. Nowhere did he say Chong will never be ready. In fact he used one of his favourite phrases about Tahith: 'personality.'
On the whole Jose was extremely complimentary about the kid (rightfully so if you ask me!) He does not speak of many players having tactical understanding that often. It just seems like some people are determined to attack anything the manager says.
Sky Sports headline: "Jose Mourinho heaps praise on Tahith Chong after Man Utd debut"
RedCafe Muppets: "stoopid Jose hates youngsters and won't give them any chance"
Classic.
RedCafe Muppets: "stoopid Jose hates youngsters and won't give them any chance"
Classic.
PS being physically not ready doesnt mean jsut body mass. Mahrez is as slight as Chong but he has fully developed muscles and maturation. PPl seem to know it all nowadays.
But none of us publish our football cv's in order to validate the worth or depth of our knowledge about football. I'll say it again, the forum is constantly full of members offering a multi billion pound business advice on how to spend its money. Again, offering a manager that's won everything in the game how to pick a team. I'm sure Pogba will come back with his wc medal and there be those telling him how to kick a football. No ones opinion on here is more valid than others for this very reason. It's not a science....
Some of the posts in this thread would make you believe that Jose Mourinho criticised Chong last night.
Where is the criticism?
All Jose said was Chong's not physically ready. Nowhere did he say Chong will never be ready. In fact he used one of his favourite phrases about Tahith: 'personality.'
On the whole Jose was extremely complimentary about the kid (rightfully so if you ask me!) He does not speak of many players having tactical understanding that often. It just seems like some people are determined to attack anything the manager says.
Exactly. He said he will train with first team and might play cup games. He praised his tactical understanding of his position and his technical ability.
For once I agree with Mourinho. Steady start and he obviously possesses some good qualities - persistence being one of them, which paid off for the goal. He is very slight though and would likely struggle with the physical demands of the Premier League at this point.
Calls to see him included in the first-team seem a bit premature and are probably more an indictment of our right wing situation than anything else. Still, this is what pre-season is for and hopefully he'll see some more minutes across the tour.
Calls to see him included in the first-team seem a bit premature and are probably more an indictment of our right wing situation than anything else. Still, this is what pre-season is for and hopefully he'll see some more minutes across the tour.
I haven't claimed any monopoly on anything nor was I speaking about my reality versus yours I was speaking about actual factual reality. You said "Let's be glad Giggs arrived in the era he did otherwise he'd have got no where near the first team too. Not sure what's happened to this club and like our football, it's become cautious and boring." and "We have happy to stick a 6.2' young lad in midfield with limited ability rather than a young player up front with bags of creativity." but the reality is that in the past 5 years we've been giving young attackers more chances than pretty much any other team in the world with Januzaj, Lingard, Wilson & Rashford playing over 300 games for us after coming through the youth even if you want to leave out Martial who has close to another 150 appearances. You can say Rashford's was luck but every player needs a fair bit of luck as they are beginning their careers and while he got lucky that Wilson was out on loan & Keane & Martial got injured so he got his chance earlier there were already plans in place for him to be brought on the preseason that summer so he just got his chance earlier than planned. You can say that players aren't being developed as well as they could be because that's all about opinion but pretending they're not getting chances is nonsense.
Some of the posts in this thread would make you believe that Jose Mourinho criticised Chong last night.
Where is the criticism?
All Jose said was Chong's not physically ready. Nowhere did he say Chong will never be ready. In fact he used one of his favourite phrases about Tahith: 'personality.'
On the whole Jose was extremely complimentary about the kid (rightfully so if you ask me!) He does not speak of many players having tactical understanding that often. It just seems like some people are determined to attack anything the manager says.
You're right, he didn't criticise him, and what he said was reasonable. But it also says a lot about Mourinho's stance towards young players in general, and I am not sure it is actually right. Sometimes ability simply trumps physicality, and if you can get a young player into the first team, the physical stuff will follow much more quickly than them playing in the reserves. He clearly rates Chong though, which is good, so let's see if he gets a few opportunities. I would like to see a more open attitude towards giving such 'kids' chances.
0:30 - Shields ball well and retains possession
0:36 - Wins back possession with shoulder barge
0:50 - Shoulder checks a player and wins a corner
0:57 - Shoulder checks a player and wins back possession
1:50 - Dives a bit after a challenge (wins free kick???)
2:15 - Loses possession (wins a throw in)
2:28 - Dribble fail (after 3 guys surround him)
2:39 - Wins back possession
3:05 - Loses possession (his error)
He actually shows several examples of facing up against the opposition and winning the ball back. Not sure I see what Jose is getting at from this games evidence. He might see it in training though.
Yeah and this was a pre-season friendly too. In PL stocky defenders demolish dudes like him.
Main bit for me was when Club America needed to use 3 Players to stop him. If he develops and gets his strength then he can start making that a regular thing we will have a hell of a player on our hands.
Oh and I fully agree with Jose's assessment, there was a few times were he was muscled out.
Oh and I fully agree with Jose's assessment, there was a few times were he was muscled out.
what am I worrying about then as we are clearly giving our attacking young players lots of chances than any other team in the world. In 5 years what great opportunities we've provided Wilson, Jan, Lingard, Rashford and Martial with. Let the successful youth development programme continue then....
That's just not true though is it?
fullbacks are generally wingers themselves these days.
Let's look at a list of LB's at the top clubs.
City: Mendy / Delph / Danilo - All athletic but hardly powerhouses
Arsenal: Kolasinac / Monreal - Kolasinac is probably the most "stocky" defender in the league, but that's a rare case. Monreal is not physical at all.
Tottenham: Davies / Rose - Your typical fullbacks, good defenders and good going forwards also, nothing overly physical.
Chelsea: Alonso/Azpilicueta - Good defenders again, but not powerhouses or the type that'll break your legs.
United: Young/Shaw - Shaw is a powerful/quick lad, but young is first choice under Jose, would Chong struggle physically there? doubt it.
As you can see, the time of "musclebound" defenders/fullbacks is quite rare these days. Wingers don't have to be stocky/big, especially the dribblers.
I'd rather he stays more nimble/agile than trying to turn him into a Ronaldo hybrid.
Keep him like Neymar/Robben/Ribery etc, they're all strong enough but nimbleness is the most importance. Chong is ready for minutes, but Jose I fear won't give it.
You're correct in that everyone has an opinion but there's opinions on here that hold more weight than others because you just know they have more knowledge than you in certain areas to do with the club, @jb8521 is one of those.
You'd find him very informative and helpful if you ever need something answering to do with our youth or other things also, so no need to get on his back because he has a different opinion to yours.
Literally every fullback you've just mentioned would beat Chong physically. That's the problem. He doesn't have to go full Memphis Depay on us, but he does need to add a couple of pounds. He needs to retain his speed yes but comparing him with the likes of Neymar, Robben and Ribery is nonsense. They've got way better technique than Chong IMHO. If anything, he's more of a Bale type of player.
That’s a terrible response to some reasonable points. Would it kill you to back down and concede that you were talking out your arse about young attacking players not being given a chance at United these last few years? Because, as opinions go, it’s rare to have one proven so categorically incorrect.
I've never seen him play but from that video he seems to cut inside on his left foot. Wasn't the entire point last year that our right wing weakness is Mata constantly cutting inside and that we didn't have a traditional right winger?
So you said we haven't given chances to creative young players, @jb8521 clearly proved that we gave chances to so many young creative players, now you are saying something else completely without even addressing his points.
No the point was Mata was never actually on the right but he drifted to the middle.
He really needs to sort that damn hair out - whenever the camera was on him he was busy trying to shake it out his eyes. How can he concentrate properly with that mop flying all across his head?! I struggle to concentrate on him when he has the ball, heck knows how he manages to keep his focus. At least with Fellaini's fro it's away from his face, but Chong's hair definitely clouds his field of vision. No joke, someone at the club needs to tell him to give it a good trimming, it's not very professional. Or if he is really desperate to keep it then he needs to at least wear an alice band. It probably does slow him down fractionally as well.
I agree with this sentiment. He looked good and lively, but it was a bit disappointing that he never seemed to even give any thought to going down the outside; he was immediately cutting inside and narrowing the play.
I agree with this sentiment. He looked good and lively, but it was a bit disappointing that he never seemed to even give any thought to going down the outside; he was immediately cutting inside and narrowing the play.
Seems more like instruction from Mourinho, he can go outside just fine also.
He does like to dribble through the middle of the pitch though also, it's a good weapon for him to have.
I have no problem with him cutting in and crossing like he did for the goal, the fact is he stayed wider to begin with and that gave us an option to pass too.
The issue comes when they come inside too early and make us narrow too quickly.
Oh deary me. I read elsewhere that he played well and I clicked on this thread expecting praise and found a-lot of nonsense, instead.
No you don’t have to do that at all. What a bizarre thing to say. Jose and the academy coaches will be meticulously planning the best route for him to become the best player he can. There will not be a section in his development notes saying “Chong: sink or swim??”
how is that glaring? He hasn¨t lost one challenge due to that, the only one he was outmuscled, he got a faul which fair enough he might not get in the prem but the situations at 0:36, 0:59 and 2:40 show that he can also win the challenge or the ball without being ¨mascular, it¨s also about using your bodyweight well and he seems to be that type of player.
Obviously he needs to bulk up and is not ready to play 90 minutes every game but 20 minutes here and there I say why not, we need more tenacity. He doesnt need to be Valencia strong to play RW..
Obviously he needs to bulk up and is not ready to play 90 minutes every game but 20 minutes here and there I say why not, we need more tenacity. He doesnt need to be Valencia strong to play RW..
What are people in here pissed off about , exactly ? It’s so hard to discern where the anger stems from on here sometimes... Everyone’s always arguing but I never know why
Modern wingers play on opposite flanks...depending on the tactics.
The biggest problem we hav and maybe still have is, too many right footed players all vying for one/two spots. Mata hasn't the speed to be a winger but the intelligence to play behind the front players. The beauty of having an option like Chong is that he has pace as well as a tasty left foot
only drives me more crazy we extended to Fellaini and instead of trying to use some skill of Chong we will go heavy weight and long balls with fellaini at the end of games
Correct.What are people in here pissed off about , exactly ? It’s so hard to discern where the anger stems from on here sometimes... Everyone’s always arguing but I never know why
He didn't come on and beat 8 men and put it into the top bin...get rid!
I honestly don't believe we will.
If Jose has learned anything from last season and watching the WC is that, quick mobile players give you something extra,whether it's individual brilliance,drawing players to you and releasing the ball to players in space etc. It creates opportunities
Some of the posts in this thread would make you believe that Jose Mourinho criticised Chong last night.
Where is the criticism?
All Jose said was Chong's not physically ready. Nowhere did he say Chong will never be ready. In fact he used one of his favourite phrases about Tahith: 'personality.'
On the whole Jose was extremely complimentary about the kid (rightfully so if you ask me!) He does not speak of many players having tactical understanding that often. It just seems like some people are determined to attack anything the manager says.
To be fair, I don’t think anyone is saying the kid was criticised. I think the only ‘issue’ is that he seemingly came out and closed the door on him forcing his way into the setup this season. It seemed a bit final for this stage of the season, so for those hoping he would make a real claim, Jose pretty much stamped on that from the beginning. ‘Not strong enough’ is the summary, so as a result, he will get some cup games here and there, but won’t really be considered to have an Adnan or Giggs like involvement this season.
Seems some are just processing that reality, and this is what that looks like on the caf! Any romantic dream of Chong getting the RW spot with any real frequency was extinguished. That of course, does not mean Jose doesn’t rate him. Just means Jose doesn’t think he’s strong enough yet, which given some people’s opinions of Jose favouring physique over technique, this has led to a (small) backlash.
It seemed to me when he came on for Mata he will be used in that role, sort of advanced playmaker from the side. I am sure we wont extend to Mata and Angel will replace him in few years in which Jose is not our manager anymore anyway
Why would we extend him in the first place, only positive thing about it is that we can sell him soon for some money
Thanks very much for this mate.
Reading some of the comments I thought I was going to see him be pushed off the ball a lot because of all the upper strength comments I read. He won every dual and even managed to get himself out of trouble with electric pace when the ball looked like it was going to be intercepted but he had enough to poke it away to a teammate.
He is very good in tight situations and pressure. Imagine at his age and with this type of skill and strength, he will be even more of a classy beast very soon.
Sell who? Sorry I was talking about Chong
I am pretty sure that Mata scored as a result of Chong's cross. The kid is good but he's not a miracle worker quite yet...
Indeed, its a bit odd. Maybe there was more during the game that is not in the video
Please tell me where....I watched specifically looking for this. There were two moments where he lost the ball and they seemed as much from being doubled teamed/ loose control, rather than physically losing the ball.
Talking rubbish basically. Most people just listen to an "expert" and then nod and agree.
Chong did fine, there's many less "physical" players in the world that play at a top level.
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