Timothy Fosu Mensah
- Thread starter KM
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Wow, he looks some talent. We need another midfielder with younger legs and running power. Could this kid make the step up soon?
Think thats an exaggeration, not good enough on the ball to play cm but cdm certainly wouldnt be out of boundaries for him.
He's following exactly Januzaj's curve in the U18/21s so perhaps next season.
I'm if we employ Mourinho, we can forget about him.
Whenever I've watched him, I've thought the same. But a lot can change over a few years.
He could play there. But I doubt if he would excel. I think people see young players with a lot of power and pace and underestimate the technical ability required to make the step up. I can't really see what he would offer as a midfielder that the likes of Schneiderlin couldn't do much better. Even in the U21s he looks very raw at times, poor touches, loose passing etc. He wouldn't get away with it in the PL.
As a CB however he's probably above average on the ball. Add in strength, aggression and lightening pace and he would have the potential to be a very good player.
Agreed, but I dont think that he hasnt got the ability to play there, but rather the step mentally and concentration wise it'd be too much for him now. He has quick feet, good dribbling, decent long pass, short passes, skills etc, but he misuses is plenty enough and doesnt always have the concentration to execute it properly. Just like Pereira, two years ago he also was quite wasteful often enough although he had all the ability to play as a 8/10. Initially CB for Fosu Mensah would be an easier step agreed.
Agree with this. He has the technical ability for the position, but he tends to be a bit erratic there whereas at CB he always stood out for his consistency and concentration. He's still very new to the midfield though - easy to forget given some of the performances he's produced there - so there's plenty of time. I can see the argument for giving him his first taste of first team football as a CB, but then again his size and strength, powerful for his age as he is, might be a weakness as a first team CB, whereas even amongst seniors he'd be big and powerful for a midfielder. So there's an argument both ways. It looks increasingly like they view the conversion as a permanent one anyway.
thats completely untrue, Darren Fletcher was bloody awful when he started with first team but his hardwork and dedication won him place in the team, TFM can offer that as well and he's not that bad in terms of dribbling, he played an advanced role a couple of times for us and showed he can go past players, his acceleration and physicality is a massive boost of course. He needs to work a bit on his distribution which is a bit inconsistent and positioning in midfield but he makes up for it with his already mentioned fantastic athletic qualities..
His future is from my point of view definitely as a midfielder although he can become a great CB as well. He just has a bigger competition as CB I guess, Tuanzebe and Williams will both be great centre backs.. Carrick is hopefully gone in summer and Sweinsteigger doesn't look he will last more than another season or two in top football.. Schneiderlin-TFM and Herrera midfield would look ridiculously solid, overruning any team in the world, good system pressing higher up the pitch would make them threatening at the other side of the pitch too..
The thing you got to remember is that is is only 17/18.
Certain things you just cant teach -- natural athleticism ball vision and composure at his age?
Certain things you just cant teach -- natural athleticism ball vision and composure at his age?
Interesting that in a time when Utd's youth system is in complete disarray that we actually have 3 extremely good prospects - Fosu-Mensah, Roshaun Williams, and Tuanzebe.
Then again, we've been here before. I was certain Will Keane would make it but that ACL injury was a sickener.
Then again, we've been here before. I was certain Will Keane would make it but that ACL injury was a sickener.
Fletcher is an interesting example. I would argue that Fletcher showed much more passing ability and quality on the ball when he was in the youths and reserves than TFM ever has. The fact that he was "bloody awful" as you put it when he made the step up illustrates the gulf between u21 and first team football imo.
While I agree that we need energy in midfield I think it's more important for a midfielder to have a good range of passing and be really comfortable on the ball. TFM hasn't shown anything to suggest he really possesses these qualities. His sheer athleticism would perhaps make him a decent mid table defensive midfielder but he won't be a top class in that position. His chances of being a top class defender are much higher imo.
Edit: Re-reading your post I'm struggling to even see why you think he could be a good midfielder. Because he's fast and can beat a man? That make no sense
ok, lets just make a bet, imo he will be great midfielder
I have no idea how we would be on that.
What @SteveW said are all true, however I expect him to make great stride in his consistency on the ball in the next 1-2 years.His passing range is already there, just that he didn't use it frequently enough.He's relatively new to the midfield role (was a defender full-time at Ajax) so it's normal that he needs more time to adapt his abilities to the new role.
Good post, you're spot on about both Fletch and TFM, though I'm perhaps a bit more optimistic about the latter's chances of becoming a proper midfielder. As @khoazany says in the post above; he's new to the role so it stands to reason that he lacks consistency, but at his best he looks the part.
Doesnt say an awful lot, but he is named as one of the top 10 kids in world football by the Daily Mail(16 till 20 it seems, differing from first team starters till players who are in u18). As Dutchman and Ajax fan, I'm proud to see 3 dutch players and 3 players from Ajax' academy, then again it sad that two of them have already left. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...cts-Sportsmail-look-10-stars-burst-scene.html
Small detail; there are 3.5 Dutch players on that list. Marco Asensio (full name Marco Asensio Willemsen) is half Dutch too
I would like to see him go out on loan fairly early in his development actually, possibly even next season. He's an absolute beast for his age so he's used to being able to bully players off the ball and use his physical attributes to overwhelm the opposition. Going out on loan will see him up against other players with a similar level of physicality and would perhaps see relying on the mental and technical side of his game more so than he is currently.
Does anyone know if he's trained much with the first team at all? Are there any stories of him being used as the opposition side in the training matches Louis uses ahead of the first team games?
Good display from him, great pass from him for the goal.
Stood his ground well today. Interesting to see how he and the others will develop the coming years.
He's being played all over the place as well. RB today, centre mid for the U18's, even attacking mid at times. He came to us as a centre back as well. Very talented lad.
Good pass for the goal, but I thought generally he looked much-diminished in that position. He struggled with being pinned against the touchline all the time. He can play lots of positions, but he's definitely a player for the centre of the pitch, not the wide areas, so that whether as a defender or a midfielder he can give reign to his vision, energy, aggression and two-footedness.
Well he did take 1 of their most dangerous players in Barker out of the game completely. Watching the game it looked like our plan was for him to man mark Barker, Williams to man mark Celina and Poole to man mark Garcia and nullify their 3 biggest threats and it worked extremely well in the first half in particular. Looked like Warren Joyce had really done his homework on City and the players stuck to their instructions really well which for 2 17 year olds and a lad who only just turned 18 is impressive.
It was a good tactical performance. I don't think he looked happy in that position though.
Is it correct to say that the four brightest prospects in the U21s are all centre backs?
He's learning to adapt to a variety of roles though.It's easy to forget how young he is and learning all the time. I'd love to see him more as a defensive midfielder myself;with his strength,technique and incredible pace he'd be a wondeful asset in there. But we'll have to wait and see how he develops physically too
He actually played RB quite a bit at Ajax and for Netherlands u15/16s. Think he's being played there to help improve his concentration and reading of the game so that hes not quite as reliant on his physicality with an eye on moving into the 1st team squad. It seems Tuanzebe and Williams are rated higher by the club as cbs than Fosu Mensah and CBJ but as seen with CBJ the step up to the first team is as much about the players temperament as it is about their ability
Even I don't see TFM as a CB any more. He's surely a midfielder of some sort, in the long run. Who are your other picks, out of interest? Williams, presumably? Love? I can't decide about him as a CB, always thought he looked bright as a RB for the U18s but there's something a bit average about him nowadays. Often outshone by the younger Williams.
He means Fosu-Mensah,Williams,Tuanzebe and Poole I think.
Does he have potential to like a javi martinez like player.
Adept at CDM and CB?
Adept at CDM and CB?
I think he could be adept at both positions but is a different type of player, his pace, athleticism, explosivity makes him a different player than Martinez who's more positionally brilliant, calming influence who has good passing. TFM is also good on the ball but then more in attacking sense imo, he can beat players, is skillful, can cross and even has a bit of scoring in him, while his passing can be really inconsistent. I dont really know which player to compare him to.
Put in a good performance at RB against Reading and might get a chance in the first team. Or he could just injure Donald Love in training.
I was impressed with him at right back, not sure about his fitness though. From what I have seen if Love is the choice next game he might push him for that spot.
Don't think Love is awful, just thought he was trying too hard to impress instead of concentrating on the job and that's a bad sign.
Can he play in the EL this year ? I'd have him starting on Thursday, the lot we are playing are quite handy at Set pieces so I'd be trying to get as much ariel/defensive presence in our starting XI as possible.
No he wasn't registered and hasn't been here long enough to be registered on the b list
The way Louis is handing out debuts, TFM's is coming surely...
Has he even trained with the first team yet? I don't ever remember seeing him in any of the pictures. Its almost as if van Gaal doesn't want to promote him in case he'll be accused of Dutch bias.