Judging by his performances in the Euro U21's we will have to be. He was easily dealt with and seemed clueless when he could pull off his favourite trick. His comments after the tournament were disappointing too 'we didn't expect to face such quality'. Needs to wake up a bit.
Wilfried Zaha - Sold to Crystal Palace
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Judging by his performances in the Euro U21's we will have to be. He was easily dealt with and seemed clueless when he could pull off his favourite trick. His comments after the tournament were disappointing too 'we didn't expect to face such quality'. Needs to wake up a bit.
I think it will go in his favour that he won't be double or triple marked like he was in the Championship. He'll probably get some more space on the ball as we peg teams back and they mark all our dangerous players. Everytime Zaha got the ball for Palace, defenders just flocked towards him in numbers. That would be suicide against us.
The lad will need lots of time and patience. In my own opinion his football intelligence is quite poor and I'm already resigned to disappointment. I hope to feck he proves me wrong though.
I've watched him quite a bit and one of the things that impressed me the most was his timing when releasing the ball and the accuracy of his passes even when they were difficult ones to pull off.
He does run with his head down at times and lose the ball but that's not a lack of intelligence in my opinion, just a bit of inexperience. He's going to be a fantastic player once he's had a year or two with us.
In the first few years I think he'll do some brilliant things and quite a few not so brilliant things. He looks very raw, so it will take time before he's fully up to speed. If Valencia gets his form back (assuming Nani goes) it will take a bit of pressure off him, as we can be a bit more choosy with his games.
The Euros should be wiped from memory.
It was a clusterfeck performance from England, and he was clearly unfit and rushed back to try and create something for a pony team.
It was a clusterfeck performance from England, and he was clearly unfit and rushed back to try and create something for a pony team.
he'll be one of the most integral players in our squad a few years down the line, but it'll take him atleast a full season before he gets used to his surroundings and the undescribable difference in quality of the players around him and those he will have to face.
but he has that special something which makes me believe in him...he's already a level above most others in terms of creativity with the ball and close ball control....IMO he just needs some time to settle in and some experience which he'll pick up along the way and he'll be one of the first names on the team sheet in big games...
I know some people might be reading this and think "this guy's way over the top"....but I honestly believe this....and I'm not exactly the type of person to say this about just anyone, regardless of the fact that it's a United player.
but he has that special something which makes me believe in him...he's already a level above most others in terms of creativity with the ball and close ball control....IMO he just needs some time to settle in and some experience which he'll pick up along the way and he'll be one of the first names on the team sheet in big games...
I know some people might be reading this and think "this guy's way over the top"....but I honestly believe this....and I'm not exactly the type of person to say this about just anyone, regardless of the fact that it's a United player.
Im happy enough to discount them completely. Pearse is a clueless tosser and Zaha certianly isnt a lone striker.
Nah, that's bollocks. He was played as a central striker, and in a team which seemed completely unable to get the ball forward effectively. Those games told us a lot about Pearce, but very little about the quality of any of the players (even the ones who we know are shit anyway.)
There's promise there but he's not as developed as some other players his age and will need time to adjust to the PL and to the fact he's no longer the big fish in a small pond, he has to earn his stripes at United. His decision making seems relatively good to me and he's got confidence on the ball, the biggest aspect I think needs work is his close control, he lets the ball get too far away from him when he runs at defenders and he wont get away with that in the PL the way he did in the Championship.
I think he's going to be an absolutely brilliant player for us when he matures.
He's pacy, skillful and direct. The type of winger that fullbacks hate playing against. I have complete confidence that he'll be a massive success here but it's not going to happen over night.
At this stage it's little more than guesswork but genuinely, I really do see him becoming an outstanding player in the future. Hopefully I'm right like.
He's pacy, skillful and direct. The type of winger that fullbacks hate playing against. I have complete confidence that he'll be a massive success here but it's not going to happen over night.
At this stage it's little more than guesswork but genuinely, I really do see him becoming an outstanding player in the future. Hopefully I'm right like.
Does Zaha get a press conference and all that when Moyes officially takes over?
Joint one with Thiago
He's young and he's black, thus he can be described as having lots of "raw" talent... correct?
What's being black got to do with it?
It always seems that young black footballers are labelled as having "raw talent" ... where as anyone else would be a "talented" or "gifted" youngster...
Look out for it, always makes me chuckle.
Are you serious?
I've heard DdG, Jones, Buttner etc. repeatedly described as having raw talent. Obviously they're white men. Cristiano Ronaldo is the original raw talent.
I think you're imagining weird things.
Of course I'm not serious! I thought you'd be aware of this! Having said that, heard it said about Jones, never the rest (Buttner has raw talent?!) but it probably has.
It's just a joke... based on very loose nonsense.
It's a daft term anyway "raw talent" ... it seemingly means different things to different youngsters - depending on what they're actually good at (usually - it applies to youngsters who are very fast, but not good at football... Theo Walcott has had raw talent for about 6 years now.).
It's just a joke... based on very loose nonsense.
It's a daft term anyway "raw talent" ... it seemingly means different things to different youngsters - depending on what they're actually good at (usually - it applies to youngsters who are very fast, but not good at football... Theo Walcott has had raw talent for about 6 years now.).
The phrase 'raw talent' applies to young players who're very talented yet currently lack the experience or intelligence to apply that talent in the most effective way.
It's pretty simple.
It's pretty simple.
Is it that simple though? If you are very technical and possess great vision for instance, you wouldn't be labelled a raw talent, even if applying that technique and decision making is something that still has to be nurtured. I agree with Annihilate that it seems that the term "raw talent" is mostly used with players who possess great physical prowess, like speed or strength.
It seems as though he's been forgotten about amongst the Muppet crush.
I'm looking forward to seeing him play for us. He has some real raw talent.
I'm looking forward to seeing him play for us. He has some real raw talent.
Racist. I bet you love this white text, don't you Nev?
In all seriousness though, me too. I think the best thing a young winger can have coming into the PL is confidence. I hope he doesn't worry too much about the higher level of defender he'll be facing, and continues to try stuff just as often as he did for Palace.
There were plenty on here saying Bebe had raw talent at the start(not me mind you, he looked useless from day one). He's got no talent whatsoever and just has physical prowess like what AN said.
No talent whatsoever? He's done quite well at Rio Ave, and considering that I have no talent whatsoever, I think it's fair to say that Bebe has some raw talent - not just physical prowess. He has a mean shot on him, and he can dribble the ball quite well.
Either way, this is not the Bebe thread. I haven't watched Zaha enough, but how quick would you guys rate him? Is he in the top bracket with Valencia, Bale, Ronaldo (Tello?) and Walcott or just below with Nani, Lavezzi (?), Sanchez etc?
yeah mate, he looked absolutely fecking shite. Like he'd never kicked a ball .. EVER 
Looks like Wifried Saha..
He seems very fast here;
Kagisho Dikgacoi...great name.
for the two (of three) games he played in after coming back from an ankle injury he was playing through during the playoffs? i'd like to think the 50 game season he had with Palace (to go with his other 50+ appearances) should speak to his talent a lot more than an abject set of team performances that saw nobody, bar maybe Craig Dawson and Nathan Redmond, come away with any degree of discernible credit!
as for the 'fav trick' - he's a [very] rare breed of English footballer that actually has a trick or two in his damn locker. NO player should have that coached/forced out of them - no matter how old/young!
Well clearly Pearse didn't utilise Zaha in an effective manner during the U21 European Championships.
I'd be in favour of exposing him to as much first team football as possible to assist his development. I don't think you can improve that much as a player (as far as United standards go) by being on loan elsewhere. You can improve your match fitness or some other physical or perhaps mental attribute to your game but even if he plays just 12 games for us it'll be far better than playing 38 games for Sunderland or Palace IMO. He'll be playing and training with the best players at the best club with the best facilities. This will improve him as a player and help him to kick on to the next level. Loaning him out will mean he'll spend another year being measured against and assessing his own performance against comparatively average players.
Didnt we already turn down a loan bid from Palace?
If so, its quite clear we have 1st team plans for him.
Sorry but I don't think that's true, Welbeck was on loan at Sunderland for a year and it done him wonders. Comes back and walks straight into United's first XI. If Zaha did go on loan to another premier league side and was playing every week, I don't see how it could be anything but a good thing. He's never played in this league before, and the quality between the championship and premier league is pretty big.
I dont think Palace asked to loan him again, for his own sake. That part of his career is over
I believe that the best way to become a top-level PL/CL player is by getting exposure to that as much as possible at as young an age as possible. Else we could end up with a player well into his 20s who hasn't had experience of any of that. We treat young players with kid gloves too much. He's 20 not 15. The learning curve will be steep but why not start asap? Why wait until he's well into his 20s and he plays like someone who's been playing with and coached by some fairly average-standard individuals in fairly average standard-games?
Welbeck's fine but let's not go terribly nuts over him. His record is quite poor for a forward with the number of games he's played so I'm not sure how much of a shining example he is to be honest. His contribution this year seemed to have come largely as a result of injury and exasperation towards Nani, Young and Valencia.
Yeah, you're right. I checked now. Was widely reported in the media but Holloway said it wouldnt be right for the boy. Great guy Holloway.
Considering the form of our wingers last season and if nani leaves, we would do well to keep him and give him a run out if required. But there's no doubt a loan deal in the prem would be fantastic for him long term and if the opportunity came, I'd be in favor of him going out to a prem side.
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