No ‘H’ word will be mentioned in this article.
A very satisfactory week, I must say. United were fortunate to get a better scoreline than their performance deserved, and youngsters given a good run out in Europe.
I would like to briefly highlight some of the following players that deserve some form of debate if it weren’t for the H-word guy:
Sergio Gómez - £11m
Haven’t seen him defend in anger as yet, but his left foot reminds me of a certain Michael Tarnat. Can he take free kicks as good as him? Certainly, he has demonstrated some attacking prowess so far, and hope he can provide the service to our frontline when called upon. Right now, £11m seems a steal.
Manuel Akanji - £15m
How did the other top clubs miss this one? £15m?
Julian Alvarez - £14.1m
Unfortunately for him, the spotlight is elsewhere right now, but Julian Alvarez would walk into any other Premier League team, in my opinion. Can he be Agüero 2.0?
Rico Lewis – academy
So composed in the CL game. I remember applauding his decision to, rather than passing the ball back to Ederson when he was being tracked by an opponent, he stepped to one side and turned back up midfield. With Kyle Walker out for a few months at least, hopefully he will get more minutes. The future is blue.
Cole Palmer – academy
The guy was mint in both games. Has an air of nonchalance about him but everything he did had purpose.
Do you remember the days when opposition supporters and pundits were questioning the treatment of Phil Foden: why he was not loaned out, etc? Phil benefitted greatly by being with the team and learning from the group albeit not playing regular minutes during his development. I hope guys like Cole, Rico, and Wilson sees this and do what Phil did, and not throw a strop like Sancho did.
Musings from the week that was.
posted on 7/10/22
Palmer is going to be one hell of a player. Gets better every time I see him.
posted on 7/10/22
The Foden one is interesting... I still believe he was held back more than necessary, but ultimately if he's happy and Pep is happy then it's irrelevant.
It's absurd to try and make out that Sancho has been proven wrong though... he's gone onto have a fantastic career so far, and his decision was fully justified - calling it a strop is silly.
posted on 7/10/22
5 subs gives the youngsters a real chance to shine. Funny how all the critics were saying it would just give the big clubs an advantage because they could replace 1 star with another 5 times when in reality it seems to give the academy lads some top level game time. If Copenhagen is under control at half time next week then expect at least 3 of them to feature.
posted on 7/10/22
comment by Champers - Pow! Right in the kisser (U6859)
posted 42 minutes ago
Palmer is going to be one hell of a player. Gets better every time I see him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VuQQMKpr6M
posted on 7/10/22
Foden was managed excellently as he was maturing. He got pieces of game time early on but not too much which ensured he had to continue to work hard on his development and gave him the determination needed to work hard to show what he could do when in the team. He was also not shoved in during difficult periods that could have harmed his development and season by season he got slightly more games.
Today you can see how that management of his development has worked.
Although most clubs don't have the luxury of holding back a player of his talent, it has worked out perfectly for all parties.
Palmer looks the read deal also and looks to be developed in the same way Foden was. A tried a tested method a City, which can only benefit him.
posted on 7/10/22
comment by There'sOnlyOneRed's (U1721)
posted 28 minutes ago
Foden was managed excellently as he was maturing. He got pieces of game time early on but not too much which ensured he had to continue to work hard on his development and gave him the determination needed to work hard to show what he could do when in the team. He was also not shoved in during difficult periods that could have harmed his development and season by season he got slightly more games.
Today you can see how that management of his development has worked.
Although most clubs don't have the luxury of holding back a player of his talent, it has worked out perfectly for all parties.
Palmer looks the read deal also and looks to be developed in the same way Foden was. A tried a tested method a City, which can only benefit him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A tried and tested method indeed. Which is why I feel for McAtee and Tommy Doyle who are loaned out rather than given the Foden treatment.
posted on 7/10/22
comment by There'sOnlyOneRed's (U1721)
posted 2 hours, 57 minutes ago
Foden was managed excellently as he was maturing. He got pieces of game time early on but not too much which ensured he had to continue to work hard on his development and gave him the determination needed to work hard to show what he could do when in the team. He was also not shoved in during difficult periods that could have harmed his development and season by season he got slightly more games.
Today you can see how that management of his development has worked.
Although most clubs don't have the luxury of holding back a player of his talent, it has worked out perfectly for all parties.
Palmer looks the read deal also and looks to be developed in the same way Foden was. A tried a tested method a City, which can only benefit him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Utter conjecture.
There are plenty of examples of players who weren't played so little at that age who are and were just fine.
It's all worked out for Pep because the player is happy and still with the club, so obviously there's no criticism here.. but it could easily have worked out just as well if he'd played more.
posted on 8/10/22
comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 15 hours, 9 minutes ago
comment by There'sOnlyOneRed's (U1721)
posted 2 hours, 57 minutes ago
Foden was managed excellently as he was maturing. He got pieces of game time early on but not too much which ensured he had to continue to work hard on his development and gave him the determination needed to work hard to show what he could do when in the team. He was also not shoved in during difficult periods that could have harmed his development and season by season he got slightly more games.
Today you can see how that management of his development has worked.
Although most clubs don't have the luxury of holding back a player of his talent, it has worked out perfectly for all parties.
Palmer looks the read deal also and looks to be developed in the same way Foden was. A tried a tested method a City, which can only benefit him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Utter conjecture.
There are plenty of examples of players who weren't played so little at that age who are and were just fine.
It's all worked out for Pep because the player is happy and still with the club, so obviously there's no criticism here.. but it could easily have worked out just as well if he'd played more.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you trying to say Foden would have been better in his development if Pep had loaned him out? Not sure what point you are trying to make other than typing for the sake of it. Kid is 22, has 50 goals, youngest to do it under Pep and is still not even playing in his best position because we just have excellent players in that area.
If he was at united he would be a starter in midfield as your midfield is crap but would it make him a better rounded player.
We see what is happening with Harvey Elliot, the pressure and expectation from the kid this season is unreal and hence why Klopp tends to pull him out of the firing line.
The thing with Citys youngsters is they are too good for youth football, we win all competitions at youth level hence why we sold a bunch to southampton with buy back clauses. Not sure about Doyle and Mcateer but if the 3 mentioned above can get a lot of games this season whilst training with the first team we could be sorted for a long time.
posted on 8/10/22
No I’m not saying that.
Try reading the point I was replying to ffs.