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ironsofcanada 11:29 Thu Jan 18
Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

After watch both games and looking towards the end of transfer window.

Burke - decent but still some wobbles even at centre half. He was getting games so sent him back to Bolton.

Cullen - best over the two games. Did not play as much as Burke at Bolton and we need something else in his position. Give him a chance for the second half and hope that does not prevent getting another midfielder in.

Oxford - Tough as it was only part of one game but looked like he could not be bothered. Was starting to get games so send him back to Germany and after that sadly if he doesn't want to fight for a spot at West Ham, see what we can get.

Martinez - just a bit more of a look than Oxford, so we will see but watching him live reminded me of doing the same with Calleri, will work hard but not fast enough on the ground, not strong enough in the air and did not finish the chances he had on a bigger stage. Might need a loan as well. He is 21 in June.

jack flash 9:02 Fri Jan 19
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Sir Alf 4:45 ~

So far I've been very impressed with Cullen & agree that he's ready to stay & fight for game time with the seniors, maybe a run of substitute appearances would bring him on a treat

He seems to have the right attitude & work rate, unlike several of our senior players, like Ayew

Declan Rice has barely put a foot wrong since his one mistake when he got pressured into giving the ball away which led to a goal in one of his early games

He's worth a starting place in several games

I'm not convinced yet that any of the others are quite ready & might be better to continue being loaned out (to clubs with good coaches)

Sir Alf 4:45 Fri Jan 19
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Cullen is the one so far I would keep in the squad. Works hard and plays in the area we are weakest in which is central midfield. He is neat and tidy and moves the ball quickly and, as mentioned, works hard off the ball in a way that Kouyate and Ayew never do so is another option especially when considering the fact that it is hardly certain we will bringing in reinforcements for the middle of the park.

Only if we lose another CB to injury should we consider Burke staying otherwise Bolton is a good place for him to continue his development.

Oxford? Too early to say. Needs to make appearances in other games when fully fit ( it wil take a few games for him to fully recover match fitness after an injury). His lack of industry is a worry. Sees himself as some kind of "Libero" CB of defensive midfielder? Maybe but you got to track and be physical, work for the team. BUt like I say, 60 mins football is not enough to know for me.

Lee Trundle 11:39 Fri Jan 19
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Holland's been out injured for a few months.

Eddie B 11:28 Fri Jan 19
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Is Nathan Holland injured at the moment? Quite surprised he or Quina wasn't involved.

Sarge 6:47 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Pee Wee 12:23 Thu Jan 18

Spot on

But which one?

I'd love to see Haksabanovic get a chance in ahead of Ayew.

Bertolli 4:55 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

20 minutes maybe all these youth get to show the management if they are good enough or not. No one has really stood out, apart from Rice. I would be keen to see how good Holland is when he returns from injury. He has pace, and if he can add a good touch to that, then he may have a chance.

cornish 4:46 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Average at best,nobody really stood out.

Trevor B 4:02 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

ioc

Samuelson definitely, not sure about Sead but I thought his preferred position was centrally, Lanzini-like. Holland is more of a natural pacy winger, but i believe he also prefers his left even though he often plays wide right, and centrally?

Pee Wee 3:55 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

I keep seeing people say 'the jury's out' on these players.

Good. they shouldn't be fully judged until they have played a decent amount of games and not just with other kids. Fed up of fans making quick judgments on 20 mins of football here and there

ironsofcanada 3:52 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Trevor B 3:42 Thu Jan 18

Very possible.

From limited viewing, it looks like both Samuelsen and Hakšabanović try to work it to their left foot first.

Trevor B 3:42 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

irons

maybe played there but not their natural position? or perhaps he just means at this moment in time, to challenge.

ironsofcanada 3:40 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

I do find it interesting that Moyes, when he said we are lacking right sided players, also said there are no young players coming up in that position.

A few of the players mentioned have played there, going from highlights at least.

Any insights?

BRANDED 3:00 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

If they're on decent wages there's little to gain but a huge amount to lose. Being signed up an a bit anonymous is a good place for your average young pro.

ludo21 2:57 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Surely both things are something that the coaches should be addressing and can sort out... we have no influence if they are just loaned away.

the exile 2:54 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

From what I have seen of Samuelsen, there is no doubting that he has tremendous skill on the ball, but two things are often lacking: firstly an end product, ie a telling pass; and secondly, the defensive side of his game. Incidentally, watching the highlights of the U23s recent games there is a real tendency among all the forward players to go solo and ignore good passing opportunities.

Peterboroughiron 2:52 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Worked at posh on match days and always thought he looked very good was quite excited about him for the future there was always talk at posh of how good he was I know Barry fry wanted to keep him there for another season saying he was one of the best young players he had come across
Don’t really know what happened after that

the exile 2:47 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

I agree with others about wanting to see more of Haksabanovic. But last weekend I noticed he wasn't in the U23 squad on the Friday, nor was he in the squad for Huddersfield, so I suspect he might have been injured. He was an unused sub the other night but might not have been 100% fit. Only guessing about all that.

For me, the jury is still out on all the others. But you can be sure that they will only get game time in the PL if there are injuries and suspensions to senior players, unless we get ourselves into upper mid-table security, in which case they might get the odd 20 minutes as subs. Our current position might look nice compared to where we've been but is far from secure.

ludo21 2:39 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Peterboroughiron 2:28 Thu Jan 18

Did you see Samuelsen playing for Peterborough?

He seemed to be doing really well, had that excellent FA Cup game against WBA and then faded away and couldn't get back inthe Peterborough team.... what happened?

Peterboroughiron 2:28 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Would like to have seen samuelsen play
The others to be fair I thought played ok certainly no worse than most first team players I find it hard to believe that any one of them playing in the Bournemouth game would be worse than playing ayew

Takashi Miike 2:16 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

I remember Steve Potts when he first came in to the team and I don't think he ever looked totally comfortable at right back, switched inside he was solid and a great player for us. I think its tough to judge a youngster on one or two games, and my earlier comment wasn't criticising Cullen, it was me saying he could do as good a job as what we already have on much higher money

Pee Wee 2:06 Thu Jan 18
Re: Your thoughts on the youths after a couple cup games.

Most of the ones that played the other night have been out on loan quite a bit so difficult to judge them on seeing the U23's play.

I agree they should be given a chance, I just wish it'd be done in a way that gives them the best chance of succeeding, which I don't think has been the way we have being doing it for quite some time.

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