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the exile 6:02 Thu Jul 16
Could any of our young players break through next season?

A few have already been in match-day squads recently - Johnson, Silva, Cardoso and Lewis. Then there's Holland - it all seems to have gone a bit quiet with him. Is he injured again? Surely he needs to either break through or move on - can't see him going on loan again, and he won't have a chance unless both Anderson and Yarmolenko are out of the picture. Kemp and Rosa also seem to be highly rated but are they good enough to make it? Then there's not-so-young Cullen - keep or sell? Which of our youngsters should go out on loan?

Sven Roeder 6:49 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

As long as he wasn’t badly hurt a bit of a crunching tackle and some rough stuff might not be the worst thing in the world for a young player
MAKE A MAN OF HIM

Another reason for us to defy Sullivan’s wishes & keep going is it gives these kids games.
They’d learn more in these than a season of u23

Sniper 6:45 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Also I’m sure I read that Alese was originally playing in midfield and then dropped back to cover for diop once he was withdrawn. I don’t know enough about him to know what’s meant to be his position, but that would explain perhaps why he struggled a little aerially, but on the deck he was excellent and you certainly wouldn’t have known he was the rookie and balbuena had the experience

Shame silva didn’t get a run out though

Sniper 6:43 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

I thought Ashby looked very good and very composed, comfortable on the ball and didn’t get caught out or panic once. In fact I think the awful tackle on him that saw him go off was partly down to frustration at how a youngster was making hull look poor down their left!

the exile 6:37 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Kenzo - fair point. He'll learn from that, hopefully.

Alf - cheers for the extra details.

Eerie Descent 5:22 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Looks like the superb work of Terry Westley is coming to fruition.

Sir Alf 4:41 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Ashby and Alese did themselves no harm. Shame Ashby got taken out. He and Alese look so comfortable with the ball. The ability to bring it under control and pass accurately is something some of our current first team do not not do very well. When you look at the best teams like ManCity and Liverpool every one of their team has instant control and can pass accurately even under pressure.

Alese looked the most composed. The only weakness that seemed apparent was the aerial challenges. Alese was up against a big lad and was able to cope but you can imagine he needs to improve in that area to cope with someone like Wood at Burnley or Deeney who know all the tricks in the book. All 3 do look physically strong and athletic / pacy enough. Something that is now almost a prerequisite in the premiership.

Longello was obviously not on as long and did get brushed aside too easily for their goal but it was literally within the first 3 mins of him coming on and it did take him 10 or so minutes to get accustomed to the game and the pace etc.. He got stronger and more confident as time went on and made , as mentioned by others, the tackle of the match which led to us scoring our forth.

Will they all break through this or next season? Still too early but seen no reason yet to say they dont have a good chance of making it into the first team eventually,

Mr Kenzo 4:38 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

* I loved Longelo's superb tackle on the edge of our area which started the build-up to the 4th goal. *

Take a look at Hull City's goal

the exile 4:20 Wed Sep 23
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

I had to miss the Hull match but I'm delighted to see so many positive comments on the match thread about the performance of the three young players - Alese, Ashby and Longelo. From what little I picked up from the highlights, Ashby looked very assured on the ball and I loved Longelo's superb tackle on the edge of our area which started the build-up to the 4th goal.

Alfs 12:49 Thu Sep 10
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Keep dreaming 12:39 Thu Sep 10

I can't see Diangana staying long. He'll be off to a big club like WBA soon. The kid has ambition.

Vexed 12:44 Thu Sep 10
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Forget Cullen. Not up to Prem level.

Keep dreaming 12:39 Thu Sep 10
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

I'm pretty sure Diangana and Cullen are ready to step up. The first one will make an impact too

The old c wing 12:16 Thu Sep 10
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Why Ashby? Out of interest, has he played for the U23s much?

HAMMERAMA 11:22 Wed Sep 9
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

I'd throw Anang and Harrison Ashby into the mix.
The other player that seems to be improving at a fast rate is the Portuguese lad Dju.

scott_d 10:47 Wed Sep 9
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Any chances of seeing any of our youngsters will be dashed with a few last minute free transfers or loan deals for ageing journeymen.

Always happens.

VickyPkVillageIdiot 10:41 Wed Sep 9
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

I’d have Cullen ahead of Noble.

the exile 10:25 Wed Sep 9
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

I would say Cullen looks no more than decent. Can't see him being anything more than a bit-part player unless we have some kind of injury crisis.

the exile 10:22 Wed Sep 9
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

* Alesi and Baptiste.

VickyPkVillageIdiot 10:21 Wed Sep 9
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Expecting a big season from Josh Cullen.

The cunts 24 tho so dunno if he counts as a young player.

the exile 10:20 Wed Sep 9
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

I thought I would bump this thread as I have a feeling Moyes might be taking more of an interest in the youngsters, given the lack of funds at his disposal. If we get Tarkovski there will almost certainly be no money for anyone else. If we don't get Tarkovski..... there will probably still be very little money for anyone else.

So, I wanted to mention a couple of players that didn't feature in the original discussion, namely Odubeko and Longelo. Iirc, we got Odubeko from Man U about a year ago- they highly rated him and tried to hold onto him. In the last couple of weeks he has made the step-up from U18 to U21 with ease and is already scoring for fun - two against QPR last week and two outstanding strikes (in front of the watching Moyes) at Southend the other night, one with each peg. This boy is a massive talent but is only 17. I seem to recall Moyes giving a certain youngster called Rooney his PL debut at the age of 17. I can quite easily imagine a scenario where Antonio is injured and Haller is still underperforming - could this lad be given a chance? Silva barely featured in the pre-season games and doesn't seem to be in the manager's plans.

As for Longelo, we all know about the dire situation at left back. This lad seems to have hit the ground running this season - looked good at Wycombe. Against QPR in the highlights you can see that he scored a nice goal and also went on a great run which had a good assist on the end of it. Somebody said he was impressive at Southend too. Looks very quick and especially good going forward, but does anyone know how good he is defensively? Obviously his chances of breaking through depend largely on whether we get a new lb, but this lad could at least be a part of the solution going forward.

Then there's Also and Baptists, who both impressed in the pre-season games. It's worth remembering that the U21s are an accomplished side so I for one will not be surprised to see a few of them knocking on the door this season.

the exile 4:16 Sat Jul 18
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Yes, it was a bit of a mixed bag from Johnson last night - a game of two halves. In the first half when we were on the front foot I thought he offered little going forward and some of his passing was terrible. But in the second, where we spent more time defending, he looked like he belonged in the team and turned in an accomplished performance. The jury's still out for me - a top full-back needs to be able to attack and defend at a high level.

ornchurch ammer 3:48 Sat Jul 18
Re: Could any of our young players break through next season?

Johnson looked like a full back last night and defended like one. Not caught ball watching and covered the central defenders as well. The attacking side can be built on the basics of defending.

Fredericks looks good going forward and plays like a wing back because that is how he played at Fulham.

Much like signing Haller to play the lone role up front we bought a wing back to play full back.

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