Perhaps others will know more than me but a bit concerning that he still doesn't have a club officially and it is the 2nd club now that he seems to have parted ways with after West Ham. Last we heard he was having trials and Man City and Everton.
Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking, at this stage of the season for someone so young and without a Club is a bit worrying.
Don't mean to bring this back but I've been on holiday and always find this topic interesting. I don't think academies are chasing athletic players, I think they are chasing highly technical players combined with athleticism, which I'd assume makes sense. While it may rarely be the case I don't think it's a situation of prioritising athleticism over technique, I don't think there are many players out there who have been missed out that are more technical or skilful than other players due to a lack of athleticism. Just looking at Spurs we have players like, Edwards, Thorpe, both Shashouas who are known, and we've ha(ve/d) players like Christian Carter, Romaine Mundle and Dante Casanova who are very tiny. Regarding why the Engadn teams gets whiter as you get to the seniors I don't think has anything to do with an evening out of athleticism. I just think it's to down to how badly England brings players through. As we know England or the Premier League suck at bringing through players at the top PL clubs. I'm not telling you anything you don't know here, but due to EPPP all of the best players are funnelled into the top club. Those are the best technical (and athletic) players. Found in clubs like Chelsea, City, so on and so forth. If there is a top player out there 9 times out of 10 those clubs will be able to attract them. The players that end up coming through are the 2nd/3rd tier of talent at lower divisions clubs, where the ethnic spread is more even. Just look at the world cup squad Name: Jack Butland - Birmingham City Name: Jordan Pickford - Sunderland Name: Nick Pope - Charlton Athletic Name: Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool Name: Gary Cahill - Aston Villa Name: Phil Jones - Blackburn Rovers Name: Harry Maguire - Sheffied United Name: Danny Rose - Leeds United Name: John Stones - Barnsley Name: Kieran Trippier - Manchester City Name: Kyle Walker - Sheffield United Name: Ashley Young - Watford Name: Dele Alli - Milton Keynes Dons Name: Fabian Delph - Leeds United Name: Jordan Henderson - Sunderland Name: Jesse Lingard - Manchester United Name: Raheem Sterling - Queens Park Rangers Name: Harry Kane - Tottenham Hotspur Name: Jamie Vardy - Sheffield Wednesday Name: Danny Welbeck - Manchester United I know there is some debate to be had about who came through what academy at certain times but I'd say 10 of the squad came through due to playing in poor PL teams or getting chances in the EFL. Jones, Maguire, Stones, Trippier, Young, Alli, Delp, Henderson, and Vardy. In some cases I'm sure it was a situation where there talent wasn't spotted early enough, or big clubs would have taken them, but more to do with the fact that they just got their chances in the league at a younger age which is important and helped them develop their careers better than other players. It's like the situation with Colkett, Palmer and Gomez. Chelsea wanted all of them I believe, Gomez was the one that wanted to stay at Charlton and he's the one playing Premier League football now. Nothing to do with athletic ability or racial bias just staying at clubs that prioritise giving you chances. I'm sure if RLC was at MK Dons and Alli at Chelsea their fortunes would be very different. I personally don't believe there is this athleticism correcting itself over time, the reason we see the balancing out, is because the players that didn't join the best academies for whatever reason, generally not being thought of as good enough as they weren't as technical AND athletic as their contemporaries ended up winning in the end as they stay in the EFL, while the best players get wasted at the top clubs, both white and black.
Is it one of those situations, where he's halfway through a scholarship so Spurs hold the cards. In most cases clubs just let the player go, but if Spurs are miffed for any reason they can stifle his future. I had heard he had burned his bridges at Spurs which would explain why he didn't go back and the reasoning above it I'm right. Really frustrating but good that England are still giving him chances.
This refutation seems to infer that black players are just technically superior and that's why they're massively over-represented. That would be a bold position to take, and not one that seems realistic to me... but at least it could add up unlike some of the demographic arguments that have been put forth.
Definitely not how I meant to come across. I think that most people would agree that the black players a physical advantage though. My point is that they are technically equal. If you have two players with equal technical ability, but one is also quicker/stronger, you are naturally going to go for the latter. As the slower/weaker player isn't offering anything better. Also technique after all can be coached, and these kids in the inner cities of England will generally be playing a lot more football than in the countryside, so more practice, refining and competition. There are more immigrants in inner city, so you are as likely or more likely to get better players firstly from the cities. I also think this is what contributes to more black players. The reason there are more black players than other minorities relative to population is because of again psychical attributes help when weighing up between two equally talented players but also due to what appears to be attainable as a future and culture.
Of course, all academies want players who are both technically excellent and athletic. However, these players are very rare. Therefore, most of our academies have a large percentage of players who are more athletic than they are technical (BBQs if you want to put it crudely.)I can't help but think that we should be picking a few more smaller, technical players. This would also even out the over representation of black kids and give us a bit more diversity in our youth teams.
This is no slight on them because they could still play in the Premeir League but Josh McEachran and John Swift were good technical players held in high regard and the system has them where they are now ? Is that a slight on the youth system ? I don't think so. It is more what senior football seems to be demanding. Do we count Dowell, Mount, Maddison as slight technical players ? Under 20s have Embleton, Lewis & the 19s have Foden, Gomes, G.McEachran, Poveda Are more of these players slipping the system or is it a case of these players just having to do more with a sport that demands not only being technical but having excellent individual running ability on and off the ball ? Take a player like Lingard. I reckon at top clubs (actually most clubs) it is tough to get team-knitters (I call them) to make it at the top early because to do so now you have to have the AMAZING ability where you have almost everything to make it so that includes individual ability like speed, strength, skill, goal scoring and creating etc so you got to churn results out quicker. So there seems there are these types but possibly they have to do more.
It's a tough one. There are holes in both arguments. If there is no bias towards athletic players, then why are countries such as Croatia with a population of 4 million able to produce more technical midfielders than us? There must be something wrong in our coaching, or selection process.
Croatia's physical prowess (Mandzukic, Rebic, Brozovic, Perisic, Vida) was as important as their technical prowess in reaching the WC Final, let's not forget that. Modric got the accolades because he's eye-catching and everyone falls in love with a small midfielder but Perisic was probably their best player over the entire tournament.
Also remember our youth teams are the best in the world. This is because we are producing better players than other countries. They are just not able to come through
Man City 'land 14-year-old England youth midfielder Darko Gyabi for £300,000 from Millwall' https://t.co/5bQ5WxFYTk pic.twitter.com/1Bw3vBuCdJ— Mail Sport (@MailSport) November 17, 2018
Manchester United have offered scholarship to 14 yr old Shola. And he has been invited to the 15th - 17th England Camp v Turkey.
Shola is travelling with MUFC Champions League U19s Squad playing Valencia next Wed. They've already qualified and he is not registered to play. However, he'd enjoy the trip, team-talks, etc. He was with the U18s & U23s for the pre-season tour in Austria.
Shola added to Manchester United Squad in the UEFA Youth Champions League. U19s Tournament . He is number 39.
I thought you said you wanted to keep a low profile on Shola? Seems like someone is trying their best to get his name out there. Clearly United don’t have the pulling power they once had, and are trying their best (build profiles) to makesure their best young prospects remain at the club. For me it’s the wrong way to go about players especially since he’s still only 14. Let’s keep the pressure off our young talents and let them develop naturally until they’re ready. Every kid has their own pathway and we have to let them develop without being forced in the media too soon.
Maybe he is just proud of the progress being made - I'd guess the coaches at United have a better idea on how to develop this individual player than some random bloke on the internet.
The underage group are still very good and they're getting in some very good players in the summer. They very clearly have pulling power at academy level because the academy is of very high standard and debuts are still being made. The argument of taking him slow and letting them develop naturally is bollocks, no point in letting the lad who is very clearly talented, play at U15 level because there is 0 challenge for him there and if playing higher up doesn't work, it will show very quickly and he can be put back to the U15s. Ajax has one of the best if not the best academies in the world, their U17s starting lineup consists of 5 U16s, U15 has 3 U14s, U19s has quite a few U17s as well and Jong Ajax has a lot of U19 players as well. Giving chances works, and it shows.
https://trainingground.guru/articles/academy-productivity-rankings-2017/18 Manchester United Academy Is doing something right.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...re-named-Youth-League-bench-aged-just-14.html Shola came on against Valencia game with the U19 lol.