New Signing

[Craig_H]

Exactly
What's the big deal with have a bunch of young "potentials". Not all them will stay, not all them will make it, but if we get one Xabi or Stevie or Mascher or Momo out of them, it's a job well done.

Indeed.

When they're young, the worst case scenario is we might lose a couple of hundred grand. No big deal.

Alternatively, we might end up with a classy player, or an average one which we sell at a profit. Nay bother

[Darth Marty]

I like your words Loco....I like a lot.......

[JPK]

http://www.olweb.fr/index.php?lng=en&j=1618&pid=203002

It says defensive midfielder but he could be a versatile ball player.Ok i'm just hoping that

[Dan]

http://www.olweb.fr/index.php?lng=en&j=1618&pid=203002
It says defensive midfielder but he could be a versatile ball player.Ok i'm just hoping that

Jesus that top is huge on him

[anfieldanfield]

Indeed.

When they're young, the worst case scenario is we might lose a couple of hundred grand. No big deal.

Alternatively, we might end up with a classy player, or an average one which we sell at a profit. Nay bother

Lucas wasn't exactly a couple of hundred grand though, was he mate ?

[sean_lfc]

Lucas wasn't exactly a couple of hundred grand though, was he mate ?

Lucas isn't a Reserve team player. Lucas wasn't brought into our team as a 'could turn out to be half-decent and we're getting him for peanuts, so no harm done'-player. He was brought in because he's displayed quality first team football in South America.

Syd was talking about the Reserves and you know it, so let's not start an argument for the sake of it.



@ Loco: Great post mate

[El Jefecito]

We've got the best midfield in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bazza76]

Are all of you guys off your nutter?

You're all taking a very limited look at the football world. Every single post has been along the thought line of "Will he make the squad because we are already packed in that position".

Rafa is a businessman. The new American owners are businessmen. If we pick up young talent at a grossly cheap price because no one else has the scouting that we do, and then loan them out to get experience, we now have put them on a world class stage to see if they are good enough to crack our lineup. If they are, that's great business.

If they aren't, they have shown the world that they may be good enough to crack a smaller club's lineup (such as Everton) and we can sell them on for a profit. That's also great business.

All of our young signings have been put into those brackets. If even one of them turns out to be the class of a Stevie, Robbie or Jamie (yes I know they are born and raised in Pool, but it's not the point) then the other 10 that we got for a bag of peanuts and sold for 2 bags of peanuts are worth it.

The "farm systems" in place in North America for hockey and baseball produce a MASSIVE amount of talent. The whole Quebec Junior Hockey League was actually created by the Montreal Canadiens just so they would have their own farm system and league to draw players from at any time. Within an extremely short time, Montreal was the best hockey team in the world and stayed that way until other teams followed suit.

This is amazing business, and we are building tomorrow's team at the very same time that we are building today's team. I'm not lying to you, and I'm not looking at this thru rose tinted glasses (I don't even wear glasses) when I say we are going to OWN the PL and Europe for the next decade because of this type of business.

I wish I could share your optimism mate.
Thing is though, more and more teams in the Premier Leage are feeling that the youth system is not really worth the money that they are spending on it.
I would say we have spent a heck of alot of money on the youth set up since Rafa has arrived, but as of yet, are still yet to see anyone really making the break through, despite winning back to back youth FA Cup titles.
I do support Rafa spending money on youth players, but, I don't think we will dominate at home and abroad because of it.
Rafa is right when he says, the young lads need to be playing at a higher level, the reserve league hardly offers that though.
I do worry about players getting wasted at reserve level. Not getting the chances to fullfill their potential, and then becoming ordinary players. Football is so competitive these days, it is becoming harder and harder to give youth a chance.

[slimbimjim]

Plus if he plays a few good games in the full team and then moves on,we could make a profit,football is a buisness aswell as a sport.

I was going to post to say the same thing mate.

[Johnny]

Are all of you guys off your nutter?

You're all taking a very limited look at the football world. Every single post has been along the thought line of "Will he make the squad because we are already packed in that position".

Rafa is a businessman. The new American owners are businessmen. If we pick up young talent at a grossly cheap price because no one else has the scouting that we do, and then loan them out to get experience, we now have put them on a world class stage to see if they are good enough to crack our lineup. If they are, that's great business.

If they aren't, they have shown the world that they may be good enough to crack a smaller club's lineup (such as Everton) and we can sell them on for a profit. That's also great business.

All of our young signings have been put into those brackets. If even one of them turns out to be the class of a Stevie, Robbie or Jamie (yes I know they are born and raised in Pool, but it's not the point) then the other 10 that we got for a bag of peanuts and sold for 2 bags of peanuts are worth it.

The "farm systems" in place in North America for hockey and baseball produce a MASSIVE amount of talent. The whole Quebec Junior Hockey League was actually created by the Montreal Canadiens just so they would have their own farm system and league to draw players from at any time. Within an extremely short time, Montreal was the best hockey team in the world and stayed that way until other teams followed suit.

This is amazing business, and we are building tomorrow's team at the very same time that we are building today's team. I'm not lying to you, and I'm not looking at this thru rose tinted glasses (I don't even wear glasses) when I say we are going to OWN the PL and Europe for the next decade because of this type of business.

I really don`t think that we should be using bags of peanuts as a currency but you did echo my point above that football is a buisness so

[Johnny]

I was going to post to say the same thing mate.

[dww]

I wish I could share your optimism mate.
Thing is though, more and more teams in the Premier Leage are feeling that the youth system is not really worth the money that they are spending on it.
I would say we have spent a heck of alot of money on the youth set up since Rafa has arrived, but as of yet, are still yet to see anyone really making the break through, despite winning back to back youth FA Cup titles.
I do support Rafa spending money on youth players, but, I don't think we will dominate at home and abroad because of it.
Rafa is right when he says, the young lads need to be playing at a higher level, the reserve league hardly offers that though.
I do worry about players getting wasted at reserve level. Not getting the chances to fullfill their potential, and then becoming ordinary players. Football is so competitive these days, it is becoming harder and harder to give youth a chance.

I tend to agree with loco that the youth setup is to a large degree a business thing. I'm not sure that it works in the way that he says - in that rather than each player being sold at a profit I suspect we will see most be released a number be sold at about what we bought in and then one or two sold at a profit which pays for the system as a whole.

As Jose Mourinho has said about the system at Chelsea the point is to produce one John Terry for the first team every few years rather than necessarily create a squad of homegrown players. A bonus would be to have (as United have over the years) a group of fringe players who love the club and know the way we play inside out, possibly not of the quality to challenge for a first team birth but to provide solid backup.

Part of this youth setup is purely to allow us to control their development. As we don't have a reserve team which plays competitively this will have to be done using loans. It is notable that most of the players we have loaned out have gone to teams with managers with reputations as good coaches or clubs (like Southampton) with a renowned youth coaching setup. This prevents talents being wasted by poor coaching while reducing the costs to us. In certain cases the loan can be made to pay for the player outright (look at Scott Carson).

I would agree with you that there is a danger of wasting players but I suspect that in many ways as many players will be helped by having top quality coaching as will have their development stunted by the lack of competitive games. Those with ambition will no doubt ask for loan moves which will be good for them and us.

Whichever way it goes we will have to wait a few years to find out. What is interesting is to note though that Arsene Wenger feels that the level of U17 youth in this country has improved vastly since the introduction of academies. I think that the PL teams talking of closing theirs are acting precipitously as we are yet to feel the benefits of these players who have been bought up in the system coming through.

[friedk]

Reina
Carra
Pennant Masch Plessi Lucas Alonso Gerrard Momo Babel
Torres

[DeeGame]

Reina
Carra
Pennant Masch Plessi Lucas Alonso Gerrard Momo Babel
Torres

i know carra is superhuman but theres noway he can cover the whole defence by himself