14 Apr 2024 11:11:16
Moving away from what is happening on the pitch I want to ask the question would our squad be better now if we hadn't kept players who weren't good enough for so long.
Moved them on and keep the squad size down and enable us to give some of the academy players more game time for them to develop.
This season we can look around the EPL and see several of our former academy players thriving and playing well for other clubs. All of them playing consistently at a better level than many of the players we have been playing each week.
James Garner has become a regular at Everton and is developing nicely. I wonder whether he'd be even better now than he is if he had more game time over the past couple of years.
Looking at how Casemiro has declined this year and the fact we have no one bar Mainoo who can play as a deeper midfielder, would Garner not have been a better option than Casemiro this season? He's certainly playing better than the Brazilian.
You then have Teden Mengi looking very good in a battling Luton side. He's arguably been one of their best players alongside the likes of Doughty and Barkley this season. Still only 21 and certainly his qualities would have seen our defence be able to play a higher line and maybe concede fewer shots. Did we keep the likes of Jones, Bailly and Lindelof around for too long blocking his pathway?
Finally there is Anthony Elanga, 5 goals and 8 assists for a struggling Forest side. Only Bruno Fernandes (14) in our squad, has more goals and assists than Elanga's 13 in the EPL this season.
Would he have not been a better option to Antony or Rashford at times this season?
We have seemingly allowed him to leave, while we have hoarded the likes of Sancho, Antony, Pellistri and Amad over him. Possibly because we spent big fees on those players. Yet he has easily outshone all of them with regular game time this season, mostly playing on the right hand side as well.
Now I'm not saying any of these three players are or will ultimately be good enough for where we want to be. Just that with game time they are showing themselves to be better than many of the players we currently have in the side.
Seeing them flourish with regular games at rival EPL clubs just goes to further highlight the flaws in having a bloated squad and the lack of foresight in keeping players on the books for financial reasons over footballing ones.
Would our squad be perfect with Garner, Mengi and Elanga in it over the likes of Casemiro, Lindelof and Sancho? No it wouldn't, but it would be better than what it is now.
We have 36 players on the books in the first team squad, that needs to be trimmed down to below 25 this summer so that the next batch of talented academy players don't see their development stagnate, forcing them to leave to reach their potential like Garner, Mengi and Elanga have had to.
14 Apr 2024 11:55:41
Kambwala, Shappy, Kambwala.
14 Apr 2024 12:52:16
Ork, I agree he needs game time. The question is where that will be most beneficial for him.
Players like Garner and Mengi stagnated because we kept them for a season and they hardly got a kick.
Both players needed to go out on loan as we had too bloated a squad to be able to give them the number of minutes they need.
I'm all for keeping Kambwala here next season as long as it's either as a first choice or at most a 3rd choice option at CB.
That means he has to play at least 1000-1400 minutes of football next season. If he doesn't play that many at a bare minimum then we will be restricting his ability to develop and reach his potential.
I want him to be a success, to do that he needs to play.
If we keep him in the squad as 4th/ 5th choice and he only plays 300 minutes of football then we will be ruining his chances of maximising his potential.
He's at a key age, physically he looks ready to play men's football. He clearly has the talent and skills to be successful at the highest level. Now he needs to play to show he has the mentality to cope with the demands and have the opportunity to make the mistakes he needs to make to learn how to play his position to an elite level.
Without that game time the mistakes he made yesterday will stay in his game and he won't be able to iron them out.
Keeping him and playing him regularly next season means accepting he will make mistakes. Mistakes that will cost us points and ultimately might be the difference between finishing in a UCL or a Europa league place next season.
That's all part of the parcel of developing young players. They cost you points at times during a season, or they make the mistake that gets you knocked out of a cup. Hopefully they learn from it and become better players because of it.
Garnacho for example has just as much potential this season as he had last season. Yet it's the consistency of minutes that have seen him rapidly develop from a impact sub last season to a player who can consistently perform across the whole 90 minutes this season. Although I also feel a change in position from left to right has forced him to play with his head up more, adding greater variety to his game. He certainly has a better impact on the team when he plays on the right compared to the left.
If we want to see Kambwala have a similar development trajectory to Garnacho and Mainoo then he needs to play a similar number of minutes. It's that simple.
A pathway into the first team isn't always about just throwing out those players who aren't good enough and chucking a youngster into the squad in their place.
It's about carefully planning the best route for a player to develop to the point where they can regularly play in the first 11 to the standard required.
For Kambwala that might mean a loan next season to a carefully selected club where he'll play most weeks and ideally in a similar style to what our first team will play. Helping him develop the skills and understanding needed to play the way the first team will need him to play. While he's on loan that probably means keeping one or even both of Lindelof and Maguire to be that 4th/ 5th choice option next season.
They can be the ones to play 300-500 minutes for United across the season, while Kambwala plays 2000-2500 minutes elsewhere. Giving him the game time he needs to develop and be ready to hopefully come back to the club and be the replacement for Lindelof/ Maguire for the 2025/ 26 season and push to be the first sub/ rotation option at CB or even push to be first choice.
I think the game yesterday highlighted that he needs more game time a development to be ready to play regularly for the first team to the level and consistency required.
If he's going to struggle and make simple mistakes against a midfield table side like Bournemouth, then he will likely cost us too many goals to be a regular starter next season.
We need to be realistic about how and when he will be ready for us, we then need to plan a pathway for him that means he will get his chances when he's ready to be step up and be a regular starter.
He also has it a little against him compared to the likes of Garnacho and Mainoo in that they can make mistakes without it likely leading to us conceding a goal. Kambwala doesn't have that luxury, which is why I think he needs a loan next season. Let him play somewhere where he can make these mistakes and learn from them, so that when he comes back those are mostly ironed out of his game and he's ready to compete for a regular first team spot.
There are few fans on here who are a bigger supporter of youth at our club than me. Ideally my dream would be to have the capability to field a first 11 of academy players, all of which are good enough to be first choice in a title winning team.
However, I appreciate that for them to succeed that they all need a personalised pathway to progress into the first team. That there needs to be a balance between creating space for the youth to get chances, but also have a squad capable of challenging on all fronts so that when the youth players get a chance, they have quality players around them to learn from and to support and carry them at times through a game so they can develop.
It's a balancing act underpinned by a desire to develop young players along with an understanding of how to give them the space and opportunities to grow.
14 Apr 2024 22:08:19
For reference and simplicity ?
500 mins = 5-6 games
1000 mins = 11 games
2500 mins = 28 games.
15 Apr 2024 11:21:50
James Garner do me a favour Shappy.