06 Aug 2025 17:00:58
I think this season in the league will see the least amount of minutes played by academy graduates since the epl started.
Mainoo will possibly be the only academy graduate to get consistent game time and its quite plausible that he won't be a regular starter.
We could easily see a squad named for a match without a garduate for the 1st time in 80 years.
Won't bother me one bit but hopefully we will see a few break through over then next couple of seasons and be regular starters.
06 Aug 2025 17:36:27
Lots of the younger lads have very good potential.
Wouldn't be surprised to see JJ Gabriel break through in his teens. Could be the youngest ever to play for us. He's special.
But there are a good few more. Fletcher is another one that could get minutes.
06 Aug 2025 17:43:53
It wouldn’t surprise me if it was in the contract of the manager that at least one youth team player is in every match day squad. The club are likely very proud of that stat.
06 Aug 2025 18:58:41
They're is a good crop they're and beneath them again sucj as JJ but at 14 he won't be getting minutes this season or next probably unless he turns into mini messi . He does look special there are a couple of others with high potential don't see many b breaking through this season due to the limited games we have. Maybe in the early rounds of cups a couple could get a few mins but unlikely in the league i'd suggest. It might depend on if a few like Shaw and casimero decide to leave.
06 Aug 2025 21:10:37
Yeah, I don't mean this year but 15/ 16 I could see it.
It's very promising and so refreshing to have footballing people in charge.
06 Aug 2025 21:43:35
I think that will align comfortably with the recent shift towards actually being clinical with the academy graduates and shipping off the ones deemed lacking.
I think the club will certainly want the FA Cup this season and that might well restrict appearances for youngsters.
I do agree that, beyond Mainoo, it's going to be difficult to accommodate academy graduates in the team this season - Fredricson, Kamason, Ibragimov and Lacey might pop up occasionally, but I don't see a swathe coming through yet.
Needs must will always devour whimsy, but just wait for the media frenzy when that happens - ?.
06 Aug 2025 21:56:20
I thunk we will see Kone come through this season as a squad player.
06 Aug 2025 23:20:55
Do you oakbark? I've not seen much of him and he was stopped from going on loan so was expected to see him in the friendly games.
Maybe he is just not ready yet and he will come through as the season goes on.
Good loan moves to the lower leagues for a few so we can keep an eye on them. I think iwotb posts great updates on our loanees.
Im sure we can get one on the bench at the very least, every week to keep the record going.
07 Aug 2025 00:24:25
We have to name too many subs now for that record to end, there would be uproar if it happened and Amorim will know all about it and will name one in every squad. Tom Heaton will likely be on the bench most weeks anyway but if not then another academy keeper will be on there. We also have Fredricsen, Kone, Obi, Mantato and Fletcher around the squad and Mainoo as mentioned, Ruben will select at least one in every squad.
07 Aug 2025 01:55:33
Yeah, I doubt we let that record slip. They will put a promising lad on even with no prospect of getting in the pitch. It shows the players in the academy that hard work and the right attitude gets you rewarded. Maybe we could resign lingard in a pinch ?.
07 Aug 2025 11:21:15
The assessment of the academy when INEOS and the new management team came in was that we had a good younger group of players, but there wasn't many ready to come into the first team over the next couple of years.
That is why there was a big focus on signing young players like Kone, Heaven, Chido Obi and Diego Leon. 18/ 19 year olds who can be in and around the first team.
Collyer and Amass were the ones considered as possibly good enough to make the step up over the next 12-18 months at the time. While the likes of Mainoo and Garnacho were already established in the first team squad.
Beyond them it was the players in the 15-17 year old age group who were considered as the one who might become good enough if managed correctly to eventually make it into the first team. Yet that is likely to be 3-4 years away for most of them.
Occasionally a player makes a sudden leap forward in their development like Fredricson, or when there is a change in first team manager there might be a young academy player who suits a specific role that is missing in the first team squad and they get a chance and step up.
For this season Mainoo looks to be carrying the torch. Collyer and Fredricson are the others that seem most likely to get a chance from the bench.
Amass has the technical abilities, but lacks the physicality right now. He looks like he'll head out on loan. Kone is in a similar position, highly talented and thought of, but lacks the physicality to play his position, particularly in the manner he plays at senior level. The club have put him on a specific training plan and they feel that if he fills out during this season that he might be able to start to break into the first team before the end of the season.
When you watch him train with the first team you can see he has the skills, but he does look a bit gangly and gets brushed off the ball a little too easily right now. But with his height and frame once he fills out he could be a bit of a monster in midfield.
The others who are rumoured to be expected to make it to the first team include players like Vitek, Harrison, Mantato, Kukonki, Thwaites, Ibragimov, the Fletcher twins, Williams and Lacey. Obviously JJ Gabriel is also highly rated but is extremely young at 14.
However, most of these players are at least a couple of years away from being ready for the first team on a regular basis.