verlaine1979

We became a championship club again 10 years ago, with a decent infrastructure and a good reputation. If our scouting/black box/yadda yadda was actually as good as we claimed at the time, our current crop of 16/17/18 year old players should presumably be top drawer. Ah, and having just checked our under 18 league placing, I see we're actually second bottom.

What was strangest to see was that we were defending a lot of the time with the cliched 'two banks of four' - but we were completely static in the formation. United just passed and ran through us at will while we kept to our allotted positions. I'm assuming that's not how that tactic is meant to work...

Does anyone have a plausible explanation for why Che's goal was given offside? Usually there's someone with an alternative view on how the lines are meant to be interpreted, but so far I've not heard anyone even try to explain how Adams was off, given that all the parts of his body that could legally play the ball looked to be a good 6 inches behind the feet and knees of at least two United players.

Now that he's gone on loan after hardly playing this season, is there any sense at all that can be made of the decision to give Long another 2 years last summer?

He looks extremely hard-working. I contrast this with Shane Long, who merely looks limited (the difference being that hard work should at least be useful). Speaking of Long, any sign of Bournemouth answering our prayers?

Minamino looks genuinely two footed from his highlights. Hopefully Che will be inspired by that.

Didn't look out of place at all when he came on. Found space, asked for the ball, and played a couple of decent passes - one particularly incisive one in the build up to the disallowed goal. Wishful thinking probably, but would love it if he turns out to have what it takes to play as a 10 (a bit like Pogba at Juventus).

Adams just isn't a finisher. If he can't put his right foot through it, he doesn't know what to do.

Redmond never backs himself to win a one on one with a fullback. Such a frustrating player to watch. The difference with Grealish is startling.

If KWP is out and he doesn't consider Valery to be an adequate replacement, then it's moot.

Clearly I'm not saying that only players who've made it by 21 will make it. My point is that player development is such that you can almost always tell if an attacking player is going to be good enough to make it by that age - assuming they get given enough sub opportunities that you actually get to see them play. And yes, I'm aware that Lallana was a League One regular at 21. Saying a player who was contracted to a lower league club wasn't playing in the Premier League isn't the empirical flourish you think it is.

Both Kane and Lallana were nailed-on starters for their clubs by the age of 21. Thank you for illustrating my point so adroitly.

I think it used to be the case that the level of protection was much lower, so players had to be a bit older to cope physically, but that hasn't been the case for years. In attacking positions in particular, if you're not ready to make a telling contribution at the highest level by 21, you'll probably never be ready.

This is what's so dispiriting about Jankewitz. He immediately looked to have the confidence and first touch of an established PL player when he came on. No nervous miscontrol, no desperate over-eagerness. When was the last time you could say that about a Saints youth player being given a 5-10 minute cameo?

As said on the Watts thread, he's the only one of the kids who looked to have genuine class about him. His close control and passing looked good - can we not convert him to an attacking midfielder and fast track him to be real competition for Armstrong et al? We've been crying out for a central creative presence in attack for yonks.

100% - he just had a level of confidence and composure that the others didn't, along with the first touch and close control to back it up.

You have to go back 8 matches for the last time we scored two or more in a league game, and looking at our passing around the box, you can see why.

He said that Ings won't sign until the summer, which means he'll be in his last year under contract. Who was the last first team player (or manager) we had in that position that saw out their contract and left on a free?

Tuchel's habit of falling out with owners and leaving after 2 years suits Chelsea perfectly.

I wonder how often a player who doesn't want to talk contracts until the end of the season actually ends up signing a new one. Seems to me that saying he won't sign before then is the same as saying he's more likely to leave than not. If he only has a year left, he'll be a cheap deal for anyone that wants him (and there will be plenty that would take a £20m Danny Ings as back-up), with a decent amount of the money saved going towards his signing bonus.

Aside from the risk of catastrophic injury between now and June, he's holding all the cards. He'll either get a move to a big club in the summer (through a last-year lowball or a lowball release clause allowing them to sign him as very decent backup) or in the unlikely event that no one wants him, he'll get a decent enough contract offer from us. He's got almost zero incentive to sign anything before then.

We're definitely a better passing side with Hoj gone.

Watts has a great first touch.

I'd take off Long and Chauke and give someone else a try.

Long is so technically inferior to the youth players. Embarrassing to watch him trying to take part.