Soccer Prospect Discussion Thread V

[Evilo]

Toulouse's wonder prospect Adil Taoui has just scored 3 goals in just the first half against Le Havre in the Gambardella Cup, the big youth competition in France (U18). 4-0 at halftime.
We discovered Varane's brother too with Lens team.

 

[Evilo]

5-0 now. Le Havre is one of the best academies in France. Amazing.

 

[Evilo]

I'm watching Lyon's youth league game right now (they're winning 2-0) and while Titouan Thomas is good, Cherki and Caqueret have nothing to do at this level.
They're wayyyyyyy too good.

Compilation of Cherki's latest youth game league...



He's 15 BTW. And Hannibal Mejbri is still considered a better 2003 player.

 

[Cassano]

Giroud said CHO is as talented as Mbappe.

Thoughts?

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Giroud said CHO is as talented as Mbappe.

Thoughts?

CHO is great but this is hilarious

 

[Juni]

It's nothing more than one team-mate showing support for another, younger one. People love to overreact to exaggerated headlines.

“Callum is one of the [great] hopes of English football; he is only 18 years old. I saw him start a little over a year ago when I arrived in Chelsea when he was just 17 years old, and he is a very talented player, a bit like Kylian (Mbappé). They were a bit of the same age when they started to blaze, now it’s true he needs play time to progress.”

Nothing wrong with saying that.

 

[Cassano]

Despite all he's accomplished, I still believe Mbappe doesn't get the praise he truly deserves. He's the best scorer in world football atm and few seem to acknowledge that.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

What happened to Woodburn at Sheffield? Thought he was very highly rated but he barely got to play.

 

[YNWA14]

What happened to Woodburn at Sheffield? Thought he was very highly rated but he barely got to play.

He is still highly rated but like a lot of young players who are more skilled/intelligent than physical specimens they have a harder time breaking in at a young age unless they're heavily insulated or generational. Liverpool were pretty unhappy with his playtime so I'm not sure what the next step is but he is still highly rated.

 

[Savant]

What happened to Woodburn at Sheffield? Thought he was very highly rated but he barely got to play.

Sheffield is in a title/promotion race and they (rightfully) didn't want to change the lineup too much. Nothing bad.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Compilation of Cherki's latest youth game league...



He's 15 BTW. And Hannibal Mejbri is still considered a better 2003 player.

He looks like Messi out there when he attracted 5 guys on him and still kept the ball.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Sheffield is in a title/promotion race and they (rightfully) didn't want to change the lineup too much. Nothing bad.

From what I can understand he got a few chances to prove himself at the start of the season, manager wasn't impressed at all, and beyond that he didn't even make the matchday squads.

 

[Savant]

From what I can understand he got a few chances to prove himself at the start of the season, manager wasn't impressed at all, and beyond that he didn't even make the matchday squads.

I mean, if your team has a chance to win the championship or get promoted, you aren't going to go out of your way to find minutes for an on loan 19 year old.

 

[YNWA14]

From what I can understand he got a few chances to prove himself at the start of the season, manager wasn't impressed at all, and beyond that he didn't even make the matchday squads.

What gave you this impression?

He played a grand total of 2 games worth of minutes, never more than 45 minutes a game, and then got injured. The coach mentioned he was looking for ways to get Woodburn in but they were challenging and didn't want to change things up when they were in good form. It happens.

I don't like these loans a lot of the time because you're an outsider coming into a completely different team with a completely different set-up and there's no real incentive to force the player into the team and allow them time to adjust as these teams are playing for something and aren't just there to develop. Young players like Woodburn shouldn't be sent on loan without guaranteed gametime IMO, otherwise they may as well be in the PL2 team.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Oh, must have missed his injury.

 

[Ajacied]

Xavi Simons turns 16 in less than two months, meaning he can sign his first contract with Barcelona. Just realized his agent is Raiola.

Talked about Simons this past week during an Ajax U19 match with what might've been a scout (or a well informed fan - guessing the latter). Mentioned he's gotten too much hype and struggles with the physical parts of the game now and that Unuvar (Ajax) and Fitz-Jin (AZ) are bigger talents from that age group (2003). He was also high on Ohio (Man City). Ajax will face Lyon in the youth league; mentioned Cherki as one of the bigger talents to keep an eye on. Also Ronaldo Camara from Benfica.

 

[les Habs]

Xavi Simons turns 16 in less than two months, meaning he can sign his first contract with Barcelona. Just realized his agent is Raiola.

Talked about Simons this past week during an Ajax U19 match with what might've been a scout (or a well informed fan - guessing the latter). Mentioned he's gotten too much hype and struggles with the physical parts of the game now and that Unuvar (Ajax) and Fitz-Jin (AZ) are bigger talents from that age group (2003). He was also high on Ohio (Man City). Ajax will face Lyon in the youth league; mentioned Cherki as one of the bigger talents to keep an eye on. Also Ronaldo Camara from Benfica.

Xavi Simons can get a better contract from an English club due to the difference in laws. Maybe Raiola will try and move him.

 

[Ajacied]

Simons has already been promised a starting role in Barcelona, according to some reports. Not sure if I believe that, though. He also has that real Barca DNA - short, fast, quick thinking and breathtaking playmaker. I doubt he grows higher than 1.70. Not sure he'll survive in a league where physicality is higher than anywhere else. Then again, you never know with Raiola.

Also, there's a strong chance Simons opts for Spain, so I doubt he'll leave anytime soon. His Spanish is better than his Dutch and all his friends are Spanish.

 

[Juni]

People are about to get quite confused because Chelsea have a 16yo midfielder (has played for England U16) called Xavier Simons.

 

[Ajacied]

Just a few short clips and impressions of Unuvar playing the mini-klassieker vs kids who are all two years older. That assist is just ridiculous. Look at the curve..

 

[John Pedro]

Just a few short clips and impressions of Unuvar playing the mini-klassieker vs kids who are all two years older. That assist is just ridiculous. Look at the curve..

more like Naci Unfair

 

[Evilo]

I've talked about JM Guillou many times on this board since he's relatively unknown to non french or african football fans.
Here is Ajax coach saying he inspires himself from his ivorian academy and hopes one day Ajax can play as good.

 

[phisherman]

I've talked about JM Guillou many times on this board since he's relatively unknown to non french or african football fans.
Here is Ajax coach saying he inspires himself from his ivorian academy and hopes one day Ajax can play as good.

What happened to him? I'm not sure if I'm right but last I read he opened a bunch academies in other countries. I'm not sure if they were as successful at producing players like the Ivory Coast one.

 

[Evilo]

Last I heard he was in Malaysia the last few years.
But he's back to Ivory Coast, taking care of the whole youth structure for the federation.

 

[Evilo]

Two of the best academies are facing off in youth league. Already 1-1 after 10 minutes between Ajax and Lyon.