It's a young squad, and Lee insists they will only get better. Playing together more must surely improve their function as a team (depending on formations?) but in individual terms, I'd say that we have quite a few who although young, are already at the level they will play at in terms of performance/ability. Guesswork to a degree (and sure to provoke disagreement) but as a starting point, I'd say: At A Level: Nyatanga, Winnall, Watkins, Scowen, Pearson, Hourihane (unless he puts himself about more), Digby, Improvement Potential: George Smith, Townsend, Mawson, Wabara, Davies, Bree, Roberts, Unsure/Not Seen Enough: Rothwell, White All pretty idle speculation for a Tuesday morning perhaps, bet hey - this is a debating forum!
I'd say there's plenty of improvement in all of our players. I think Nyatanga is our only player above the age of 24? I don't think you can rule any of them out from playing in the championship at some point in their careers. If you're talking about which player will go on to have the most successful career then I'd say Mawson. Looks an old head on young shoulders. Has the physical and technical attributes.
Got to agree ,Winnall is not being used to his full potential he needs help up front.don't know if Smith is the answer because he needs starting with sam up front. will we get to see this tried before lee has to make a decision about Smith.
In a way, that's my point, Blivy. We assume that just because the players are early 20's they must automatically be capable of improvement. What we forget is that many of them have been playing competitively since they were about eight or nine. Their playing characters may already have been formed. I think Josh Scowen is a terrific signing for us, and he'd be just about the first name on the teamsheet for me every week. But I think that in 10 years time he will still be playing exactly the way he does now. In other words, I think he has already matured as a footballer. If that applies to some of the others, and they are coming up short of what we want, then that's more of a problem. It's like the horses - many two-year olds are capable of improvement as they race at three and beyond. But a significant number make no further improvement from their initial outings at two. Food for thought?
This is true. Everyone seems to assume players peak at around 28 but it's not the case. Shaun Wright Phillips & Michael Owen both peaked in there early 20's. Jabo Ibhere seems to be peaking at about 33. Maceo Rigters peaked at about 18 when he was the hottest young striker in Europe!
Or 4-3-1-2 with Harris or Watkins behind the front 2. I know it's accepted wisdom now that if you don't 'get' 1 up front you are somehow ignorant of the finer points of modern football but we're in the 3rd division, not The Premiership.