01 Feb 2024 21:33:29
We are certainly lucky that we have young Bradley. It seems the consensus is that he is destined to never have a poor game in his career.
Seems we’ve gone from a position where we were calling for the signing of a full back to cover right back about 2 months ago to having a player who started a handful of games as being “world class”.
The lad looks very, very promising indeed but he is just a lad - in recent times we’ve lost Elliot, and in particular, Gordon, Ramsey and Bajcetic to long term injuries related to physical growth and / or too many games in a short space of time and it would be good if we could minimise the risk for the kids still coming through (like Bradley) .
Like I say, I’m happy to stick with Klopp’s decision on who to play when.
On an entirely different note, Chelsea are poor and the level they are playing at beggars belief with the amount of money they have spent. I’m not even going to mention the Academy set ups of the two clubs other than to say that anybody imagining that the set-up and product of the Chelsea Academy is anything above bang average is just embarrassing themselves.
01 Feb 2024 22:24:26
Two different academy set ups to fair WDW. One is set up primarily to provide players for the first team, the other is primarily set up to make money.
01 Feb 2024 22:28:26
Who knows what will happen with Bradley’s physical development but I might add the slight difference is that he’s entering the first team at an much older age than those others mentioned. He looks more physically mature than the others too.
I think we can cut through the spectrum and land in the middle. I certainly wasn’t calling for a new RB as cover. I was calling for Bradley as the back-up. So that rules out “we were calling for…. ” And he isn’t world class but is obviously showing he has ability to do exactly what he is doing - be the back-up RB. Which means filling in to cover when needed and playing at a level where we don’t have a significant drop off in performance.
Job done. Onwards and upwards.
01 Feb 2024 22:34:36
I can think of someone who thinks the academy is the mutts nuts WDW. Can you?
02 Feb 2024 02:32:26
I don't think Chelsea's academy strategy is something to be scoffed at as it's been very important to their financial sustainability.
The Real Madrid academy is there to make money too (I think they supply more of La Liga's players than anyone else) .
What I will say is that everyone loves to go wax lyrical about United's famed academy - they haven't produced anyone of note since 1992.
Look at who we have produced and still are producing since then (of note) :
Fowler
Gerrard
Carragher
Owen
McManaman
Trent
Jones
Bradley (already calling it)
*Bajcetic one to keep an eye on
Did I miss anyone?
I know this has turned into a United rant but they are the most over glamorised, over glorified, over promoted, overrated club in the history of sport.
02 Feb 2024 04:08:51
I don't think there's anything wrong with Chelsea's academy. They have produced a lot of talented players. Even those who don't make it at Chelsea can have a decent career elsewhere. Players like Livramento, Lamptey, Abraham, CHO, RLC all do have decent careers playing in top flight leagues. I can't think of any other team in the league that can say the same actually.
02 Feb 2024 06:23:59
Didn't Bradley also play 40 odd games last season? In league 1 where he probably got a bit battered about. I'm not saying to start him every game, but he's proved he's a pretty durable chap.
02 Feb 2024 06:46:38
Still making crazy revenue tho lol maybe our owners of the time could have learned a thing or two. Imagine Being Us with all that success and then sitting on our hands for 2 decades.
02 Feb 2024 07:43:51
@Faith, is this the same Chelsea that we’re fined £ 8.5 m at the start of the season for past financial impropriety and who have been put under scrutiny again for further impropriety? It would seem the money gained in trafficking young football players isn’t quite as financially lucrative as it might seem.
If you were to examine the financial outlay in recent transfer windows - a billion in three windows wasn’t it - you could put up a reasonable argument that the mediocre dross that showed up the other night wasn’t exactly an example of an obscene amount of money being well spent.
02 Feb 2024 08:28:48
I think we should give the young man a break. Yes, he had couple of superb games. But blood him in gradually. A few matches on bench and then coming on is also very sensible.
Because the opposing coach, forwards will be now wary of him and will want to knock him off his perch.
02 Feb 2024 08:52:51
I don't see the need to start calling out the Chelsea academy just because we have recently produced some talented players, though it seems you're more trying to bait Ed002 in an immature way.
Let's looks at the wider picture. For years, our academy was abysmal, we also regularly run foul of the rules and it is public knowledge we ruined the careers of several promising young players.
We have been fined multiple times over the years for issues relating to young players and it was only really since FSG came in and funded the redevelopment of the academy that we are starting to see the results. However, let's also remembers the flak FSG took at the time for not investing in the first team squad, apparently investment into the development of youngsters doesn't count and we should have been signing world class first team players.
Chelsea have consistently been producing very talented players through their academy and as mentioned, even if they don't play for Chelsea, many have successful careers elsewhere. Whilst you may not agree with the method, it seems they are looked after very well with their careers as the priority. Also, it was Chelsea themselves who reported financials issues when the new owners came in.
Just because we have found some recent success, let's not get on our high horses here, glasshouses and all that.
02 Feb 2024 09:29:45
" It seems the consensus is that he is destined to never have a poor game in his career. "
Respectfully, WDW3 BUT when did the above happen on this forum cos I must have missed it.
02 Feb 2024 10:10:43
He went from an unproven reserve to “world class” literally in a fortnight. I was employing hyperbole in an ironic sense on a board entitled ‘banter’. The lad looks very, very good indeed but I suspect he puts his pants on one leg at a time.
02 Feb 2024 10:21:26
@Stuie, we shall just have to disagree on this one. I do understand that the current administration reported the financial mismanagement of the previous administration but the point is, whoever reported it is irrelevant - there WAS financial mismanagement, or is that incorrect?
As an aside, I have absolutely no problem with me, or anybody else winding up, Chelsea fans, or any other club’s fans for that matter, who come onto the Liverpool forum and make deliberately provocative statements or crass generalisations about fans of the club or the club itself. If one dishes it out one should be big enough to take it too.