It does have to be that standard of quality though otherwise we just have another Jay Spearing or Martin Kelly on our books. We are guilty of rating our players well over the top, especially ones that are scouse or are brought up from the academy. Flanno is the perfect example. Reading the comments on here you would think he is the best full back the world has ever seen but in reality he is very average and pretty basic but we love him because he wears his heart on his sleeve.
Usually you can tell quite quickly if a footballer is special. You can see that raw talent in them. Might be on my own here but I've seen nothing from our younger lads or reserves to suggest they are good enough or will be good enough to perform at the highest standard.
I can say with confidence that Randall for example will be playing championship/league 1 football sooner than later. Harsh, but true.
That's an absolutely ridiculous statement to make and shows how little you know about Youth football.
"Prodigy's" coming straight out of an Academy into 1st team football at 18/19 are very, very rare, not unheard of obviously but still very rare. To produce 1st team level teenagers, ready for the PL is virtually impossible and even at prodigy level there is still so much that can go wrong in those early years that even they can fall by the wayside.
Occasionally, in the past, there have been more than a few who came through together, the class of 92, Messi, Xavi and Inniesta to name a couple but since then - maybe the German NT that emerged recently but that was down to their FA deciding to take matters into their own hands.
What we should be able to rely on the Academy to do is bring through 1 or 2 every 3-5 seasons who are capable of earning a squad place, eventually becoming a 1st team regular and hope that every now and then we get a superstar and then keep hold of them.
As for producing lower league level players, we've at least helped them fulfill their dreams of becoming professional footballers. About 1 in 5000 coming through any Academy will make it at the very highest level, so I agree that most of the lads we've seen so far won't be good enough but we won't know who until they get the chance.
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