Firstly I'd like to say to the mods I apologise if this topic has been made before I hope it hasnt.
Just interested in seeing who thinks which players are closest to making the step up to the first team and how much of a chance they have.
Personally I see it as ...
Insua - Probably has the biggest chance in my opinion, reasons being: the fact that we need someone for the left back position, he has shone for the reserves and has shown alot of promis and one of our two left backs looks like they will leave in the summer. He always seems alert and ready when I see him play and he has such great attacking play, he seems to be able to pick out a player with a cross and having him and someone like rafinha on the opposite side would be great for our attacking options next season.
Nemeth - I would like to see him get a chance but im skeptical as to whether he is ready for that yet. I love the way he plays and I think he is a real talent, one of those rare finds that combines instinct and natural talent with hard work in order to succeed. The one thing that makes me wonder whether he is ready is just how big the step up from reserve team football to first team football is.
There is still alot I dont know about nemeth things such as how strong he is on the ball in terms of whether he is more like torres (strong wont take people trying to kick him out of the game) or Lucas (small and not used to needing as much physical strength as the premiership can demand at times) and also how quickly he covers ground on the pitch, I have seen him play and whenever I get the chance I check out the highlights of the reserve team games but I cant recall ever seeing him having had to sprint after a through ball or anything like that.
I think earlier in the season people were resorting to crying out for him to get a first team chance but although I do not doubt his talent one bit I do think this was largely due to our bad run of form we went through and fans dying to see someone sticking the ball in the net alongside Torres and this was when Kuyt was having a bad run of form which only magnified this hunger for goals from the fans. Rafa seems to be the type to protect the younger players and wait until he thinks they are really ready rather than give them a go and risk them going through having their confidence shot to bits if things dont go right for them (I like that he does this but I do think he should be a bit more leanient in terms of thier first team chances).
I read comments from rafa this week about young players and he said something along the lines of 17-18 year olds will maybe need 2 or 3 years to develop. In my eyes this means he wants them to take their time in the reserves/ going out on loan, developing their skills in order to learn as much as they can before they make the step up and this is what makes me believe that Nemeth will not get his chance as soon as some fans want him too. Im glad rafa is holding him back a bit I think it will benefit him massively in the long run.
Leto - Brought in this season the youngster has been in fantastic form for the reserves throughout and was doing so well before being halted by the whole passport issue. I feel Leto is one of the youngsters who is closer to the first team. I myself didnt see the loss to marseille so I cannot analyse his performance myself but he took alot of stick after that game and as soon as I saw the comments on his performance I worried, not in the way that I thought 'Oh great we have bought a flop' but I worried for the man himself. I instantly thought now he has to do more than most others to get into peoples good books, he will almost have to overperform to get people on his side and show his talent.
Everytime I have seen him play for the reserves he has impressed me, He is so majestic on the ball and has something our first team wingers (bar Babel) have lacked this season, the confidence in himself to run at his marker which to me says to the defender in question 'you have no chance against me, I dare you to try and stop me from getting to your goal'. I love this type of player and I think he has alot of potential. Whenever I see talk about Leto from people within the club all I hear is positive comments and things seem positive for him, I really hope he gets past this passport problem before the end of the season as he has been training with the first team recently and with the reserves when the first team has a game. I hope he gets a game in the first team before this season is out even if it is just a half as I want to see what he can do and how well he copes with the premier leagues demands.
If we bring in a new left winger and I hope we do I would like him to be the second choice left winger as I think he is close to being ready, he needs confidence imo and I think he can be a real success.
Anderson and Hammill - These two young wingers are both currently out on loan anderson at Swansea and Hammill at Southhampton. I didnt watch Reserve games that much before this season and for this reason I dont know that much about how these two play but I have looked up comments on them on the internet and both seem promising. Anderson seems more of a goalscorer type winger who isnt afraid to go for goal and can play as a striker if needs be whereas Hammill seems more the provider, The one goal I have seen him score was a real corker though
, he also looks like a winger who likes to run at his marker and challenge them to try and stop him.
As I have said I dont know much about these two but I hear nothing but good things. I hope they will come back and maybe get a chance to get a few games next season. I think they are both still around 19 so they have time to progress and hopefully they will progress well.
Hobbs - Currently out on loan I was very impressed with him this season. When he got his chance he grabbed it with both hands and did very well, He had a couple of nevrous moments but that is to be expected with him being so young and the amount of pressure of getting your first chances at a crack at the big time. This is one of the players that I can only see succeeding, Carra has called him the nicest person on earth and he looks like the type that is quiet off the field but comes on the field with only success and the game at hand in mind. He is a hard worker and I think he will be a great centre back for the future. When Sami is retired I think he will be the defender to join Carra, Agger and Skrtel as liverpools centre back options, I dont really need to see more about mr Hobbs as I think his talent is clear to see.
There are a few others I also thnk are close/ will be successful but I think I have gone on enough for now and will write some more later. Sorry for writing so much everyone I am very interested in how the youngsters will develop into first team players though. Feel free to add your own opinions to the thread as to who will become a first teamer how close each player is etc
For now I am done hope you all enjoy reading it guys and girls
Lil Cissé
