alias75

defending really bad though 3-0 not a shock i suppose given they're missing a few, does anyone have the starting 11?? Im assuming no Flannagan or Robinson, as well as Sterling and Adorjan

I think in the past though we've either had players like Fowler, McManaman, Gerrard, Owen and to a lesser extent Carragher that have been good enough for the first team almost from the off or they've been not good enough and left in the reserves until they've been 21-22 which is too old really. I think Man Utd and Arsenal have shown that it can pay dividends to loan out players that you have high hopes for when they're aged 18-20 obviously if they're obviously going to make it like Gerrard or Owen then you get them in the first team as soon as possible but someone like Shelvey just isn't going to get the games in centre midfield next season, is he going to develop playing 20min wide right every now and then, plus the odd game in the league cup or Europa (if we make it)?? personally i don't think so. What we've tended to do is wait too long to loan them out so they're already in their early 20's which means they've missed 2-3 years of their development where they could be learning in the pressurised atmosphere of the championship or PL instead of playing reserve team football. The other mistake we've made is loan them out and then find out they've hardly played, that has happened far too often, while you cannot guarantee that the player will be picked you have to have some understanding with the club your loaning them to that they need to play or you find them another club where they will play. Personally id like to see players like Coady, Wisdom, Shelvey, go out on loan next season.

Yeah Blackpool was the type of team i was thinking about too. I think the important bit is he needs games in central midfield, hes very much like an Alonso or Redknapp in that he can only really play in the middle, at the moment when he comes on for us its always been out wide so while its good to get exposure to the PL he has looked uncomfortable playing wide. I don't see him getting much game time in the middle for us, we have too many players in front of him already and will probably sign 1 maybe 2 more in that position. A year on loan where he can play in his proper position i think will be more beneficial than the odd subs appearance out wide.

Made the same point about Shelvey on the other thread but the consensus seemed to be that people didn't want him to go out on loan. Personally think its the perfect time to get him a full season in the PL or a top Championship team playing in his proper position. I don't see him being ready to play too many games in central midfield here and i do wonder how much he's going to learn getting 20min here and there in a position he's clearly uncomfortable in. Wilshire is an excellent example of a player that benefited from a full season out on loan and came back ready to play in the first team. With Flannagan and Robinson im not so sure that a loan is best because i do think with fullbacks its easier to get them games in the first team. They have already proved they can handle it if called upon and we should be able to give them 15-20 games next season when you include the cups plus you never know what's going to happen with injuries.

Im not so sure, we have Lucas, Meirles, Gerrard, Spearing and we're probably going to sign someone that will all be ahead of him, central midfield is such an important position as we've seen he's not really played there yet for us at all. I think he'd benefit more playing a full season in central midfield than the odd cameo for us usually out wide where he doesn't look too comfortable. Not that id be worried about him if we had to play him but i just think his opportunities are going to be limited here in central midfield.

When you have players like Meireles, Maxi, Suarez, Kuyt, Gerrard we're always going to be very fluid, they are all very intelligent players in terms of their movement, Suarez and Meireles in particular are a nightmare for teams to pick up because their movement is so good. Once the young fullbacks get more confidence they will get forward more and help with the width, but some of the football we played yesterday was excellent/

Cos his main position is central midfield i think he needs to go out on loan so he can play there for a season, maybe in a lower level PL team maybe for a top championship team. Hes similar to someone like Alonso in that he can only really play in the middle, so while its good for him to get experience he does look a little uncomfortable when asked to play out wide. But hes obviously very talented and i do think people forget how young he is because we signed him and he hasn't come through the academy. I agree he did well when he came on yesterday and this exposure to the PL will only help him, but because he plays central midfield which is such an important position i do think he'll get limited opportunities there for us next year, so maybe a loan is best for his development.

Definitely still need a left back, as others have said you have to blood young players slowly, picking the right games for them. What it does mean is we only need 1 left back when it looked like we might need 2, have Robinson as backup and GJ as 3rd choice in case of an emergency, on the right we have Kelly, GJ and Flannagan, if we can get Kelly games at CB eventually Flannagan can be #2 behind GJ. But they're still very young and have a lot of developing to do, i agree you don't want them to slip back now but they're not ready to be first team regulars and we do have better in their positions when everyones fit. Theres plenty of games so they'll get their chance again.

Great win, played some really good stuff at times and loved how we kept pressing and kept pushing even when the game was won. Kenny has the ability to get the best out of the players which is something we've been missing, if your manager can do that then average players can all of a sudden look as if they can do a job for you. Really exciting to see the 2 fullbacks playing well and you can see the effect it has on the crowd having young players playing, it also helps focus the players around them who are working really hard to help them through the games. Once again Lucas was superb, and Suarez, Kuyt, Maxi and Meireles linked up really well in attack but everyone played their part.

Shelvey on for Robinson, playing left back??

Should give Coady 15min now...

Wonderful play from Suarez, at the moment hes being a little selfish cos you can tell he wants his goal but time after time he produces lovely moments, hes gonna be a hell of a player for us next season. Maxi gets the match ball!! 4-0

The way we're playing is really encouraging, still pressing at 2-0 and playing some lovely 1 touch stuff. When you look at the team we have out there you could easily excuse them for being disjointed but that hasn't been the case. Kenny really does have the ability to get the best out of players which is very encouraging looking ahead to next year.

I think the comforting thing at the moment is whoever we end up signing I have total confidence in Kenny getting the best out of them. Of course its important to sign good quality players but you also have to get them to play for you, how often have we signed great players on paper who've then simply not played to that level. I know its fun to speculate on who we'll sign, but whoever we end up getting i have confidence in Commoli and Kenny getting it right.

Sterling posted something on twitter yesterday about training with the senior players maybe he will be part of the 17 before the end of the season. Its the perfect chance to give him 20min in a home game.

Looks like we had 2 insane owners and a CEO who was at best incompetent. Gotta feel for Rafa, he had built a team that was so close to cracking the PL and he gets these maniacs as his boss!!

When your basically given only what you can bring in in sales to spend every penny counts and paying £4million more than we should have for 2 players could be the difference between being able to sign someone that could improve the team or not. Its also just another illustration of the amateurish way in which the club was being run which must have been extremely frustrating for a perfectionist like Rafa, especially when we were so close to winning the PL.

Exactly you only have to look at this summer and... Cole>>>Pacheco Poulson>>>Spearing to see examples of where we've wasted money on average squad players when he have youngsters waiting for a chance. Thats money that should be spent on the areas of the team that really need improving. I also agree how encouraging its been to see the way Kelly, Flanagan and Robinson have played when they have been called upon, in a lot of ways their technically superior to a few of our first team players.

If we got Young i don't think we'd need another winger, assuming Marveaux on a free is done too. The players we have and the way we set up i think we want Gerrard, Lucas and Meireles in the team so that only leaves 1 more spot in the midfield / attack. If we got Young and Enrique plus 1 top class CB and 1 defensive style midfielder (like N'Villa) plus 1 more forward (Wickham) i think that'd be a great summer.

Not sure why an U21 league would be any different?? most reserve teams are very young nowadays anyway, what these young players need is experience of the pressure that competitive football brings week in week out. I do think the U19 CL idea would be beneficial for their development though especially playing against teams from different countries with different styles and different styles of referees etc...

If you read what i said i don't disagree with those players you named except maybe Ayala and Shelvey. I do think its easier for fullbacks or attacking players to make the step up and would have no problem seeing Flannagan and Robinson as regular parts of the senior squad, but the truth is they aren't ready to be regular starters so will reserve team football and the odd first team game be better for their development than half a season on loan?? I think young players in those "spine" positions like central midfield or centre back do need more experience so players like Coady and Wisdom and maybe even Ayala and Shelvey i think need more experience. In Ayala and Shelvey's case they could go on loan to a lower level PL team with younger players like Coady and Wisdom maybe Championship level. Kelly is already part of the 1st team and you could argue he should be right back in our strongest team so of course he won't go out on loan, but if he is going to develop into a centre back in the future he needs games there to learn the position because at the very highest level its not easy to learn on the job. The league cup is the ideal opportunity to give him games there and also selective PL games so he can get experience in that position without being thrown completely in at the deep end.

Few people were talking about Ayala on twitter yesterday doing really well by all accounts. It was encouraging that Commoli said we will no longer be buying players in positions where we have promising young players blocking their way into the first team. Right back looks well stocked for the forseeable future with GJ, Kelly and Flannagan although given how well Flannagan has done it might encourage Kenny to try Kelly at CB sooner rather than later. Obviously we still need 1 left back but with GJ doing well there and Robinson looking like hes gonna be a player too we only need 1 player there when it looked like we might need 2 not long ago. Centre back is a tough one because experience counts for so much in that position, its very difficult to learn on the job in the PL, we do have a lot of talented young players in that position, Kelly, Ayala, Wisdom, i think Kelly could save us a fortune in the transfer market but you have to blood him slowly so he can adapt to playing there in the PL. Id hope those players currently in our U18 team like Wisdom, Coady, Suso, who play in those positions that are more crucial (spine of the team) go out on loan next season either to Championship teams or lower level PL teams its vital that they make the next step up and understand what its like to play with that type of pressure week in week out. With fullbacks and attacking players to some extent its easier to blood them compared to CBs or central midfielders because that spine of the team is so important.

His performances in the big games have been immense for the last 3 years now. Hes really developing into a top player, given what hes gone through and how hes dealt with it, he deserves all the praise he gets.

Hes not a wide player though, it would be like playing Alonso wide right you wouldn't expect much from him would you?? Think he needs to go out on loan next season and get a full season playing in centre midfield maybe to a PL team but probably to a Championship team. We'll be well covered in midfield next season anyway and Spearing is good enough for that 4th-5th choice central midfielder.

Made up for the players after the effort they put in they didn't deserve to lose. Playing in that type of game will do wonders for Flannagan, Robinson and Spearing. Yes we could have attacked better but we went into the game with a weakened team and lost 2 more experienced defenders during the game so you can't expect miracles from them. That said we did have some decent chances in the 2nd half and if Suarez had had one of his better days we could easily have scored at least 1 on the counter. All these injuries are going to prove a blessing because we're going to blood some very talented young players probably earlier than we should be but they'll benefit so much from it. It gives Kenny and Commoli a good chance to see what they can offer before they spend in the summer.