So about our youth...

[justinfromga]

It's Wednesday of the international window.  I'm sure most of you are getting ready for England and Germany this evening.  Perhaps a few will watch the Scotland and Canada match.  But there isn't much discussion in the way of match prep for our beloved Fulham FC.  So I'm curious about our current youth development.

From reading my post and looking at my username it shouldn't take much to deduce that I'm not anywhere near London but rather I'm in the states.  And like all Americans I'm getting ready for baseball season.  One of my favorite aspects of professional baseball is development of young talent into major league players.  The buzz words are future value and projection.  Well, how does this apply to football?

In our current U-23 team how many players could reasonably see first team minutes for a mid-table Championship side in the next year?  What about a playoff team?  Do we have any players in our current U-23 team that are in a stage of their development that the premier league seems like a reasonable goal in the next twelve months?  What about at the U-18 level?

And what about George Williams?  He seems to split opinions here on the board.  Is he a quality player for U-23 who will be stuck playing in League 2 or the bottom of League 1 his whole career?  Or does he have what it takes to be a premier league player?  A champions league player even?

I'm curious what everyone thinks.  Obviously I have my own opinions but they are based on second hand accounts and seeing our youth players in what few youth international matches are broadcast.  So for those of you who are able to see the U-23s and U-18s on a regular basis...what does the future hold?

[cmg]

The progression from junior to senior level is fraught with problems and almost impossible to predict, but things seem pretty good.

Of the "u23s", of which almost all are 18 or 19, Edun, Adeniran, de la Torre and Humphrys have all seen some minutes with the 1st team in one or other of the competitions and Fossey has been on the bench. Of those we have not yet seen I have been impressed by CB Aaron Davies.
We all know about 16 year old Ryan Sessegnon but his twin, Stephen (currently with England u17), is highly regarded, as also is Matt O'Riley (16). Goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond has had England call-ups.

[FPT]

I've been working on a post for a few days: top (can't work out a number) academy players yet to make their debut for FFC. There's a few I really like in the u18s, I think Marlon Fossey is the picture of modern day full backs, Aron Davies defends with a lot of class (requires filling out as would look a boy mostly), Luca De La Torre is an exciting player; I'm a big fan of Tayo Edun I think he could fill Ryan Sessegnon's part-time left back option if Sessegnon was to leave (and can also legitimately play wide left and tuck into central midfield if necessary). I like Mattias Kait, his positional awareness is excellent. A really talented no.8 who isn't too far off,  he needs to keep fit as had a few injury issues.

Steven Sessegnon is just as good a talent as his brother: less quality going forward but superior defending his own goal. Moritz Jens has become Davies' partner at centre back at U23 level, physically very developed for his age (17), but think has the potential to be a real player. The two European lads: Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson and Mikki Kweitniewski are really exciting; both very similar as really high quality technically, can create chances and score goals - have been integral to attacking player in majority of games I've seen (both also pretty heavily involved in U23s). Cameron Thompson has been making waves at the youth levels below the Under 18s, but now he's playing against more fully grown men (although of course developing) he's not looking quite the same phenomenon but still his first full U18 year. Michael Elstone on the other hand, joined in the summer from Bangor and has looked the part; still unsure on his long term potential in terms of division but he's got some quality.

All of our goalkeepers are excellent. I love Marek Rodak, still maintain he's one of best pure shot stoppers I've seen in academy football, doing well at Accrington Stanley by all accounts. Magnus Norman isn't as flashy as Rodak but more of a British goalkeeper - filled out and commanding, another good project. Taye Ashby-Hammond is a very good prospect in between the sticks, long term England youth international and always drawn plaudits; has recently become involved with the U23s and will likely be the number one for that age group next season (just turned 18).



I went on a bit... So cut this off for George Williams:

I think he's a very talented player, good technically but needs to get match fit (which is why I favoured him staying after returning in January to get consistent 90 minutes in his legs - his first focus has to be next season). He's still only 21, but next season is huge for his development. If I'm Slavisa, I take him away with the first team but I think another 6 month loan makes sense. He has to take his production from academy level to professional football - he has one professional goal, on his debut for MK Dons when he was 16 years old against Nantwich Town. A worthy project to give another contract to, but he has to start producing in the final third and be the game changer he can be. His injuries won't have helped him, so his first focus is to get fully fit, luckily his knee injury was at an age where he still has plenty of time to recover himself and his momentum. He will play Premier League football I think.