England 2018 squad - Patrick Roberts

[glenhodgso]

Interesting article, if somewhat predictable in places.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28277119


Nice comments about Paddy Roberts which is good - not that many other (real) youngsters on the radar yet.

Do you think England will go for "transformational change" or will we be "incrementalists" ?

[MJG]

Always difficault to perdict teams looking forward.
Here's one from 2007 for 2014 WC England team

[Craven Mad]

Nice to see Pat getting even more recognition, I just home someone also shows him the infamous Daily Mail squad prediction for the World Cup 2014 (below). Turning a talented young player into a talented adult requires an enormous amount of hard work - he mustn't let his current successes distract from development goals.

[Craven Mad]

Haha, MJG - beat me by 13 seconds!

[MJG]

LOL Craven Mad great minds and all that

[Fernhurst]

Wow..... Very interesting, not seen that graphic before.
Few on there I'd not heard of.

Which one of those "tipped for stardom" has fallen the furthest?

[Aaron]

Wow..... Very interesting, not seen that graphic before.
Few on there I'd not heard of.

Which one of those "tipped for stardom" has fallen the furthest?

I think from the above Michael Johnson would be the obvious choice.

[Craven Mad]

Wow..... Very interesting, not seen that graphic before.
Few on there I'd not heard of.

Which one of those "tipped for stardom" has fallen the furthest?

I think from the above Michael Johnson would be the obvious choice.

+1

No longer a footballer. Put on weight. But used to be class..

Michael Johnson in his prime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pFBhDczIAE

Michael Johnson today:

[b+w geezer]

That graphic is brilliantly found (by both of you!). A 9% prediction success rate!

Set the bar lower (just to be a fairly regular prem player) and the odds are still stacked against Pat Roberts. As yet. Similarly Dembele or any of the others in our Youth Cup Final team.  Nothing personal to them, and they won't all hit the buffers, it's just that who will and won't remains to be seen. Captain two seasons ago, Minkwitz, has just been released to a lower league in Germany, whereas Woodrow looks ready for first team prime time.

The next couple of seasons for any player of Roberts' age tend to make the difference and tell the tale -- even in the case of someone with his clearly rare talent. Touch wood, the Championship will be ideal for him to dip his toes in the water on a frequent basis, but to expect him to start most games and take the league by storm would be asking for more than one has a right to.

[cmg]

Yep. Johnson's the saddest case, but it's very hard to predict.

The two 'successes', were not exactly discoveries of Columbian proportions as they had both been capped by then!The other found employment at such venues as Dagenham and Redbridge, Stevenage and Millwall.