13 Apr 2024 20:45:51
That was a pretty poor one all things considered. I do feel sorry for young Willy Kambwala, last week he was a hero, this week he is culpable in both the goals and nearly gave away a penalty at the death.
He over committed in a foot race with Solanke (who caused him problems all game) which led to his slip and gave Solanke all the time in the world to pick his spot. We can Question other defenders, Maguire maybe could have done more to close down Solanke. Yet as a defender you live and die on winning your individual battles. Willy lost that one and we were 1-0 down because of it.
Initially I questioned the positioning of Dalot for Kluivert's goal, yet when I looked back at it you could see he was staying wider marking Sinisterra who had pushed forward. Kambwala needed to be the one to move over and pick up Kluivert, as it was he was standing in no mans land, marking no one. With Maguire picking up Solanke.
You could question Garnacho's positioning in the build up for this goal. He's far too central, but he does at least attempt to intercept Senesi who had strolled forward from defence unchallenged. Realistically it should be Bruno stopping an opposition CB from strolling forward with the ball.
Yet I think the majority of the blame is at the feet of the young Frenchman who hasn't read the game well enough and realised he needed to step across to pick up Kluivert.
It's a harsh lesson for the lad, but unfortunately these are the sort of lessons he will have to learn as he develops, if he is to reach his potential.
It's also a lesson to us fans, while we might want to see "the kids" play for the rest of the season, it won't necessarily improve anything about our performances. They might play with heart and youthful enthusiasm, yet they are as likely to make the individual errors that cost us the game as they are to have a great performance.
Very few have the quality and mental understanding of the game to be able to play to the level required consistently enough to be playing regularly in the first team.
I like Kambwala, and feel he could have a bright future. Yet next season both himself and the club would be far better off with him heading out on loan to play regular football. Allowing him to develop and grow as a player out of the Old Trafford spotlight. Not every youth player is like Mainoo or Garnacho. Some need a loan or two to develop away from the club before they come back and are ready to perform.
Kambwala looks a talent, but he's not ready to play regularly in a side that has top four ambitions, and he will only stagnate sitting on the bench as a 4th or 5th choice option. It's be far better to keep one or even both of Lindelof and Maguire next season to be back up options, and allow Kambwala a loan move, than to move them on and keep the young lad on the bench.
13 Apr 2024 23:27:37
One game does not a season make. We have shown the same rubbish displays all year with experienced players.
Doesn’t matter how much you analyse it. We are royally S**T across the board.
14 Apr 2024 00:13:59
Shappy the only one I've seen judging him is you.
14 Apr 2024 03:18:22
Shappy
I think you're being a tad harsh there mate.
Kambwala is still a developing talent who would benefit from some faith in him to overcome the hiccups of one game against a team containing one of the most in-form strikers in the league and two or three very quick and mobile players around him.
Maguire was hardly blameless.
So many fans, following a poor showing, will show their propensity for binning off an academy graduate as soon as they've had a bad day - that's precisely what you're doing and there's literally nothing beyond unrealistic expectations that you could present as support for your comment.
Mainoo's had a couple of questionable performances and, while his ceiling is much higher, today was one of them.
The big difference is that once the opposition players have ghosted through our flimsy af midfield, they can so easily overload our defence and quickly condition our performance to be anxious and erratic.
When midfielders and attackers make mistakes - including some of the schoolboy errors committed by Mainoo and Garnacho, they are less likely to lead to goals being conceded - it's very different for a defender and so the depth of the subsequent shade is different.
Defenders will also face more pressure which can shake out a mistake - especially when the midfield that includes Mainoo is so weak.
So Kambwala, while clearly not having the best day, was exposed routinely by our midfield, as were the 3 experienced defenders around him.
Against Bournemouth, the whole team was crap, it's just unfortunate that the spotlight is drawn by the obvious.
As for the idea of retaining Maguire and Lindelof to bring through a condition of keeping Kambwala on the bench - absurd!
Why do a Tuanzebe on him when he's still developing?
Why entertain that idea based on one dodgy performance on a day when the whole team were dodgy and, as we all know ourselves, there is little functional structure to the team's set up?
Why focus so heavily on the obvious when the contributing factors pertain to greater issues - effort and desire?
14 Apr 2024 10:44:17
Ork, I think you've misunderstood my post.
I like Kambwala and want to see him succeed at the club. What I'm saying is that you can't just throw every youngster into the first team all together and expect them to be able to perform consistently to the level we need.
They will have their ups and downs, great performances and awful ones. It's all part of the learning process.
I do believe it's easier for young players to come through in certain positions, typically it's easier to give young forwards or full backs chances as they play in areas of the pitch where mistakes are less often punished and costly to the team. Whereas it tends to be harder for central defenders and defensive midfielders to breakthrough and get regular minutes as mistakes in those positions often cost you goals. While young keepers almost never get a chance at a top club to breakthrough.
Some players are so talented they buck the trend, often given a chance due to injuries, they seize it and they don't make the mistakes or rarely do, so get to keep their place.
Kambwala unfortunately plays in a position where mistakes are likely to cost us goals, as they did against Bournemouth. I don't really blame him for those mistakes as he's a kid and still learning the game. I'd be annoyed if a player in their midfield twenties with over 150 senior games under their belt was making those mistakes as it shows they aren't learning.
I expect all of our youth players to make mistakes, and as long as they learn from them I don't have a problem with it.
This certainly wasn't a post designed to hang Kambwala out to dry. However, it's impossible to learn from your mistakes without first highlighting and then accepting them.
What my post was trying to get across though is that we need various different pathways into the first team for our academy players. Each player is different in what they need as they are individuals developing into the player they will be and do so at different times.
Young players need a mix of natural talent, physical ability, along with mental and emotional maturity to be able to step into the first team at a top club. Some of them have those things at 17, others won't have it until 21, sadly some never develop all of those things and they don't make it at the highest level.
Players might be able to come straight into the first team, and some might need a loan. Maybe even a couple of loans. That might be a loan for them to experience a higher standard of football while they physically develop and grow. Or it could be for them to have time to mentally and emotionally grow up, push them outside of their comfort zone but without the spotlight of playing for a top side. Spending 4-8 months away from home, your friends and your family, having the demands of being a grown up and to work hard, take the knocks and learn some resilience. Or maybe it's a loan to develop your game understanding, to learn the ropes for playing at a higher level.
When I talk about youth players having a pathway into the first team it isn't about selling everyone bar the first 11 and having the academy players being the back up/ rotation option.
Yes, the squad is too bloated meaning there is little to no chance for youngsters to get meaningful minutes in the most part. 36 players in the first team squad is just too many.
We should have 18-20 first team, top quality, outfield players in our squad, enough to more or less have two players for every outfield position. The academy players then come in as the third choice players when and where needed. Then we can see which ones can step up to the level we need, and which will fall short. We can then find suitable clubs for those that won't make it at the level we need, and hopefully bring in some decent fees for young players with potential who have shown some ability to play senior football.
As fans we often complain that we sell our academy players for less than rival clubs. Yet our academy players have often had less senior experience, making them a bigger gamble for the buying clubs.
Tuanzebe was hyped up after his early performances, especially after he played RB and pocketed Alexis Sanchez against Arsenal. He was hyped up so much that the club decided against loaning him out and kept him. He stagnated sitting on the bench for a season or so. He then picked up several injuries and never kicked on.
You could argue that keeping Kambwala in the squad as a 4th/ 5th choice rather than allowing him to head out on loan to play regularly would be making the same mistake as we made with Tuanzebe.
There does seem to be an issue with our young CB's staying at the club too much, getting a lot of injuries and never kicking on with their development.
It happened with Tuanzebe, it happened with Teden Mengi (although he chose to leave much sooner and is flourishing at Luton with regular game time), while Kambwala has also had his share of injuries.
Is the step up in intensity and the physical demands from training with the academy to training with the first team too great for young CB's (a physically demanding position) . Which might be causing our young CB's to pick up injuries when training with the first team.
Ultimately Kambwala is a talent, and he will only be able to improve and reach his potential by playing regular first team football at a higher level than the academy can offer.
If he stays at the club then he has to play, he should be 3rd choice at CB or in the first team. Anything less would stagnate his development, stunting his growth and limiting his potential.
If he isn't going to be either in the first team, or the first guy off the bench for the stating pair then he needs to go on loan to play regular football. It's that simple.
While as fans we don't want to see the likes of Maguire and Lindelof at the club next season. I'd rather they stay as 4th or 5th choice and loan out Kambwala so he can continue to improve and develop. Than selling them, keep Kambwala as that 4th/ 5th choice option and stunt his development, only to see him leave on a free in 2-3 years time as he hasn't developed into the player we need.
14 Apr 2024 12:30:40
Shappy
Better still, why not just let the kid learn from his mistakes without unnecessary pressure from fans during a harsh period where, currently, he's one of only two fit senior CB options available - just let him learn and adapt properly.
The injury crisis has chucked him into the chip pan and yesterday he got his toes burnt - don't chuck him into the fire mate, that's unfair.
As for learning from mistakes - Lindelof makes far more mistakes than Kambwala, some of which are utterly pathetic for such a high-level player, so should certainly not be retained at his expense.
Quansah didn't get rinsed after that pass and will probably be rotated in today.
Branthwaite only stepped up in class after having a run of games where his inadequacies were ironed out - the same applies to Colwill.
Let's see how he recovers against our shots-faced rivals before we judge, let's see if he's actually got the mentality and aptitude before binning him off as lacking the credentials.
Your reaction is knee-jerk and unfair, cut him the slack you'll give to Mainoo and then make your mind up.