[Archived] Magnificent Seven

[joey_big_nose]

We are in the extraordinary position of having seven young players coming through at the moment:- Jones, Hanley, Olsson, NZonzi, Linganzi, Hoilett, Kalinic. Three from the youth team, four bought in (of which Kalinic was the only one who cost substantial money). I thought it would be a good to have a thread to track their collective progress.

The indications are that this trend could expand futher- we have been linked to more young players. Who would have thought this when Sam came in?

Anyhow - I missed the game against Villa so was wondering what people thought of the performances of the five who played?

[bellamy11]

We are in the extraordinary position of having seven young players coming through at the moment:- Jones, Hanley, Olsson, NZonzi, Linganzi, Hoilett, Kalinic. Three from the youth team, four bought in (of which Kalinic was the only one who cost substantial money). I thought it would be a good to have a thread to track their collective progress.

The indications are that this trend could expand futher- we have been linked to more young players. Who would have thought this when Sam came in?

Anyhow - I missed the game against Villa so was wondering what people thought of the performances of the five who played?

Hanley - about as good a debut as could be expected against a rapid striker (Gabby) and one so good in the air (Carew). He got caught out once or twice and got charged down a couple of times but you wouldn’t necessarily have said that he was a kid making his debut, which is definitely a positive. He’s already quite a big chap (like Jones) and hopefully will fill out further.

Olsson to me is a genuine first-teamer now after being a reserve/fringe player for a long time. He was prepared to run at his full-back and his cross for the goal was excellent. I think the fact that he has played at full-back himself means he can replace the workrate of MGP on the left (which is one of the things MGP was praised for back in the day) and he helped Givet out pretty well, especially with Ashley Young.

Linganzi was pretty decent – prepared to carry the ball forwards, and got stuck in quite well too. His passing was inconsistent at best, and he gave the ball away on the edge of his area a couple of times, but he didn’t look out of his depth and seemed comfortable in possession. Not so sure if the switch at half time was purely tactical (he wasn’t having a shocker) or whether there was an element of giving MGP his last 45 mins in the shirt. Either way, MGP gave us something more in the second half but there was enough from Amine to suggest he’s a good talent.

Hoilett – he’s been the disappointment of the season for me. He seems to lack confidence/heart and footballing intelligence. A lack of concentration meant that he miscontrolled the ball a few times (although that happened to Ashley Young too) and he never seems to run at his man when the situation requires him too. Have to give him credit for putting Dunne under pressure for the goal though. I’m hoping next season is his breakthrough year, because we don’t seem to be seeing the guy everybody at St Pauli was raving about.

Jones – came on and looked his assured himself. I always think he’s going to win the ball in the air, and I’m already at the stage where I’m perfectly happy to see him on the pitch. He and Hanley both coped well with the switch to 5-3-2, which may have been a lot to ask of two very young/inexperienced players in a tight game against a better team.