Quote:
Originally Posted by Longlivekeano
There are other so called "prodidgees" who were considered surely first team United material & thye have sadly failed to make the grade. These I believe included the likes of Ben Thornley who was described to have the dribbling wizardry of Giggs and the crossing ability of Beckham. However, injuries robbed his career. He went on to play for Norwich or some club like that in the lower league. But in his United youth days, he was considered a gem whose prospects were deemed brighter than the likes of others like Butt, Scholes and the Nevilles
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That's youth football, you simply can't tell at that level. Some players peak at that stage, some develop later, some don't have the attiutude, the pressure is too much etc all manner of reasons why they don't
I take issue with calling Fletcher a prodigy though. Perhaps he looked like having a good shot at breaking the first team, at a time when few were coming through. But prodigy means something particularly extraordinary, with a talent beyond the norm. Players like Bojan, Messi, Owen etc who look sensational at the lower levels of the game, I can accept being issued with such a tag, because they have something exceptional, their ability to score bucket loads of goals, or a magnificent ability to dribble past thier opponent. Tell me, those who think Fletcher was a prodigy, what his exceptional talents were at that age. And where the bloody hell they dissapeared to since