[/QUOTE]
I think it's safe to assume Gomes would have got more game time if he merited it this season. Ole clearly likes to blood youngsters. We all want Gomes to succeed here but the facts on the ground would suggest he hasn't been as good as we like to think. Perhaps this is one of those where he needs to go prove himself elsewhere, anywhere. If he tears the place up we can always buy him back. Won't be the first time...
There is simply no basis to claim he hasn't merited being played, not with Lingard continually being selected by Ole.
This is all you need to see. When a 19yr old English player with 5 premier league 1st team appearances has Pini Zahavi as an agent, you just know the whole thing is fecked up. Concentrate on learning football and the rewards will come. I think he has great potential - his size is currently limiting him but in 2-3 years he could have filled out a bit more or just become a bit stronger.
Sign contract
Get head down and be a sponge with senior players in training
Do a good job and we have shown we will always give youth a chance
Pini Zahavi! Mind blown!
Sign a contract and watch Lingard, and to an extent Andreas, play negative football without being given a chance. Not even being afforded a place on the bench. The only proper chance he got to start a match was against Astana at Old Trafford and for 60 minutes he was about the best player on the pitch. In fact he was limited that by the the players around him, including older ones like Rashford and midfield players. Chong to his left was more or less a disaster and Greenwood to his right was struggled. Yet after that game in which someone like the legendary Peter Schmeichel singled him out for praise he was thrown out of a proper midfield position to the wings in the next few appearances while Chong continued to get game time in his favoured positions. So why should he just sign without being sure of what Ole planned to do with him? Expectations were high he would be sent out on loan in January, and he even pushed for it, but the club (allegedly) stopped it.
He's failed to impose himself in every game i saw him play for the under 23's. His short stature shouldn't get in the way because he should still be able to move and get away from the bigger guys in the opposition. He just never seems to assert himself in a game. In contrast Chong always showed lots of tenacity even when playing in a poor side. I know Chong has done little for the first team yet but if it has come down to mindset then I think we will be letting him go.
Maybe it's cofirmation bias at work or you just saw parts of the games in which he was bad. You shouldn't count any game he played from the wings, that wouldn't be fair.
His peformance against Rotherham FC in the EPL cup was the best anyone managed in the club this season in a 10 or any midfield position. Either in the senior or junior team. His performance against Leeds in the preason was good and showed a composure that is needed for a player maker. And he didn't look physically out of place. In those games he played in a proper position, as was the case vs Astana.
Who are all of these number 10's that have played out wide?
Besides some of Gomes' best games for the academy have come deeper than that where he could run the game. Juventus away in the u19's youth cup he was a #6. Newcastle away in the u23's he was a #8. Those were his best 2 performances that I saw from Gomes.
And it should be noted that the Juve boys were big, and that small Gomes didn't look troubled by them. That at some points they backed away from him after realising he could walk around them or resist their physical pressure.